Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: Florida’s First Hurricane In 10 Years
September 11, 2016
The first hurricane to hit Florida in more than 10 years was followed by the first post-hurricane cleanup the state has seen in more than 10 years. And while it wasn’t as violent and noisy as Hurricane Hermine, the aftermath was not exactly smooth.
The pace of power restoration in Tallahassee and surrounding areas came under criticism — fair or not — from Gov. Rick Scott and more than a few utility customers. The fact that Scott, a Republican, was facing off with one of the Democratic Party’s rising stars in Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum did not go unnoticed.
When he wasn’t demanding that power be restored more quickly, Scott was out and about in Leon County, visiting crews who were clearing downed trees and other debris left behind by the storm — and sometimes getting in on the cleanup himself. Political posturing for a 2018 bid for the U.S. Senate, or a less likely 2020 attempt at the presidency? Perhaps. But Scott would hardly be the first governor to polish his credentials by responding forcefully to a hurricane.
A less-veiled version of politics would not wait for the storm, though. The presidential and U.S. Senate races this year continued to shape up, as the unofficial Labor Day kickoff for the general election campaign passed Monday. A new poll showed Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump neck-and-neck in the race for Florida’s 29 electoral votes, even as U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio opened up a lead over his Democratic challenger, Congressman Patrick Murphy.
While it only took a week to clear away much of the debris from Hurricane Hermine, it will take a lot longer to cut through the last stage of the fall campaign. The true political storm, the one that hits Florida like clockwork every four years, has just begun.
POWER STRUGGLE
When he ran for governor in 2010, Scott’s campaign slogan was, “Let’s Get to Work.” Scott essentially spent the early part of this week saying the same thing to local officials about getting the lights back on in Tallahassee.
Even if the state hadn’t gone a decade between direct hits, Big Bend residents are perhaps not as hurricane-hardened as the denizens of the southern part of the state. And when the initial indication from Tallahassee officials was that it might take a week to get power fully restored, the reaction was not kind.
Scott decided to bore in. On Sunday, he called for Tallahassee and Leon County to bring in private contractors he had identified to help remove remaining downed trees and limbs. But he faced accusations that he might have taken things a step too far.
In a news release, Scott said Tallahassee and Leon County declined further state Department of Transportation “cut and toss” assistance to clear fallen trees and limbs.
But city and county officials were quick to say they had never declined assistance from the state. Instead, they had moved on to the next phase in the cleanup process — debris removal — which was being done with the collaboration of the state, they said.
“With respect to the city of Tallahassee declining ‘cut-and-toss’ assistance, that’s absolutely not where we are,” Mayor Andrew Gillum told Scott during a roundtable Sunday at the state Emergency Operations Center. “As far as we’re concerned, the city of Tallahassee has no intentions, nor have we given any signal — certainly not myself or the city manager — that we wish to disrupt that process.”
By Tuesday afternoon, power had been restored to more than 90 percent of residents who had lost it statewide. That included 94 percent of Leon County.
With more than 18,000 people still without power Tuesday, Scott dispatched 15 additional Florida Department of Transportation crews, totaling more than 250 people, to Leon County to remove debris and help power-restoration efforts.
The clashes between Scott and the city had eased by then, but the governor’s rhetoric was still focused on reaching 100 percent with power as soon as possible.
“You have to be frustrated,” Scott said, referring to local residents, while speaking to the media outside the state Emergency Operations Center on Tuesday. “Five days. Five days without power, and you actually don’t know when you’re going to get power.”
Gillum essentially pleaded for patience, saying there had been a range of feedback from residents and workers with the city-run utility involved in recovery efforts.
“They want people to know they’re out there working hard for them,” Gillum said speaking for recovery workers. “They’re not being lazy. They’re not taking breaks. For many of them, they don’t have power. So we just have to be really careful with the way in which we describe the pace and effort going on here.”
During an emergency meeting Tuesday of the Tallahassee City Commission, Gillum told residents the response could have been better, but significant damage to large trees and major power lines meant the recovery process would take time.
“Without a doubt, we have not been perfect in this process, and now is not the time to talk about whatever imperfections, because our staff morale needs to remain at the highest level possible,” Gillum said.
