EREC Holds 77th Annual Meeting (With Gallery)
May 1, 2016
Escambia River Electric Cooperative members held their 77nd Annual Meeting Saturday at Northview High School.
Members enjoyed food and entertainment, vote for trustees and met in session.
In 1937, the first meeting was held to organize Escambia River Electric Cooperative, Inc. at the Oak Grove Community House. By lamplight, several prominent community leaders laid out the blueprints for the formation and operation of EREC.
After Congress passed the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, which made loans available for the establishment of rural electric cooperatives, widespread rural electrification began. The formation of cooperatives in other parts of the country stimulated the interest of local leaders such as C. R. Walker, E. H. Lundy, J. L. Robbins and County Agent J. G. Hudson. They continued to move forward with their plans even though they were often met with opposition and skepticism.
On March 10, 1939, Escambia River Electric Cooperative, Inc. was born when the incorporators met at the American National Bank building in Pensacola to pass the bylaws, which would establish the cooperative and make their dream a reality. The cooperative’s first month of operation brought them 88 members. Since that time, the cooperative has grown to serve approximately 10,000 members in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties with over 1,800 miles of energized line.
Click here for a NorthEscambia.com photo gallery from the event.
Pictured top: Caleb Dennis performs at the Escambia River Electric Cooperative Annual Meeting at Northview High School. Pictured inset: The meeting included activities and goodies for the kids. Pictured below: Powersouth Energy Cooperative CEO Gary Smith explains how his $2 billion company provides electricity to EREC. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Olivia Britt, Bethany Reynolds Named EREC Scholarship Winners
May 1, 2016
Saturday, Escambia River Electric Cooperative awarded two $4,000 scholarships to local high school seniors. The Escambia County winner was Bethany Reynolds from Northview High School, and the Santa Rosa County winner was Olivia Britt from Jay High School.
This was EREC’s 19th year to offer the Herman D. Johnson Scholarship Awards to a graduating senior with a parent or guardian that is a member of the cooperative..
In the past, capital credits issued by EREC that were unclaimed had to be turned over to the state. But state legislation now allows such funds to be deposited into a qualified, educational charity fund. The EREC membership voted to use these funds in the form of scholarships.
Both students will receive $1,000 for each of four years provided they continue to meet the scholarship criteria.
Pictured top: EREC scholarship winner Olivia Britt from Jay High School. Pictured below: EREC scholarship winner Bethany Reynolds from Northview High School. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Escambia County Spring Livestock Show Results
May 1, 2016
The Gulf Coast Agriculture and Natural Resources Youth Organization’s annual Spring Livestock Show was held last weekend at the 4-H facility in Molino.
The show featured animal exhibits of swine, cattle, poultry, sheep, goats and more. Saturday’s show was the culmination of livestock projects by 4-H youth and FFA members, some lasting 100 days or longer, during which they raise their animals, monitor their health and nutrition, kept records and (in some classes) worked to obtain a buyer.
For a NorthEscambia.com photo gallery from the event, click here.
The results of the 2016 livestock show, by category, are:
Lightweight Swine:
- 1st place Amber Neal
- 2nd place Brady Rising
- 3rd place Nathan O’Neal
Middleweight Swine:
- 1st place Beulah Academy FFA Chapter
- 2nd place Jonathon Stier
- 3rd place Hannah Thorne
Heavyweight Swine:
- 1st place Bricen Iannone
- 2nd place Wesley Hardin
- 3rd place Kaley Lashley
Super Heavyweight Swine:
- 1st place Savannah Bradshaw
- 2nd place Wyatt Allen
- 3rd place Andrew Bosinger
Grand Champion Swine: Savannah Bradshaw
Reserve Champion Swine: Wyatt Allen
Showmanship (swine):
Senior:
- 1st place Erica Water
- 2nd place Allison Woodfin
- 3rd place Danielle Tinker
Intermediate:
- 1st place Jessica Conti
- 2nd place Chelsi Lashley
- 3rd place Kaley Lashley
Junior:
- 1st place Wyatt Allen
- 2nd place Savannah Bradshaw
- 3rd place Shelby Lashley
