Driver Flees Cottage Hill Wreck
May 25, 2016
A driver fled the scene of an accident Tuesday evening in Cottage Hill. Just before 6:30 p.m., the driver lost control on Williams Ditch Road at Wishbone Road and ran into a wooded area. The accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Learn About Container Gardening At The Molino Library
May 25, 2016
Area residents can learn to grow a container garden Friday with Escambia County Extension and the Master Gardener volunteers.
Adults and youth can learn about containers, soils and plants to make a small, but beautiful living display.
The program will be at 10:30 Friday morning at the Molino Branch Library in the Molino Community Complex, 6450-A Highway 95A. There will be a few plants, while they last, for participants to take home.
Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Walnut Hill Mobile Home Fire Under Investigation
May 24, 2016
The Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of a mobile home fire Monday night in Walnut Hill.
Smoke was pouring from the single wide mobile home in the 100 block of Juniper Street as the first firefighters arrived on scene about 11 p.m. They were able to quickly knock down the fire, which cause heavy damage.
The mobile home was apparently unoccupied and had no electric service.
There were no injuries reported.
The Walnut Hill, Century and Molino stations of Escambia Fire Rescue and the Atmore Fire Department responded to the blaze.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
State Regulators, State Farm Tangle Over Insurance Policy Information
May 24, 2016
Insurance regulators are preparing for an appeals-court battle with State Farm Florida after a circuit judge blocked the release of information about the company’s property-insurance policies.
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation filed a notice of appeal last week after Leon County Circuit Judge James Hankinson issued an injunction against the release of the information, which State Farm argued was a “trade secret” protected from public disclosure.
The dispute involves quarterly reports that property insurers file with the state providing information, broken down by county, about issues such as the number of policies in place at the end of each month, the total number of policies canceled, the total number of policies that are not renewed and the number of new policies written.
Regulators have long collected the information and made it publicly available, but State Farm filed a lawsuit in 2014 contending that the information is a trade secret under state law. Hankinson held a trial in March and issued a written order May 2 that said the information, known as a “Quarterly Supplemental Report,” or QUASR, is exempt from disclosure.
Hankinson wrote that a disputed issue is “whether QUASR data has value. The court finds that there is value to the QUASR data. … Accordingly, plaintiff (State Farm) has shown, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the QUASR data meets the definition of trade secret.”
As is common, the notice of appeal filed Thursday in the 1st District Court of Appeal does not detail the arguments that the Office of Insurance Regulation will pursue in trying to overturn Hankinson’s ruling.
But in a memorandum filed March 4 in circuit court, the Office of Insurance Regulation said it uses the data to create a “comprehensive report” based on submissions from all insurers.
“The Office (of Insurance Regulation) provides this report to the executive and legislative branches of government to inform them of overall business volumes, as well as risk exposure (i.e. wind) on both a statewide and county basis,” the document said. “The identification of market share and concentration of risk is vital information for public and governmental use — particularly in the event of a hurricane or other storm event. This information is utilized by individual consumers, press, other states and governmental bodies.”
But State Farm, in a memorandum also filed March 4, said it does not dispute that regulators should have the data but that the Office of Insurance Regulation “should not publish the data on its website and give competitors unfettered access to State Farm’s QUASR data. Moreover, there is no legislation that requires OIR to publicly disclose this data.”
“State Farm’s QUASR data possess independent economic value which provides an advantage to those who do not have it,” the company document said. “Specifically, the QUASR data reflects certain detailed information about State Farm at the county level. If a competitor was looking to write or market business in a certain county, that competitor would want to capture information related to other companies that write business in that county based on policy count and premiums written. Such information may be gleaned from reviewing State Farm’s QUASR.”
In its memorandum, however, the Office of Insurance Regulation disputed State Farm’s arguments about other insurers using the data.
“Plaintiff’s (State Farm’s) criteria for writing its business and rating, like most, if not all insurers, is based not on counties, but instead on numerous factors that must be evaluated and assessed,” the document said. “Other insurers determine risks in a manner completely different than plaintiff’s.”
