Northview Chiefs Name Dereck Marshman As New Head Football Coach
July 29, 2016
Northview High School has named Dereck Marshman as their head football coach.
Mashman has been an assistant coach for the Chiefs since 2010, except for a short stint in Tennessee. He was part of the coaching staff that led the Northview Chiefs to a state football championship in 2012. He said he expects his transition from defensive and strength coach into the head coaching position will be an easy step for a team he says is poised for great season.
“It will be seamless when we start practice on Monday. We have our assistant coaching staff already in place, and I have confidence in them. It will not be like we are starting over today.”
“We have a chance to be a pretty special team this year. The senior leadership is special this year; they have worked together for a long time and have proven themselves during very demanding summer workouts and in the weight room.”
Marshman said the Chiefs have a very touch regular season schedule in which they will play up several classifications against much larger schools, and he said he’s looking forward to a December trip to Orlando and the state championship game.
Northview Principal Gayle Weaver said Marshman was an easy and obvious choice to lead the Chiefs. He was offered and accepted the position Friday morning after interviews were conducted.
“He brings stability and consistency to the team,” Weaver said. “I have great hopes for this season.
Marshman will not take over as Northview’s head baseball coach as the position was originally to be advertised. Instead, Weaver said Marshman’s current job as In School Suspension coordinator will be advertised in conjunction with the head baseball coach position.
Former football and baseball head coach Sid Wheatley announced his resignation in late July to return home to a coaching position in his native Mississippi. He said he wanted to be closer to his family after 11 years away at Northview. He had a 50-31 record as Northview’s head coach.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Mosquito Borne Zika Cases Confirmed In Florida
July 29, 2016
Florida’s worries about the Zika virus have turned into reality.
In the middle of the state’s typically humid, buggy summer, Gov. Rick Scott announced Friday that four Zika cases in South Florida were likely caused by mosquito bites.
“All four of these people live in Miami-Dade and Broward counties and the Florida Department of Health believes that active transmissions of this virus could be occurring in one small area in Miami,” Scott said in a prepared statement. “While no mosquitoes have tested positive for the Zika virus, DOH is aggressively testing people in this area to ensure there are no other cases. If you live in this area and want to be tested, I urge you to contact the county health department which stands ready to assist you.”
Florida has seen a steady increase in Zika diagnoses in recent months, with the total number of cases nearing 400. But until Friday, health officials said cases stemmed from people who were infected because of travel to places such as South America, where the virus emerged last year. Two travel related Zika cases have been reported in Escambia County.
Public-health officials have worried for months that the virus, which is particularly dangerous to pregnant women and can cause severe birth defects, would become mosquito-borne in Florida. The state last week began investigating two potential non-travel related cases in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, followed by two more cases this week.
Scott’s office said Friday that one of the cases involves a woman and the other three involve men, none of whom have needed to be hospitalized. It said health officials believe transmissions of the virus have happened in a 1-square-mile area just north of downtown Miami.
The governor and state Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam announced a series of steps aimed at reducing the potential for mosquito bites and preventing the spread of the disease through blood.
In part, Scott said he directed the state Department of Health to contract with commercial pest-control companies to increase spraying and to take other steps to reduce mosquitos in the targeted area of Miami-Dade. Mosquito-control districts in Miami-Dade and Broward also will receive $1.28 million from the state through December, the governor’s office said.
Similarly, Putnam issued a “mosquito declaration” that will last 45 days and calls for aggressive mosquito-control efforts within 200 yards of patients’ homes. That includes efforts to eliminate standing water where mosquitos lay eggs.
“Floridians can do their part by draining standing water surrounding their homes, as it can serve as breeding grounds for the mosquitoes that are capable of transmitting the virus,” Putnam said in a statement released by his office.
Scott’s office also said the Department of Health will provide $620,000 to OneBlood, the primary blood bank in the area, to help ensure blood screening for Zika. Also, the department will work with the federal Food and Drug Administration and blood banks to make sure that tests are conducted on each unit of blood collected in Miami-Dade and Broward.
The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday requested that blood banks in the two counties temporarily halt collecting blood until safeguards are put in place. OneBlood said on its website Friday that all blood collections in the areas it serves in Florida, Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina will be tested for Zika.
“With testing beginning, OneBlood operations remain business as usual and collections will continue throughout its service areas, uninterrupted,” the OneBlood website said.
Meanwhile, the state Department of Health said it is continuing “door-to-door outreach” and collecting urine samples in the targeted area of Miami-Dade.
“The results from these efforts will help (the) department determine the number of people affected.,” the department said on its website. “These local cases were identified by clinicians who brought them to the attention of the department.”
Miami-Dade and Broward also have been the hardest-hit areas of the state for travel-related Zika cases. As of Friday morning, the Department of Health’s website said the state had 331 travel-related cases that did not involve pregnant women. Miami-Dade had 99 of those cases, while Broward had 55 — substantially more than any other counties.
