FDOT: Weekly Traffic Alerts
May 7, 2016
Drivers will encounter traffic disruptions on the following state roads in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties as crews perform construction and maintenance activities.
Escambia County:
- U.S. 29– Intermittent and alternating lane closures within the town of Century and from Champion Drive north continue.
- I-10/U.S. 29 Interchange Improvements – Alternating lane closures on I-10 near U.S. 29 (Exits 10A and 10B) Sunday, May 1 through Thursday, May 5 from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. as crews perform resurfacing and shoulder work. The speed limit on I-10 will be reduced to 50 mph during this time.
- Interstate 10 (I-10) Widening – Intermittent and alternating lane closures, between State Road (S.R.) 291 (Davis Highway/Exit 13) and U.S. 90 (Scenic Highway/Exit 17), from 7 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. and on Scenic Highway near Whisper Way from 8:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. the week of Monday, May 2 as work continues to widen these highways.
Santa Rosa County:
- I-10 Widening – Alternating lane closures on I-10, between the Escambia Bay Bridge and S.R. 281 (Avalon Boulevard/Exit 22), from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday, May 1 through Thursday, May 5 as work continues to widen this section of the interstate. In addition, alternating lane closures on Avalon Boulevard near the I-10 interchange as crews perform bridge work.
- S.R. 399 over U.S. 98 – Overnight repairs to the S.R. 399 southbound overpass over U.S. 98 will be in place from 8 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. throughout the project. U.S. 98 will be reduced to one lane in each direction from Shoreline Drive to just east of S.R. 399 to allow westbound U.S. 98 traffic to be diverted to eastbound U.S. 98. Westbound U.S. 98 access to S.R. 399 will be closed. An on-site detour will direct traffic to turn left on Daniel Street, left on Shoreline Drive and then right on eastbound U.S. 98 to access S.R. 399 via the at grade on ramp.
All activities are weather dependent and may be delayed or rescheduled in the event of inclement weather. Drivers are reminded to use caution, especially at night, when traveling in a work zone and to watch for construction workers and equipment entering and exiting the roadway.
Pictured: Work on the I-10 widening project at Scenic Highway in Escambia County. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Weekend Gardening: Tips For The Month Of May
May 7, 2016
The Escambia County Master Gardeners offer the following May lawn and garden tips:
- Continue planting summer annuals. Try one or two that you’ve never grown and/or one that is not available in stores as transplants.
- Plant heat-resistant summer flowering annuals such as begonias, impatiens, coleus, salvia, marigolds, torenia, verbena, ornamental peppers and gaillardia.
- Bulbs: Caladium, gladiolus.
- Vegetables: Continue planting warm weather seeds and transplants (Shade those transplants!). Use transplants for cherry tomatoes, eggplant and sweet potatoes. Plant seeds of lima beans, okra, southern peas: purple hull, crowder, etc.
- Prune and shape spring flowering shrubs and trees now. Later pruning may destroy next year’s blooms.
- Good cultural practices help maintain a healthy lawn and discourage insects and disease. Mow with a sharp blade. Centipedegrass should be cut to a height of 1½ to 2 inches. St. Augustinegrass normal growth habit cultivars should be cut to a height of 3 to 4 inches.
- Climbing roses are pruned after they finish blooming. Blooms form on one-year-old canes, so any older ones may be removed to make them more tidy. Cut each flowering stem back to the first five leaflet stem to encourage them to bloom again.Spray with horticultural oil or malathion for mites, scale and white flies, if insects are present, before it gets too hot (85 degrees).
- Yellow leaves on azaleas may mean they need iron. Apply iron sulphate or chelated iron.
- Feed citrus plants using special citrus fertilizer. Broadcast under the tree canopy and water in.
- Begin planting palms while the weather is warm and rainy.
- Make cuttings of azaleas, hollies, camellias, and other choice shrubs as new growth becomes half hardened.
- Take soft wood cuttings to root: alyssum, begonia, chrysanthemum, shrimp plant, dianthus, geranium, hibiscus, hydrangea, etc.
- Dig bulbs after foliage turns brown if they need to be divided or the space is needed for other plants. If the space isn’t needed, braid the foliage.
- Cut back the vines of Irish potatoes when they begin to die but leave the tubers in the ground for about two weeks longer to toughen the skin. Handle the potatoes carefully during digging, as skinned or bruised potatoes decay quickly when stored.
- Divide crowded and vigorously growing perennials.