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Ransom Middle Students Build Tetrahedral What-A-Kite
May 24, 2016
What do you get when you combine several hundred giant Whataburger drink straws, tissue paper, Elmer’s glue and string (lots of string)? If you are one of Louis O’Rear’s 130 science students at Ransom Middle School, you get a giant 64-cell tetrahedral Whataburger kite.
“We flew it in every class today,” O’Rear said Monday. “I flew it with each class to show them that it doesn’t matter how large you build it, as long as you stay true to the tetrahedral shape, geometrically.”
It is perhaps more challenging than it sounds. Tying the smaller tetrahedral kites in a very specific geometric arrangement is a bit difficult. “There are 63 ways to attach them wrong, and only one way to attach them correctly,” he said.
There was a one little problem flying the kite Monday…there was no wind. But middle school students and Ransom track stars didn’t mind a little running to get the kite into the air.
And just in case you forgot middle school geometry – a tetrahedron is a polyhedron composed of four triangular faces, six straight edges, and four vertex corners. The tetrahedron is the simplest of all the ordinary convex polyhedra and the only one that has fewer than five faces.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Driver Flees Scene After Wreck
May 24, 2016
A driver apparently fled a single vehicle traffic crash near Highway 97 in Walnut Hill early Tuesday morning.
Just after 12:30 a.m. a resident of Highway 97 reported hearing a vehicle passing her home at a high rate of speed before hearing tire screeching and a crash. The vehicle had hit a tree at Highway 97 and Howell Road. The driver then continued a short distance down Howell Road before abandoning the vehicle.
The accident is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol.
The Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the crash.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
2-Week Click It Or Ticket Seat Belt Campaign Begins
May 24, 2016
The Florida Highway Patrol and other law enforcement agencies have began a two-week “Click It or Ticket” crackdown designed to increase seat belt use and decrease motor vehicle fatalities across the county. The campaign will run day and night.
“Although wearing a seatbelt is the law, the department’s data shows that the consequence of not wearing a seat belt is deadly,” said Colonel Gene Spaulding, director of the Florida Highway Patrol. “FHP is committed to raising awareness and enforcement regarding the importance of wearing a seat belt to help ensure motorists arrive alive.”
In 2015, more than 43 percent of those who were killed in crashes in vehicles where seat belt use is required chose not to wear their seat belts. FHP reminds everyone that Florida law requires the use of seat belts by drivers, passengers in the front seat and all children under the age of 18 in a motor vehicle.
“Safety is our top priority at the Florida Department of Transportation. We know that safety belt use is the most effective way to reduce fatalities in motor vehicle crashes,” said FDOT Secretary Jim Boxold. “We want to remind everyone to always buckle up.”
The FHP offers the following tips:
Buckle up, every time. A seatbelt is your vehicle’s best safety feature. Set the example.
- Drive sober. One drink is one too many.
- Make sure your rear-seat passengers are also buckled. They are more likely to injure themselves and other passengers in a crash, if not buckled up.
- Obey all speed limits. Traffic congestion and construction zones may require driving more slowly.
- Seat belts plus air bags provide the greatest protection for adults. However, air bags are not a substitute for seat belts.
- Don’t drive distracted: Anything that takes your full attention off of the road, even for a second, could be deadly.
Demolition Of Former Century High School Continues As Memorial Is Planned
May 24, 2016
Work is continuing on the demolition of the former Century High School on Hecker Road due to tornado damage, as plans are being made to memorialize Black Cat memories with a monument.
During the EF-3 tornado that struck Century on February 15, the main potion of the old high school was heavily damaged, with windows broken and window frames pushed inward. The Kayo Stanton Football Stadium, including the press box, was also structurally damaged.