Lightweight Steers: 1st place Lane Booker
Middleweight Steers:
- 1st place Blake Worley
- 2nd place Ethan Cunningham
Heavyweight Steers:
- 1st place Haylee Weaver
- 2nd place Willow Foxworth
Grand Champion Market Steer: Lane Booker
Reserve Champion Market Steer: Willow Foxworth
Showmanship (steer):
Senior:
- 1st place Willow Foxworth
- 2nd place Haylee Weaver
- 3rd place Blake Worley
Intermediate:
- 1st place Lane Booker
- 2nd place Ethan Cunningham
Market Preview Steer 1st place, Grand Champion Preview Steer and Preview Steer Showmanship 1st place: Zachary Rutherford
Market Wether Goats, 9-12 months: 1st place Benjamin Roach
Grand Champion Market Wether Goats: Benjamin Roach
Meat Goat (Breeding), 0-6 months: 1st place Izzy Kent
Meat Goat (Breeding) over 6 months:
- 1st place Izzy Kent
- 2nd place Leah Rutherford
- 3rd place Reagan Roach
Grand Champion Meat Goat Breeding and Reserve Champion Meat Goat Breeding: Izzy Kent
Dairy Goat (Breeding), 0-6 months:
- 1st place Madison Fendley
- 2nd place Andrew Fendley
Dairy Goat (Breeding), over 6 months:
- 1st place Madison Fendley
- 2nd place Andrew Fendley
- 3rd place Dillon Conti
Grand Champion Dairy Goat Breeding: Madison Fendley
Reserve Champion Dairy Goat Breeding: Andrew Fendley
Showmanship (goats):
Senior: 1st place Dillon ContiIntermediate:
- 1st place Izzy Kent
- 2nd place Madison Fendley
- 3rd place Stewart Woodfin
Junior:
- 1st place Leah Rutherford
- 2nd place Andrew Fendley
- 3rd place Reagan Roach
Beef Breeding
Class I: Registered Angus: 1st place Tyler Simmons
Class II: Registered Angus:
- 1st place Tyler Simmons
- 2nd place Willow Foxworth
Grand Champion Registered Angus and Reserve Champion Registered Angus: Tyler Simmons
Registered Balancer: 1st place Izzy Kent
Grand Champion Registered Balancer: Izzy Kent
Registered Charolais:
- 1st place Izzy Kent
- 2nd place Zachary Rutherford
Registered Red Mott: 1st place Zachary Rutherford
Grand Champion Registered Red Mott: Zachary Rutherford
Registered Short Horn: 1st place Lane Booker
Grand Champion Registered Short Horn: Lane Booker
Grand Champion Registered: Izzy Kent
Reserve Champion Registered: Lane Booker
Commercial Class IX: 1st place Ethan Cunningham
Commercial Class X:
- 1st place Leah Rutherford
- 2nd place Zachary Stokes
- 3rd place Christian Feliberty
Commercial Class XI:
- 1st place Savana McGowin
- 2nd place Emily Dozier
- 3rd place Emma Stokes
Commercial Class XII:
- 1st place Colbie English
- 2nd place Travis Booker
- 3rd place Haylee Weaver
Grand Champion Commercial: Colbie English
Reserve Champion Commercial: Travis Booker
Grand Supreme Champion: Colbie English
Reserve Supreme Champion: Izzy Kent
Showmanship (beef breeding):
Senior:
- 1st place Zachary Rutherford
- 2nd place Savana McGowin
- 3rd place Zachary Stokes
Intermediate:
- 1st place Izzy Kent
- 2nd place Lane Booker
- 3rd place Jessica Conti
Junior:
- 1st place Leah Rutherford
- 2nd place Colbie English
Rabbits (Commercial California Class):
- 1st place Audrey Goetter
- 2nd place Stewart Woodfin
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Hundreds Of Elementary Students Shine At Sunshine Math Competition
May 1, 2016
Hundreds of third, fourth and fifth graders from across Escambia County took part in the Sunshine Math competition Saturday morning at Washington High School. There were 57 teams in the Escambia County Council of Teachers of Mathematics competition. Complete results were not immediately available.
Pictured top: A Molino Park Elementary School fourth grade Sunshine Math team hard at work Saturday morning. Pictured below: Top award winners and hundreds of students took part in the annual event. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Big Spring Books Sale Sunday At The Library
May 1, 2016
Friends of the West Florida Public Library, a non-profit support organization of the West Florida Public Library, is holding its Big Spring Book Sale Sunday at the downtown Main Library, 239 N. Spring Street. Thousands of hardcover, paperback, and collectible books will be available for purchase, plus a variety of DVDs, CDs, puzzles, and other items. Proceeds are used to fund programs and enhancements at WFPL branches including Century and Molino.
Sunday is the final day of the book sale with free admission and the popular $5 Bag Sale from noon to 3 p.m. For just $5, shoppers can purchase as many books as will fit in a brown paper grocery bag. (Oversized bags from home are not permitted.)