The state does not release the counties for travel-related cases involving pregnant women. But the department said it has monitored 55 pregnant women who have shown evidence of Zika.
by Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida
Century Task Force Meets Again In Sunshine; Recommends $700K Grant App
July 29, 2016
Two days after holding a meeting in an apparent violation of Florida’s Sunshine Law, the Town of Century’s Community Development Block Grant Citizen’s Advisory Task Force (CATF) met again “in the sunshine” Thursday, recommending that the town apply for a grant up to $700,000 for housing rehabilitation and replacement.
A published public notice stated that the CATF would meet Tuesday at 4 p.m.; however the meeting was held at 2 p.m., the time noted in letters to CATF members.
Town consultant Robin Phillips of Jones-Phillips and Associates said the public noticed 4 p.m. time was a typographical error by her firm.
“There was never any intent on the Town’s or on our part to mislead or misinform anyone. It was an unintentional typographical error, ” Phillips said in a letter to NorthEscambia.com.
After re-holding the CATF meeting Thursday afternoon and a public forum, the next step in the grant application process is a second public hearing during a town council meeting on August 15.
Florida’s Sunshine Law requires that the public’s business be conducted in open, public noticed meetings. Violators can face fines and/or time in jail.
Pictured top: CATF members Helen Mincy, Robert Mitchell and Sylvia Godwin during a Thursday afternoon meeting. Task force member Alfonzie Cottrell, who was present for Tuesday’s meeting, was absent on Thursday. Pictured below: Town consultants Robin Phillips (left) and Debbie Nickles on Thursday. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Teen Continues To Recover From Hit And Run; FHP Still Seeking Driver
July 29, 2016
Today marks a week since 15-year Brianna Nicole Marks was struck by a by a vehicle crossing Pine Forest Road. She is continuing her recovery, and the Florida Highway Patrol is continuing to seek information about the vehicle that fled the scene.
Family members said Brianna has undergone several surgeries, including a surgery on her pelvis Thursday. She has been moved from Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola to the Shands Children’s Hospital at the University of Florida in Gainesville where she is facing additional surgeries.
Brianna’s family is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the hit and run.
Anyone with information on the crash is asked to call the Florida Highway Patrol at (850) 484-5000.
Escambia Man Charged In Federal ISIS Investigation
July 29, 2016
An Escambia County man has been charged with making false statements in a federal ISIS related investigation.
Robert Blake Jackson, 31, made an initial appearance Thursday in federal court after being arrested morning on a charge of making materially false statements in a federal investigation.
According to the criminal complaint affidavit, on several occasions in 2014 and 2015, Jackson made Facebook postings expressing support for extremist terrorist groups and stating a desire to assist the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS or ISIL). The affidavit also alleges that, in January 2015, a Pensacola telemarketing business reported it had fired Jackson for viewing ISIL and other terrorist-related websites and videos on his work computer. It is further alleged that, when FBI agents interviewed Jackson in June 2015, he denied all these activities.
The punishment for the crime alleged is a maximum of five years in prison. Jackson is currently in federal custody, being held at the Santa Rosa County Jail, pending further proceedings. Future court appearances will take place in the U.S. District Court in Pensacola on a date to be determined.
This case resulted from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the other members of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney David L. Goldberg is prosecuting the case.
Clinton Camp Strives For Unity As Democratic Convention Ends
July 29, 2016
After two fractious weeks in Cleveland and Philadelphia, the final night of the Democratic National Convention on Thursday strove for unity that has eluded both parties, calling on preachers, immigrants and others to vouch for Hillary Clinton and to level withering criticism at Donald Trump.
It was a calculated attempt to try to capitalize on one of the most unusual election seasons in recent American history, one overwhelmed by the bombastic personality of Trump, a real-estate mogul who upended the Republican establishment.
Accepting the Democratic nomination Thursday, Clinton spoke for nearly an hour, reminding the audience of her accomplishments in a political career that has spanned a quarter-century as first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state. Clinton conceded that some voters still feel like they don’t know her.
She laced policy prescriptions with personal anecdotes and criticisms of Trump. At the same time, she tried to cast herself as a candidate of unity in a divided America.
“I will be a president for Democrats, Republicans, independents; for the struggling, the striving, the successful; for all those who vote for me and for those who don’t — for all Americans,” she said.
The night was filled with overtures to conservative and centrist voters repelled by the populist candidacy of Trump, who accepted the Republican nomination in Cleveland a week earlier. Delegates waved signs that read simply “Together,” along with those bearing Clinton’s first name.
In her speech, Clinton hewed closely to the issue profile that she has cultivated over the course of a year, some of it designed to undercut U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ primary challenge from the left.