Bricks from the school, along with a flagpole and monument, are being salvaged. The bricks will be sold, engraved and place at a monument to the school at a location yet to be determined, but likely the Alger-Sullivan Historical Park, the Nadine McCaw Park or Showalter Park. The town has formed a committee to decide how to use the bricks and memorialize the old Century High School. The committee’s next meeting is tentatively set for 6 p.m. on June 7 at the Century Chamber of Commerce office.
The main Century High School school building was constructed in 1937. Century High School closed 20 years ago after being merged with Ernest Ward High School in Walnut Hill to form the current Northview High School.
Pictured top and bottom: Looking toward the tornado-damaged Kayo Stanton Stadium. Pictured below: Work continues to demolish the former Century High School. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Investigation Underway As Large Detached Garage Destroyed By Fire
May 24, 2016
An early morning fire destroyed a large detached garage and at least one vehicle in Cantonment.
The fire was reported about 3 a.m. Tuesday on Reese Lane off Chemstrand Road.
The Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office was called to investigate the cause of the blaze.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Wahoos Top Suns
May 24, 2016
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos won the final game of its five-game series against the Jacksonville Suns by scoring the winning run in the 10th inning when center fielder Phillip Ervin scored on a fielder’s choice by shortstop Calten Daal.
Pensacola clung to the, 5-4, victory over the Suns Monday at The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville on a game-ending double play with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning.
Jacksonville third baseman James Roberts flew out to Blue Wahoos right fielder Brandon Dixon. Dixon then gunned the ball to Pensacola first baseman Kyle Parker, who fired it to Daal covering second base to double up Jacksonville’s Moises Sierra and end the game.
Although Jacksonville won the series, 3-2, the Blue Wahoos kept pace with the Biloxi Shuckers in the Southern League South Division. Despite going, 6-6, in its last 12 games, Pensacola is now 26-19 this season and remains in second place, just a half game behind the Shuckers.
Biloxi lost, 3-2, to the Tennessee Smokies in 12 innings Monday night to fall to 26-18 on the year.
Pensacola’s Daal, who was 2-5 with three RBIs on two doubles, doubled to center field in the eighth inning to drive in first baseman Kyle Parker. Parker scored from second, after stealing his first base of the season, to put the Blue Wahoos up, 4-3.
Daal now has four RBIs on the season and is batting .356 in 20 games with Pensacola.
However, Jacksonville came back to tie the score, 4-4, in the bottom of the eighth to send the game to extra innings. Jacksonville first baseman Chris Curley singled to center field to score Suns left fielder Austin Dean.
Blue Wahoos southpaw Amir Garrett, the Cincinnati Reds No. 3 prospect, did not get the decision but pitched another fabulous game. Garrett is 3-3 with a 1.49 earned-run average this season. He worked a season high 6.2 innings and gave up three runs, one earned on four hits, and two walks.
Garrett struck out seven Jacksonville batters and now has 54 on the season, which ties him for third in the Southern League.
The Blue Wahoos tied the game, 3-3, in the top of the fifth when Ervin hit a two-out single to left field to drive in Tony Renda, who had hit his 13th double of the season to left. Renda, who was playing third base Monday, got one hit in each of the last four games against Jacksonville. He was 4-18 with three runs scored and three RBIs in the series and is batting .281 this season.
Ervin who is hitting .121 this year with runners in scoring position now is tied with Brandon Dixon with 17 RBIs this season for Pensacola.
In the second inning, Pensacola jumped to a 2-0 lead. Pensacola’s Daal doubled to left field to score Parker, who led off the inning with a walk. Blue Wahoos catcher Chad Wallach then smacked a sacrifice fly that drove in Dixon for the second run of the inning.
But Jacksonville came back in the bottom of the inning to score three runs and take the lead. The Suns loaded the bases with two outs when pitcher Patrick Johnson singled on a ground ball to Daal, who threw the ball away. That allowed both first baseman Chris Curley and third baseman James Roberts to score tying the game, 2-2. Wallach then allowed a pass ball on strike out by Suns second baseman Yefri Perez, and center field Jeremias Pineda crossed the plate to put Jacksonville up, 3-2.