Book sale items include thousands of generous donations from the public and some library books retired from circulation, many of them now out-of-print. Novels and mysteries are sorted by author or into genres like science fiction and westerns. Other book categories include arts and entertainment, children’s, cookbooks, history, holidays, home and hobbies, literature, foreign language, military, modern living, nature and gardening, religion, science, sports, technical, and travel. Most prices range from 50 cents for paperbacks to $2 for hardcover. There are also recorded books, magazines, and other media for sale.
The Collector’s Corner will feature an assortment of signed books, pre-1950s books, books by local and Florida authors, and other special books that are great for gifts. These items are priced as marked and must be checked out separately, so shoppers paying by check should bring at least two checks.
Payment by cash or check is preferred. Credit cards are accepted for sales of $20 or more.
Birmingham, Pensacola Split Doubleheader
May 1, 2016
Pensacola right fielder Phillip Ervin scored three times in game two of a doubleheader, including the winning run in the seventh inning, as the Blue Wahoos split a Saturday doubleheader with the Birmingham Barons.
Pensacola won the second game, 5-2, at Regions Field, after dropping its second straight game to Birmingham in the first game, 8-3. Pensacola is now 13-10 and in second place in the Southern League South Division, while Birmingham is 9-14 and in fourth place in the North Division.
Ervin, who played college baseball at Samford University in Birmingham, put on a show for old friends and fans going 3-4, scoring five runs, hitting a solo home run-his second of the season-and stealing his ninth base, which is fourth best in the Southern League. He is now hitting .239 and has a .363 on-base percentage.
When the Cincinnati Reds chose Ervin in the first round in 2013, he became the first baseball player ever drafted out of the private university. The 23-year-old, who is the Cincinnati Reds No. 17 prospect, was born in Mobile and lists his hometown as Leroy, Ala., a town of less than 1,000 residents about 60 miles north of Mobile.
In the second game, Ervin, who stole third, scored when second baseman Zach Vincej hit a soft liner to center field in the fourth inning to put the Blue Wahoos ahead, 1-0.
In the fifth inning, Ervin smacked a solo home run deep to left field to give Pensacola a 2-0 lead.
But Birmingham tied the score, 2-2, in the bottom of the sixth inning when left fielder Eudy Pina singled to shortstop, which scored center fielder Adam Engel. Pina then scored the second run on a ground out by third baseman Trey Michalczewski.
The Baron’s Engel made up for an error in the seventh inning on Ervin’s hit to center field by throwing out Pensacola’s Eric Jagielo at home plate. However, with one out first baseman Brandon Dixon then hit a two-run double to left to score both Ervin, with what turned out to be the winning run, and left fielder Tony Renda to give the Blue Wahoos a 4-2 lead. Dixon stole third base and scored on a wild pitch with two to put Pensacola up, 5-2, which was the final margin of victory.
Blue Wahoos pitcher Rookie Davis continued his hot start this season. He pitched five scoreless innings, giving up two hits and striking out one and lowered his earned-run average to 0.78.
Pensacola reliever Alejandro Chacin earned his first Double-A victory (1-0) pitching the last 1.1 innings. In his eighth appearance on the year, he gave up two hits and struck out four. He has now struck out 14 hitters in 9.1 innings this year.
In the first game, Birmingham scored the final six runs to win, 8-3, over Pensacola.
Pensacola first baseman Donald Lutz knocked in all three of Pensacola’s runs in the first game of the doubleheader and got on base all three times. Lutz, who’s batting .164 this season, blasted a two-out, two-run home run to center field in top of the second inning. His first dinger of the season came in his 55th at bat this season. Lutz’s homer scored Ervin, who singled to lead off the inning.
Lutz also tripled in the fourth inning with two out to again drive in Ervin, who was hit by a pitch, and put Pensacola ahead, 3-2. It would be the Blue Wahoos last run of the shortened seven-inning game.
Birmingham catcher Jeremy Dowdy led the Baron’s doubling in two runs with the bases loaded in the fourth inning to put Birmingham ahead, 4-2, for good. Dowdy also hit his first homer of the season in the sixth inning that brought in second baseman Joey DeMichele, giving the Baron’s its second consecutive victory in the five-game series. For the game, Dowdy was 2-3 with a double, home run, run scored and four RBIs.
Man Found To Be Stabbed After Cantonment Wreck
April 30, 2016
A man that had been stabbed wrecked his vehicle near International Paper in Cantonment early Saturday morning.
The man reportedly suffered multiple stab wounds during at an altercation at an address on Highway 95A near El Camino Drive before fleeing in a vehicle. He crashed near Tree Street, just south of Muscogee Road, about 1:15 a.m.
The man was transported to an area hospital. His condition was not available.