Clinton rejected outright Trump’s signature proposal to build a wall on America’s border with Mexico in a bid to stop illegal immigration.
“We will not build a wall,” she said. “Instead, we will build an economy where everyone who wants a good job can get one. And we’ll build a pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrants who are already contributing to our economy.”
Clinton’s address was also strikingly tough on Trump, who in turn has been harshly critical of the woman he calls “Crooked Hillary.” In addition to outlining her policy differences with Trump, Clinton raised doubts about whether the Republican’s temperament was suited to the presidency.
“A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man you can trust with nuclear weapons,” she said.
Stephen Miller, a Trump policy adviser, slammed Clinton’s speech as “an insulting collection of cliches and recycled rhetoric” and said the Democratic nominee skipped over controversies that have dogged her campaign, like her decision to use a private email server during her time as secretary of state.
“She spent the evening talking down to the American people she’s looked down on her whole life. … But in Hillary Clinton’s America, millions of people are left out in the cold. She only stands together with the donors and special interests who’ve bankrolled her entire life,” Miller said.
Doubts about Trump were also on display in some of Thursday evening’s most theatrical moments. Through the final day of the convention, Clinton’s campaign tried to balance promoting a progressive message that would appeal to Sanders’ supporters with inching onto Republican turf left open by the unconventional campaign of Trump.
Khizr Khan, a father of a soldier who died in Iraq, blasted Trump for the Republican’s proposed temporary ban on immigration by Muslims like Khan.
“Let me ask you: Have you even read the United States Constitution?” Khan said, taking a small booklet out of his jacket. “I will gladly lend you my copy. … You have sacrificed nothing and no one.”
Retired generals and Republicans, including a former official in the administration of President Ronald Reagan, a conservative icon, hammered away at Trump’s proposals and called for the country to unite around Clinton. That amplified a speech Wednesday night by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has spent parts of his life as a Republican, Democrat and independent.
Democrats clearly hoped that message would contrast with the Republican National Convention, which featured vivid displays of a rift within the party and a hard-edged take on Clinton.
But for all the efforts to promote the idea of unity in Philadelphia, delegates to the convention didn’t deny that there were still divisions in the party — at least in the hours before Clinton’s speech. A small number of Sanders delegates were still wary of the nominee, supporters of both candidates said.
Protests and chants by Sanders supporters were audible almost from the beginning of the convention and continued through Clinton’s speech, though it wasn’t clear how many of the attempted interruptions Thursday night came from dissatisfied Sanders voters.
Some Sanders delegates staged a walkout Tuesday to demonstrate their unhappiness with Clinton’s nomination and the primary process that led to it.
“There’s still bitterness, and people have not come to the table,” said Florida state Sen. Audrey Gibson, a Jacksonville Democrat who supported Clinton. “I think it’s a small minority. … It’s not going to keep Hillary from winning the election.”
Sanders delegates said two camps had emerged. Lifelong Democrats who supported the Vermont senator were more likely to rally behind Clinton and work to block Trump from the White House.
But Sanders’ message of democratic socialism and a “political revolution” brought together an eclectic group of supporters from scattered parts of the political spectrum. Polls consistently showed him performing best with independent-minded voters who cast ballots in the primary.
“A lot of them just became Democrats,” said Samantha Herring, a state committeewoman from Walton County who supported Sanders. “They became a Democrat just to vote for Bernie.”
Mitchell Stollberg-Appleyard, a Sanders delegate from Florida’s 22nd Congressional District, said he was still concerned about issues like fracking and trade policy. He promised to back the ticket but also hold it accountable.
“The revolution doesn’t happen overnight,” Stollberg-Appleyard said. “We have to keep working for it. And that I will do. From within the party.”
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Healthy Start Celebrates With Free Shots, Wellness Checks
July 29, 2016
The Century Healthy Start program held a grand opening celebration Thursday morning at their facility on Church Street. From immunizatons were available to children of all ages from Alabama and Florida, and free newborn wellness checks were provided.
Smokey the Bear was also on hand, and children were able to enjoy a bounce house.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Montgomery Beats The Wahoos
July 29, 2016
The Montgomery Biscuits bats came alive just in time to score three runs in its last two at bats to overcome the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, 4-1, Thursday at Riverwalk Stadium.
Blue Wahoos starting pitcher Jackson Stephens had silenced the Biscuits’ bats by retiring 11 in a row before Montgomery catcher Armando Araiza singled to right field in the seventh inning to start a two-run rally that put the Biscuits on top, 3-1.
After Araiza’s hit, Montgomery got three more in a row to knock Stephens from the game. Araiza crossed home plate for the first run of the inning when Biscuits center fielder Braxton Lee singled on a bunt back to the mound. Montgomery second baseman Kean Wong then hit a groundball into left field to drive in first baseman Pat Blair.
