One Injured In Highway 29 Guardrail Crash
May 5, 2016
One person was injured in a single vehicle crash late Wednesday night.
The driver of a pickup truck lost control and struck a guardrail on Highway 29 near Quintette Road about 11:40 p.m. The driver was transported by ambulance to an area hospital with injuries that were not considered critical.
The accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. The Cantonment Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and Escambia County EMS also responded to the crash.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Escambia EMS Receives Florida Excellence Award
May 5, 2016
Escambia County Emergency Medical Services was selected as a Best Practices winner for the 2016 Florida Excellence Awards for the implementation of a customer satisfaction survey. The award will be presented to Escambia County EMS at the 2016 Florida Excellence Awards Best Practices Conference in Orlando on May 12 and 13.
Customer satisfaction surveys have been conducted by Escambia County EMS for a number of years, but they recently switched to a new service which allows staff to easily review the specifics on caregivers, feedback includes the patient’s perception of EMS’s quality of customer service.
The survey evaluates service from the 911 call to transport to billing performance of Escambia County EMS. The complaints EMS receives are typically not related to a patient’s care, but their perception on what could have been done differently during the encounter.
Additionally, Escambia County EMS shares data via ESO’s Health Data Exchange program, which allows medics to see their patient’s emergency room outcomes at West Florida Hospital. Escambia County EMS hopes to implement this data share with Sacred Heart and Baptist hospitals.
Wahoos Beat Biloxi
May 5, 2016
The 6-foot-5, 260-pound right-handed Sal Romano looks like a menacing pitcher, especially when he throws a fastball in the mid- to upper-90s off the mound.
But believe it or not, his first Double-A victory came in his 12th start between last season and this season as the Pensacola Blue Wahoos rolled over Biloxi, 8-3, in the series opener Wednesday at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
Pensacola gained a game on Biloxi, improving to 15-11, while the first-place Shuckers dropped to 17-8.
Romano is now 1-1 in five starts this season with a 3.86 earned-run average. He gave up three runs, two earned, to Biloxi in the first inning and then settled down. He allowed five hits, two walks and struck out eight. Last year, for Pensacola the big righty was 0-4 in seven starts with a 10.96 ERA.
Pensacola manager Pat Kelly said the difference is a smarter Romano.
“We’re seeing his maturation,” Kelly said. “He started getting his curveball over the strike zone instead of burying it all the time. He’s still a thrower, though.”
Romano said he had to put the first inning out of his mind after walking to the dugout.
“My fellow staff and guys told me to leave it out there,” said Romano, who committed himself to becoming a Major League pitcher at 15 years old. “I said in my head, ‘Sal, let’s restart this.’”
And getting that first victory in the Southern League?
“Wins are wins, but obviously it’s nice to get one here in Double-A,” Romano said. “That is nice.”
In the first inning, Biloxi jumped out to a 3-0 lead when third baseman Javier Betancourt smashed a two-out, 3-2 pitch down the left field line clearing the bases for all three runs.
Pensacola came back, though, in the second inning when catcher Chad Wallach hit a two-run bomb over the left field fence with two outs that also scored shortstop Calten Daal. Daal, who was 3-4 and scored twice Wednesday, had got on base with a low line drive to left field to extend his hitting streak to seven games.
Wallach was also 3-4 and scored twice, hitting in the No. 8 spot in the lineup. He raised his average to .209 on the season and leads the team in walks with 13.
“It felt good,” said Wallach, who hit his second homer of the year. “I’ve been struggling a little bit, so it was nice to square up on the ball.”
Kelly said Wallach’s homer changed the complexion of the game.
“Wallach’s blow was big,” Kelly said. “The big key was Wallach getting that two-run home run. We didn’t have that three-run deficit.”
Blue Wahoos fans were being treated to a pitching duel when all of a sudden the force was with Pensacola hitters in the bottom of the fifth inning.