At the end of the week, power was being restored to the last few parts of the city still without lights. Perhaps the great electricity showdown of 2016 would end up being nothing more than a tempest in a teapot.
TIE GAME
At the same time that football began returning, the presidential campaign this week entered a kind of fourth quarter, with two months to go before voters choose between Clinton, a former secretary of state and the Democratic nominee, and Trump, the real-estate mogul who is her Republican opponent.
And as they begin the stretch run, according to a poll released Thursday by Quinnipiac University, the two candidates are tied in Florida.
Clinton and Trump both got the support of 47 percent of likely Florida voters in a head-to-head matchup, according to the Quinnipiac poll. That was virtually unchanged from a month ago, when Clinton led Trump 46-45 — which is considered a statistical dead heat.
The two remained tied when the most prominent third-party candidates were thrown into the race, with Trump and Clinton drawing 43 percent apiece, Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico, getting 8 percent and Green Party candidate Jill Stein chosen by 2 percent of the people surveyed.
The Connecticut-based Quinnipiac, which frequently conducts polls in Florida and other states, surveyed 761 likely Florida voters from Aug. 29 to Wednesday. The poll had a margin of error of 3.6 percentage points.
The university’s polling institute also released swing-state polls Thursday showing Clinton holding modest leads in North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Trump had a one-point edge in Ohio that widened to four points when Johnson and Stein were added to the mix.
“The effect of the Republican and Democratic conventions on the presidential race has run its course,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the poll. “As the campaign enters its final stage, Florida and Ohio, two of the largest and most important swing states, are too close to call, while North Carolina and Pennsylvania give Hillary Clinton the narrowest of leads.”
The numbers were slightly more definitive in Florida’s U.S. Senate race, with Rubio taking a seven-point lead against Murphy. That poll included 601 likely voters surveyed between Aug. 31 and Wednesday. A poll released almost a month ago had Rubio leading by just three points, 48-45.
After failing to win the Republican presidential nomination this year, Rubio decided in June to seek a second term in the Senate.
“Democrats hoped they could use Sen. Marco Rubio’s change of heart on running for re-election against him, but so far the former presidential candidate has been able to keep a narrow lead,” Brown said in a prepared statement Friday. “Without Rubio’s double-digit lead among independent voters, he would be in much more trouble.”
STORY OF THE WEEK: The cleanup from Hurricane Hermine caused clashes between Republican Gov. Rick Scott and Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, a Democrat.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Let’s be real, nothing matches up to the NFL.”—Shahid “Shad” Khan, owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars, on his efforts to grow soccer in Florida.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Wahoos Winning Season Ends With Loss To Mississippi
September 11, 2016
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos finished with its first winning season in its five-year history with a franchise record 81 wins this year.
But the Cincinnati Reds Double-A affiliate, which won both the first and second halves this season, lost to the Mississippi Braves, 4-2, Saturday, ending its dream to win its first Southern League Championship.
It’s the second year in a row that Pensacola has lost in the opening round of the playoffs. After winning the second half of the season last year, it was swept in three games by the Biloxi Shuckers.
Mississippi’s victory at Trustmark Park earned it a 3-1 South Division playoff title. It advances to play the North Division title winner the Jackson Generals, who beat the Montgomery Biscuits, 8-2, Saturday.
Pensacola’s hitters were shut down by Mississippi’s pitching, generating just 10 runs and 30 hits in the four games. Meanwhile, the Braves scored 23 runs on 47 hits, getting 17 and 11 in the last two games.
In its three losses to the Braves, Pensacola seemed unable to get a clutch hit when it needed one. That was unusual for a team that set a franchise record with 12 walk-offs this season. But in the playoffs, the Blue Wahoos left 23 runners on base and was 5-31 or .161 at the plate with runners in scoring position.
The only player who did come through at the plate against Mississippi for Pensacola was shortstop Zach Vincej. He was 8-17 or .471 with two doubles, a triple, two runs scored and an RBI.
On Saturday, Mississippi right-handed starter Lucas Sims struck out the side in the third inning and struck out five of the six batters he faced between the second and third innings. He retired seven in a row. In his five innings of work, Sims allowed just two hits, walked two and struck out six.