Further details, including the man’s name, have not yet been released. The incident remains under investigation by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Molino Mom Sentenced For Husband’s Murder
April 30, 2016
A Molino mom that once claimed a “stand your ground” defense in the murder of her husband 2013 is now headed to state prison.
Rebecca A. Rogers, 45, was sentenced Friday by Judge Thomas Dannheisser to two years in prison, to be followed by 13 years probation. She will receive credit for 42 days that she already served in the county jail. She faced a maximum of 15 years in prison, with sentencing guidelines calling for about nine years behind bars.
Rogers pleaded no contest to manslaughter for shooting her husband, 42-year old Jason Lee Rogers in August 2013. Her attorneys previously made a motion to dismiss the case, saying Rogers acted within the parameters of Florida’s self-defense “stand your ground” law. That motion was denied at the local level and by the Florida First District Court of Appeals.
The ruling from the appeals court last June did not allow her to claim she acted under the “stand you ground” law, but it specifically did not prohibit Rogers from claiming self-defense at trial.
Friday’s sentencing hearing lasted over five hours as Dannheisser reviewed evidence and heard testimony from Rogers and her family.
“I am so sorry that this happened,” Rogers told the judge. “I regret that this happened and I regret that I shot Jason that night.” She said she still loves Jason Rogers and apologized for the pain and suffering caused by her actions. “I am sorry for taking their son, their brother. For taking my children’s father and my grandson’s ‘Grappie’,” she said.
Dannheisser reviewed the 911 recording from the night of the murder, during which Rogers said, “He came after me. He was choking me and he said it was going to be he last night of my life.”
Two of Roger’s four daughters testified about the abuse their mother suffered from their father. “Please don’t take her away from us your honor,” Roger’s oldest daughter Kayla Clear said.
Dannheisser said the evidence did show aggression by Jason Rogers, but he said he believes that deadly force should have been used only as a last resort. He ordered Rogers, who had been free on bond, immediately remanded into custody to begin her sentence.
Rebecca Rogers shot her husband twice in the back and once in the head inside the couple’s home in the 3400 block of Highway 29 in Molino. She told a 911 dispatcher that her husband choked her and then she shot him.
Deputies arrived to find Rebecca Rogers standing outside the home. They found Jason Rogers lying unconscious in the back bedroom of the home on his stomach with a gunshot to his head. He also suffered two other gunshot wounds to the back. He died at a local hospital about two days later.
Murder Suspect Raymond Pruitt Captured In Alabama
April 30, 2016
Murder suspect Raymond Jerome Pruitt. was taken into custody Friday afternoon in Pike County, AL, near Troy, according to the Pike County Sheriff’s Office. He was captured after a high speed chase.
Pruitt has an active arrest warrant for the robbery of A&E Food Mart and homicide of of store owner Chung Lun Chiang also known as “Alan”.
Investigators say Pruitt robbed the A&E Food Mart on Pace Boulevard about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. During the robbery, he shot and killed Chiang, 53, as he worked behind the counter.
Pruitt’s crime spree began on April 5 in Montgomery when he stabbed his girlfriend and shot her with her own pistol as she tried to escape. Pruitt has since been identified as the prime suspect in five armed robberies occurring in Montgomery, Ozark, Troy, and Prattville, AL.
Wanted Felon Escapes Manhunt, Possibly To Century
April 30, 2016
Authorities are on the lookout for a Flomaton man that may have escaped to Century during a manhunt Friday afternoon.
Flomaton Police responded to the home of Johnny Jermaine Johnson about 2:45 p.m. after receiving a call that he was holding a woman against her will. Officers arrived to find that Johnson had already fled out of a bedroom window.
K-9 units from Fountain Correctional in Atmore and Century Correctional were called to the scene as Flomaton Police established a perimeter along with the Escambia County (AL) Sheriff’s Office. Johnson was tracked through thick woods and brush in the MLK Drive and Vanhoosen Road area, with dogs loosing his scent in the area of MLK and Bell Street. Police received a tip that he had been picked up by a family member and transported to Century.
Johnson has unrelated felony warrants for his arrest for escape and a probation violation, according to Flomaton Police Chief Bryan Davis, who issued a warning to anyone that might harboring Johnson.
“Being that Johnson has multiple felony warrants for his arrest, anyone that is found to assist or hide Johnson can be charged with hindering prosecution, which is a felony,” Davis said.
The female that was reportedly being held against her will was found at Johnson’s residence when officers arrived. Police said she is safe and received minor injuries.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Johnson is asked to call the Flomaton Police Department at (850) 296-5811 or their local law enforcement agency.