The flood of runs started with a dribbler by shortstop Calten Daal and ended with Pensacola sending all nine batters to the plate and scoring six runs on six hits to go up, 8-3.
The first five batters of the inning all got on base-on four singles and a fielder’s choice-against Adrian Houser, the Milwaukee Brewers No. 17 prospect according MLB.com. Houser struck out nine in four innings, retiring seven in a row at one point, but gave up seven earned runs on seven hits. Houser’s earned-run average jumped from 7.20 to 8.63, as he fell to 1-3 in five starts this season.
The biggest hit that inning came on a line drive triple by Phillip Ervin past a diving right fielder that cleared the loaded bases, giving Pensacola a 7-3 lead. Ervin then scored the final run of the game, when Biloxi catcher Jacob Nottingham dropped the ball trying to tag him out.
Ervin extended his hitting streak to seven games. In the last 11 games, after working with hitting coach Alex Pelaez, is 11-34 for a .294 average, with three home runs, 10 RBIs and 14 runs scored. He’s raised his average from .179 to .244.
Escambia County Releases April 2014 Flood Report
May 4, 2016
Just over two years after the April 2014 flooding event that severely impacted Escambia County and its residents, the county has released the April 2014 Flood Recovery Report to provide citizens with updates about transportation and drainage mitigation projects and repairs in their neighborhoods and communities.
The report highlights Escambia County’s ongoing efforts to make repairs to 2,300 damage points to county roadways, bridges, drainage systems and ponds as a result of the April 2014 flood, along with recommendations from the Stormwater Advisory Team and efforts to improve stormwater standards county-wide. Also outlined in the report are the many sources of funding the county is utilizing to help fund approximately $25.8 million in transportation and drainage repair and improvement projects throughout Escambia County.
“With such staggering destruction, recovery is neither fast nor easy; it must be a strategic, multi-year commitment…While we can never take away the suffering our residents endured as a result of this natural disaster, we can continue to identify and invest in solutions to reduce the threat of flooding and protect our citizens,” County Administrator Jack Brown wrote in the report.
Escambia County has completed 150 of 182 total count infrastructure project related to the flood. There are 15 project in the bidding or design phase and 17 more under construction.
To read the full report, click one of the links below:
In District 5, there are 18 completed projects totaling $1.9 million:
- Alysheba Drive
- Ashford-Turnberry Ponds (2)
- Chemstrand Road CR749
- Copper Forrest Drive & Man O-War
- CR297A at Ditches
- CR297A at Box Culvert
- Devine Farm Road
- Emergency Bridge Inspections & Repair
- Emergency Repairs
- Gonzalez Zone Ponds (12)
- Guidy Lane Bridge
- Hillview Drive East
- Meadowbrook
- Pavement Rehab – Rosedown
- Stillbrook Bridge Repair
- Tecumseh/ Clear Creek Farms
- Water Oaks
- Pavement Rehab – Basin Street/Creekside Court
Additional North Escambia projects
Escambia Man Gets 30 Years For Abusing Two Young Children
May 4, 2016
An Escambia County man is headed to prison for three decades for abusing two young children.
James Ard, age 28 of East Ten Mile Road, entered a guilty plea to multiple child sexual abuse charges and resisting and officer without violence. Escambia County Circuit Judge Darlene Dickey sentenced Ard to 30 years in state prison. After his release from prison, Ard will be on lifetime sexual offender probation. Ard was designated a sexual predator and will be required to register as a sexual predator and comply with all statutory requirements.
The case involved Ard’s sexual abuse of two young children. On October 3, 2015, the children disclosed the abuse to their mother, and she notified the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. When they arrived on scene, deputies detained Ard in a cruiser. While deputies interviewed witnesses, Ard escaped from the back of the cruiser and fled on foot. He was located with the use of a K9.
Woman Pleads Guilty To ‘Brutal’ Murder Of Stepfather Near Munson
May 4, 2016
A young woman accused of the 2014 murder of her stepfather near Munson has now pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second degree manslaughter. She will be sentenced next month.