He came out after Game 4 in Pearl, Miss., was delayed by rain for just over an hour at the end of the fifth inning.
The Braves loaded the bases with two outs in the first inning for right fielder Connor Lien who singled to right field to drive in second baseman Levi Hyams and left fielder Dustin Peterson to jump out in front, 2-0. Pensacola right fielder Sebastian Elizalde threw to second to catch Lien trying to stretch his single to a double to end the inning.
“They got some big two-out hits and that’s kind of what they did all series,” Pensacola manager Pat Kelly said after the game.
Mississippi third baseman Carlos Franco hit a two out double in the bottom of the third inning off the wall in right field to score Peterson from first to put Braves ahead, 3-0. Franco finished the series 7-15 or .467 with a home run and 6 RBIs.
Pensacola came back in the fourth inning when Elizalde singled to drive in Blandino, who walked, and left fielder Phillip Ervin, who doubled off the center field wall, and pulled the Blue Wahoos within, 3-2.
Mississippi went ahead, 4-2, in the bottom of the fourth inning when center fielder Mallex Smith singled on a ground ball to left field with two outs to score shortstop Johan Camargo. Pensacola reliever Barrett Astin came in and struck out Hyams to end the inning.
“I thought the fourth inning was huge,” Kelly said. “We throw a two-spot on the board, we come back 3-2, and then they score a run. The momentum switches a little bit right there.”
The run chased Pensacola starter Tyler Mahle out of the game. The 21-year-old right hander worked 3.2 innings, allowing four runs, three earned on seven hits and a walk.
In the seventh inning, Pensacola had second baseman Brandon Dixon reach base with a walk and shortstop Zach Vincej earned the Blue Waboos third hit of the game with no outs but they were both stranded on base.
Ervin got his second hit of the game Saturday when he hit a line drive off of Mississippi reliever Caleb Dirks hip in the eighth inning and the fourth in the game for the Blue Wahoos. Ervin went 2-4 in the game.
One Injured In Motorcycle, Car Collision In Cantonment
September 10, 2016
A motorcyclist was injured in a collision with a car Saturday morning in Cantonment. The accident happened about 8:30 a.m. on Highway 29 at Woodbury Circle. The condition motorcyclist was not available. The accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Tom Thumb Robbery Under Investigation
September 10, 2016
A Cantonment convenience store was robbed early Saturday morning, the third robbery at the store in the past two months.
According to dispatch logs, the robbery was reported at 12:42 a.m. at the Tom Thumb at the corner of Highway 29 and Woodbury Circle, and deputies were on scene in less than one minute. Deputies quickly established a perimeter around the store, and a K-9 unit was called to assist.
There were no details immediately available early Saturday morning from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office on any arrests or a suspect description. There were no reports of any injuries.
In early August, Sheriff’s investigators said they believe two previous robberies at the store were committed by the same suspect. The store was robbed on July 4 and again on July 29. In both robberies, the suspect walked behind the counter and took cash from the register without producing a weapon.
Anyone with information any of the robberies is asked to call the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620 or Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Pictured above and below: The Tom Thumb at Highway 29 and Woodbury Circle was robbed early Saturday morning. NorthEscambia.com photo by Kristi Barbour. Pictured bottom: A still image from a surveillance video from a robbery at the store in July.
Trump Brings His Message To An Overflow Crowd In Pensacola
September 10, 2016
A packed house was on hand Friday night for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s second visit to the Pensacola Civic Center. The crowd was estimated at about 12,000 people, while “thousands more” could not get in, according to Trump.
Trump’s hour-long speech was highly critical of his opponent, Hillary Clinton, with Trump labeling the Democratic nominee as “an unstable person” and “trigger happy”.
He discussed Clinton’s handling of classified information during her tenure as secretary of state and the decision by federal authorities not to charge her after a long investiation.
“She’s being so protected. She could walk into this arena right now and shoot somebody with 20,000 people watching,” Trump said as he held his hand like a gun, “right smack in the middle of the heart and she wouldn’t be prosecuted, OK?”