- Promote continued flowering of bedding plants by removing faded blooms.
- Encourage coleus to branch and produce more colorful leaves by pinching off the flower stalks as they form.
- Prune poinsettias when new growth is 10-12 inches high (back to the last four leaves). Prune new growth at the base throughout the summer.
- Stop pruning after Labor Day.
- Keep roses watered, cut out weak spots, feed every six to eight weeks or at every new flush of growth, dust.
- For insect or disease problems in your garden, use the least toxic control possible.
Barrineau Park Historical Society Awards Scholarships
May 7, 2016
The Barrineau Park Historical Society presented three scholarships to area seniors Friday night.
- Haylee Wearver, Northview High School, was presented the Stephen S. Jogan Memorial Scholarship.
- Susanna Rogers, homeschooled, was presented the Barrineau Park Annual Scholarship.
- Bethany Reynolds, Northview High School, was presented the Lynda Minchew Memorial Scholarship.
Pictured above: (L-R) Susanna Rogers, Haylee Weaver, Bethany Reynolds and Craig Exner of the Barrineau Park Historical Society. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Panhandle Equine Rescue Hosts Animal Cruelty Investigations School
May 7, 2016
Panhandle Equine Rescue in Cantonment recently welcomed an equine class from the American Animal Cruelty Investigations School and Texas Academy of Animal Control Officers.
This was a two day, 16-hour class designed for animal control and police officers or cruelty investigators who come into contact with horses during the course of their work. This in-depth course teaches officers every aspect of care requirements for equine.
The course was taught by Alan Spence, who has 30 years of law enforcement and animal husbandry experience.
Students included animal control officers and deputies from Alabama, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, Escambia County Animal Control, and two prosecutors from the State Attorneys Office. PER Investigator Diane Lowery and Linda Lambert also attended the class.
Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Wahoos Take Series 4-3 Over Biloxi
May 7, 2016
With highly acclaimed pitching prospects Rookie Davis and Josh Hader on the hill, both offenses hoped they could save their best for last.
Pensacola pounced on the Biloxi bullpen and held off a late Shuckers rally to win 4-3 in front of a sellout crowd of 5,038 at Blue Wahoos Stadium. The Wahoos extended their winning streak to four games and have a chance to take first place in the Southern League South Division with a win Saturday.
The game lived up to the hype as a pitcher’s duel. Davis preserved his sub-1.00 earned run average, scattering a run on four hits over six innings, while Hader, Milwaukee’s No. 4 prospect according to MLB.com, struck out eight Wahoos in 5.2 innings. Alex Blandino knocked him out of the game with a double, forced a high throw from Shuckers catcher Jacob Nottingham to advance to third and scored on a wild pitch.
“I think Nottingham actually set him up,” Pensacola manager Pat Kelly said. “They had done it a couple of pitches before when Blandino had faked to break. I think Nottingham was hoping he’d run, but Alex was a good enough athlete to recognize on the long throw to second, he’s got a chance to go to third.”
The Wahoos put the game out of reach in the seventh as Tony Renda scored Joe Hudson on a triple to center field. Renda, batting .293 in 27 games with a team-leading 10 extra-base hits, credits his success to a simple approach.
“I’m working every day,” Renda said. “Nobody’s perfect, but I strive for perfection. I still haven’t had a perfect game, so I need to keep working toward it and go about my business the right way every day.”
Biloxi added intrigue with a late rally against Carlos Gonzalez, scoring two runs on three singles, before Alejandro Chacin struck out Brandon Macias and left the bases loaded.
“When we tacked on the two runs, it gave a little cushion to work with,” Kelly said. “Fortunately we had it, because we definitely needed it. Gonzalez has been so good, and they kind of seemed to find some holes.”
Santa Rosa Fireman Arrested For Financial Theft
May 6, 2016
A former Pace fireman has been arrested on multiple felony charges for allegedly stealing from his department.
Lee Pitts, 53, was arrested after a lengthy investigation conducted by the State Attorney’s Office into questionable business activities at the Pace Fire and Rescue Department. At the time of the charged offenses, Pitts was the department’s financial officer.
Pitt was charged with one count of organized fraud of property valued at less than $20,000, two counts of grand theft of property valued at $300 or more but less than $5,000 and 43 misdemeanor counts of petit theft from his former employer, the Pace Fire and Rescue Department.
If convicted, Pitts faces up to 15 years in state prison.