Taylor Lynn Crongeyer previously pleaded not guilty to a homicide charge. Prosecutors said she shot 40-year Aubrey Dewayne Cooley who was found dead December 26, 2014, with a gunshot wound to his head at his Dale Hall Road home. He was tied to the trailer hitch of a pickup truck with a rope around his ankles.
When they arrived on scene, Crongeyer exited the residence with a large amount of blood on her clothing, according to an arrest report. When deputies walked through the residence, they found blood spots on the floor, a bedroom mattress and outside on the front and back porch areas. They also found a rifle on the floor at the foot of a bed in the master bedroom.
A spokesman for the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office called incident a “brutal homicide”, arresting Crongeyer just hours after the shooting.
She remains in the Santa Rosa County Jail without bond.
Jim Allen Elementary Shines At Math Competition
May 4, 2016
Teams from Jim Allen Elementary School took part in the his past weekend’s Sunshine Math Competition at Washington High School.
One of Jim Allen’s third grade teams took second place with team members -Leslee Brooks, Harlie Davidson, Kyleigh Soto and Desmond Tucker. And a Jim Allen fourth grade team took third place with team members Abigail Arnette, Damian Cullen, Grayson Jackson and Audrey Rudd.
For an earlier story with complete Sunshine Math Competition results and additional photos, click here.
Pictured: Jim Allen Elementary School’s Sunshine Math Teams. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Escambia Man Pleads To Federal Weapons Charges
May 4, 2016
Deangelo A. Rome, 25, pleaded guilty Tuesday to unlawfully possessing a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon. The guilty plea was announced by Christopher P. Canova, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
During his guilty plea, Rome admitted that, in February 2015, a law enforcement officer discovered a running vehicle with Rome unresponsive in the driver’s seat and located a loaded handgun in view under Rome’s seat.
Later, in December 2015, law enforcement responded to a “shots fired” disturbance call. A shooting victim was located, and the residence had bullet holes through a sliding glass door. Multiple shell casings and a loaded magazine were found on the scene. A fingerprint on the loaded magazine matched that of Rome.
A few days later, law enforcement responded to a call of armed individuals, who, after fleeing, were tracked to a residence with a vehicle in the driveway. A deputy saw an assault rifle in the vehicle, and ammunition was also found on the premises. During a search of the premises, Rome was located hiding under a bed. The rifle inside the vehicle had both a palm print and DNA evidence belonging to Rome, and Rome’s fingerprint was also located on a separate box of ammunition.
For each of the three firearm charges, Rome faces a maximum of 10 years in prison. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 18, 2016, at 2:00 p.m. at the United States Courthouse in Pensacola.
The case resulted from investigations by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, the Pensacola Police Department, and the ATF Gun Crime Response Team.
Work Continues To Preserve Bricks From Former Century High School
May 4, 2016
Plans are continuing to save bricks and a campus monument as the former Century High School is being demolished due to tornado damage.
Century Mayor Freddie McCall said the Escambia County School District, owners of the building, have authorized the town to take 2,000 bricks as the building is removed, and also save the flag pole and a campus monument.
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 will form a committee to decide how to use the bricks and memorialize the old Century High School.
Closed 20 years ago, the Century High Building was constructed in the middle 1930’s. It was damaged during the EF-3 tornado that hit Century February 15 and will be torn down by the Escambia County School District.
Pictured: A dedication monument dated 1936 outside the former Century High School. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Escambia Man Convicted Of UWF Dorm Attack
May 4, 2016
An Escambia County man has been convicted of attacking a female University of West Florida student..
Dylan R. Robinson was convicted on by an Escambia County Jury of two counts of sexual battery. He faces a maximum sentence of life in state prison for each count.
Robinson was charged with attacking the female student in her dorm on the UWF campus in November 2014.
He will be sentenced on June 7.