Trump also said he plans to increase the military, create better paying jobs and get rid of Common Core.
“It’s so good to be back in Florida, my second home…I love the people of this state, and together we are going to have an amazing victory on November 8,” Trump said.
Aggies Cruise To Homecoming Win Over West Gadsden
September 10, 2016
The Tate Aggies cruised to an easy homecoming win Friday night, 41-6 over West Gadsden.
The game was scoreless until 24 second before the end of the first when Tate took a 7-0 lead. By the half, the Aggies had expanded their lead to 21-0 after touchdowns with 5:42 and 0:50 remaining in the second half. Tate continued to dominate with a 34-0 advantage in the third, with West Gadsden’s only score coming with 4:38 in the third.
Tate (3-0) will be away next week at Pensacola High School.
COMING UP: NorthEscambia.com will publish a photo gallery with football action photos, the band, cheerleaders and the homecoming court by Monday.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Northview Plays Up Against Gulf Breeze, Falls 42-0
September 10, 2016
For the second time this season, the Northview Chiefs played up several classifications and against much larger rosters, and for the second time this season the Chiefs were sent home scoreless. The 1A Chiefs lost to the 6A Gulf Breeze Dolphins Friday night, 42-0 in Gulf Breeze.
The loss came two weeks after a road trip to 6A Crestview in which the Chiefs lost 70-0. At 1-2, Northview’s win this season came last week 21-14 against a much similar-sized team from Escambia Academy in Canoe, AL.
Next week, the Chiefs are back home in Bratt as they play host to the Chipley Tigers. The Tigers (0-3) are coming off a 42-8 loss to Blountstown Friday night.
COMING UP: NorthEscambia.com will publish a photo gallery with football action photos, the band, and cheerleaders by Monday.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Gary Amerson, click to enlarge.
Dozens Of Holman Prison Inmates Refuse To Work
September 10, 2016
The Alabama Department of Corrections is reporting an inmate work stoppage at the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore.
Friday morning, prison officials reported that group of approximately 10 inmates did not report to the facility’s kitchen for preparing the morning meal. Later Friday, approximately 35 inmates assigned to the facility’s tag plant that produces the state’s license plates took part in the work stoppage.
The warden and correctional officers have maintained proper security inside the facility, and ADOC staff are delivering routine services to the inmates without incident, according to the ADOC. In addition, ADOC has a contingency plan to assign inmates from a nearby work release center in Atmore to operate the tag plant if the work stoppage continues.
Inmates participating in the work stoppage at Holman have made no demands, and overall they have been cooperative in their peaceful protest. The work stoppage is isolated to Holman Correctional Facility, which is not on lockdown. There are no reports of inmates participating in the work stoppage at the remaining 27 state correctional facilities.
Earlier this month, a corrections officer at Holman was left in critical condition after being stabbed. Prison officials reported that the inmate assaulted and stabbed the officer in retaliation for being denied an extra tray of food during the noon meal.
‘Woodlawn’ Author To Speak In Molino This Sunday; Free Showing Of Movie
September 10, 2016
This Sunday is “Woodlawn Sunday” at Highland Baptist Church in Molino.
Todd Geralds, the author of the book Woodlawn and the son of Tandy Geralds, the coach in the film Woodlawn, will be the special guest at the church. Woodlawn is a riveting true story of courage, strength, and football at the height of racial tension in Birmingham. The book has inspired the motion picture Woodlawn, and tells the story of Coach Tandy Gerelds, his running back Tony Nathan, and a high school football game that healed a city.
Geralds will speak during the Highland Mens’ Breakfast at 7 a.m., and during morning workship at 10:45 a.m.
The church will present a special free showing of the movie Woodlawn at 6 p.m. Sunday.
The 2015 film grossed $14.4 million at the box office.
Play Ball! Miracle League Open New Baseball Field
September 10, 2016
Members of Impact 100 and the volunteers of the Miracle League of Pensacola celebrated the grand opening of a new baseball field Friday night. The Miracle League of Pensacola provides an opportunity for the physically and mentally challenged to play baseball in a safe and encouraging environment. The generous grant received from IMPACT 100 has provided the resources to create an additional field to service future players and their families. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