The Biscuits padded that lead in the eighth inning when Araiza hit a grounder back to the mound that Pensacola reliever Jacob Ehret threw away, allowing third baseman Juniel Querecuto to score for a 4-1 Montgomery lead.
Montgomery had scored first in the bottom of the first inning to go up, 1-0, when DH Jake Bauers singled to right field to drive in Lee, who started the inning with a single.
Pensacola had knotted the score, 1-1, in the second inning when first baseman Ray Chang scored on a passed ball after leading off the inning with a walk. Chang led the Blue Wahoos at the plate getting two hits in three at bats and walking once to raise his average to .275.
The Blue Wahoos, though, went 0-8 with runners in scoring position and left eight Pensacola runners on base.
In the sixth inning, Pensacola loaded the bases with two outs but failed to score.
Stephens ended up working 6.1 innings, allowing three runs on nine hits, giving up one walk, and striking out six. He fell to 6-10 with a 3.39 earned-run average.
Montgomery starter Brent Honeywell lasted five innings, and gave up one unearned run on four hits and two walks, while striking out six. He did not figure in the decision but his ERA now stands at 1.21.
Pensacola, the first half Southern League champions, dropped to 16-17 in the second half. Montgomery improved to 20-13 and lead the North Division.
Missing, Endangered Century Teen Found Safe (With Exclusive Photos)
July 28, 2016
A missing and endangered Century teen was found safe and sound early Thursday morning, some seven hours after she was last seen.
Alia Wardell, 15, was reported to be missing and in great need of her medication Wednesday night. She was last seen about 6 p.m. walking into the First Baptist Church on Church Street — and that’s exactly where she was found hours later.
Dozens of people from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, a Century Correctional K-9 team, KlaasKIDS, Escambia Search and Rescue and numerous friends and family members were involved in the search for Wardell early Thursday morning. After a private citizen obtained a key to the church, a K-9 team from the Century Correctional Institution entered the building.
NorthEscambia.com was there was Wardell was located in a bathroom about 1:10 a.m. Family members said she suffers from a medical condition that sometimes causes her to suddenly fall asleep, and they believe she fell asleep in the bathroom before the lights were turned out and church was closed and locked for the night.
As word spread that Wardell had been located, family members and friends rushed toward the church, offering their praises and thanks that she was unharmed.
After posing for a photograph with the Century Correctional officers that found her, Wardell stepped outside the church were a small crowd had gathered.
“I want to thank everyone that helped find me,” she told an applauding crowd.
Pictured top: Alia Wendall (in white shirt), who had been reported missing and endangered, thanks dozens of people that searched for her Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Pictured below: Alia poses with her rescuers, Century CI K*9 team members (L-R) Jamie Sanders, Burley Townson and Kevin Reeves. Pictured below: ESAR’s command center was set up in Century and manned by volunteers. NorthEscambia.com exclusive photos, click to enlarge.
Cantonment Residents Call For End To Violence, Surrender Of Murder Suspect
July 28, 2016
Dozens gathered in Cantonment Wednesday evening to remember a man they say was a loving father, son and friend.
Alphonso Leon Griffin, 29, was honored during a candlelight vigil in the Sheppard Street yard where he was found suffering from a gunshot wound Saturday night. He later passed away at Sacred Heart Hospital.
“We don’t want this to happen again in our neighborhood under no circumstances,” a pastor told the crowd.
“No hatred,” his mother, Capitola Griffin said. “No animosity like you’re getting back and retaliation. I don’t want that because ain’t nothing going to bring my son back. As a mother my heart aches but I know joy is going to come in the morning.”
The family said they want justice, and they are asking 19-year old Marquis Bryant, the suspected gunman, to turn himself into authorities.
Bryant was captured by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office just five days before the shooting, but not placed under arrest.
On Sunday, July 17, Bryant allegedly stole a classic Ford Mustang. On Monday, July 18, deputies spotted Bryant in the stolen 1965 Mustang at 3:47 p.m. near Hicks Street and Muscogee Road, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. When a deputy attempted a traffic stop, Bryant refused.
The deputy followed the vehicle, not exceeding the speed limit. Bryant opened the driver’s side door while the vehicle was still in motion. He then jumped from the vehicle and fled on foot.
The Sheriff’s Office said Bryant was located by a K-9 a short time later.
Sgt. Andrew Hobbs, spokesperson for the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said deputies suspected that Bryant ingested some type of narcotics before being captured. He was transported to a local hospital for medical care. Hobbs declined to say which day Bryant was released from the hospital, citing medical privacy laws.
Hobbs said deputies submitted a grand theft auto warrant for judicial review. At the time of the murder, the warrant had not yet been signed by a judge.
Bryant now has an outstanding homicide warrant. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620 or Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Vigil images courtesy WEAR 3 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