Pitts was accused of making non-department purchases on his Pace Fire and Rescue Department credit card, including 41 purchases of video games from Google ranging from 99 cents to $99.99, with the majority of the purchases being $99.99. Pitts told investigators that that one of his children must have used the PFRD credit card stored in his phone to make the Google purchases.
Prosecutors said there were additional questionable charges, including $250.85 to Greyhound, $636.48 to Ocean 6 for meat while his son was a salesman for the company, $72.01 to Tilly’s in Cordova Mall, and $366.14 to Sam’s Club for a Serta air bed.
Pitts was also accused of paying himself for 539.25 hours of paid time off, in excess of the 80 hours allowed per year for $5,288.30 of unauthorized compensation.
Former Cafeteria Manager Sentenced For Stealing Student Lunch Money
May 6, 2016
A former elementary school cafeteria manager has been sentenced to probation after being charged with stealing lunch money from student accounts at Molino Park and Jim Allen elementary schools.
Jennifer Leigh McKendrick, 42, was arrested for felony official misconduct and grand theft. She pleaded no contest to the charges against her. Judge Jennie Kinsey withheld adjudication in sentencing McKendrick to three years supervised probation. She will also be required to make restitution and pay $518 in court costs.
Officials said she was improperly refunding money from student lunch accounts and pocketed the cash.
McKendrick was first hired by the Escambia County School District in late 1997. In August 2013, she was promoted to food service manager at Molino Park Elementary School and was given the additional duty of supervising food service operations at Jim Allen Elementary in August 2014. Part of her duties included issuing refunds from student meal accounts.
In May 2015, a Molino Park parent found that his children’s online lunch accounts has an incorrect zero balance. When he called the cafeteria to question the balance, he was told the money was refunded in March 2015. The victim told investigators that he never requested and never received a refund. He was contacted three different times by McKendrick who offered to meet him off campus and refund the money, according to authorities.
McKendrick admitted that she removed money from the food service cashier kiosk at both Molino Park and Jim Allen elementary schools without completing the appropriate paperwork, according to an arrest warrant. She contacted a school district investigator and volunteered to reimburse the school district for any funds determined to be missing.
She resigned from her position on June 2, 2015.
A total of $2,787.75 of was wrongly removed from the school district’s food service funds, according to an internal audit.
Let Us Pray: Services Held For National Day Of Prayer
May 6, 2016
Atmore marked the National Day of Prayer Thursday with several events, drawing the faithful and pastors from Alabama and Florida. A prayer walk was held at Atmore City Hall, followed by prayer at the Veterans Memorial. A community prayer service and Bible reading was held Thursday afternoon in the Cornell Torrence Gym at Escambia County High School.
For a photo gallery from the event, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Obama Grants Early Release For Three Locals
May 6, 2016
Thursday, President Barack Obama commuted the prison sentenced of 58 people, including three from Escambia County:
Christopher Gulley – Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; Sentence: Life imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (June 12, 1996).
Larry Lewis – Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; possession with intent to distribute cocaine; possession with intent to distribute cocaine base; Sentence: 360 months’ imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release; $1,000 fine (October 20, 1999); amended to 324 months’ imprisonment (June 18, 2006); amended to 262 months’ imprisonment (July 2, 2015)
David Anthony Trotter – Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. Sentence: Life imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (October 15, 1993)
Gulley and Trotter will be released on September 2, while Lewis is set for release on May 5, 2017.
Florida Driver’s License System Down This Weekend
May 6, 2016
Drivers might want to act quickly if their licenses are set to expire in the next few days.
Floridians will not be able to renew their licenses this weekend, as the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles moves computer hardware from one government building in Tallahassee to another. The system will be affected from 8 p.m. Friday through 8 a.m. Monday.
Services will be unavailable for people who visit local tax collectors for renewals, as well as for people trying to get new IDs online.
Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles spokeswoman Beth Frady said the computer system should only be down for the weekend.
“Anyone whose credentials, registrations, ID cards, driver’s licenses … anything that expires from the department, it could impact them,” Frady said. “So, not everyone necessarily, but if you are set to expire, it will absolutely impact you.”
The move of the computer hardware comes as the state relocates about 1,500 employees from an office complex where the equipment has been housed. The relocation is due to allegations that poor environmental conditions in the complex have led to health problems for some workers.
“Monday morning, we are expected to be fully operational,” Frady said. “We are going to have teams working throughout the weekend to make sure all the testing and everything goes as planned.”