NWE Wins 10U Cal Ripken Championship
June 4, 2024
The Northwest Escambia 10U won the Cal Ripken District 7 championship Monday night at Bradberry Park in Walnut Hill. Flomaton was runner-up. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Fifth Candidate Prefiles For Escambia Commission District 5
June 4, 2024
A new candidate has prefiled to seek the Escambia County Commission District 5 seat in the 2024 election.
Joshua Stephens Roberson pre-filed Monday with no party affiliation (NPA).
Incumbent Steven Barry (REP), Rafael Lopez (NPA) James Hilburn (REP) and John Taylor, Jr (REP), have also prefiled for the position.
Escambia Man Allegedly Shoots Neighbor In Argument Over Tree Limb
June 3, 2024
An Escambia County man was arrested Monday after allegedly shooting his neighbor during a dispute over tree limbs.
Derrick Jonathan Suell was charged with attempted homicide, firing a weapon in public or on residential property and criminal mischief with property damage and booked into the Escambia County Jail without bond.
The incident happened about 9 a.m. on Capitol Boulevard. near Cobb Lane. The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said Suell got into a disagreement with his neighbor over tree limbs and escalated into Suell shooting his neighbor in the leg.
The victim reportedly suffered non-life threatening injuries.
Longtime Educator Bill Slayton Won’t Seek Reelection To School Board
June 3, 2024
Longtime educator and Escambia County School Board member Bill Slayton will not seek reelection this year.
“I think 16 years is enough,” Slayton said of his service on the school board. “This makes 52 years I have been in education.”
“It’s the best district in Escambia County, maybe in the State of Florida, to be a school board member,” Slayton said of District 5, “with all the thousands of students, no one of the schools scoring below a ‘B’ in state testing.”
“My wife told me that if I ran again, she would divorce me,” Slayton quipped.
Slayton holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education from the University of Southern Mississippi. He served as band director for Tate High School’s “Showband of the South” from 1971 to 1987 and served as fine arts supervisor for the Escambia County School District from 1987 to 1991. From 1991 until 2007, he moved into administration for the school district, serving as assistant principal and principal at Woodham High and principal at George Stone Technical Center.
Slayton’s term ends in November.
To date, three candidates are pre-qualified for the seat: Thomas Harrell, Joshua Matthew Luther, and Jim “Andy Taylor”. A fourth candidate, Scott Taylor, prefiled but has withdrawn.
NorthEscambai.com photo, click to enlarge.
PPD: Molino Man was Trafficking Meth To ‘Make Some Money’
June 3, 2024
Pensacola Police said a Molino man was trafficking meth to “make some money”.
Dustin Michael Hearn, 42, was charged with trafficking methamphetamine, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and possession of drug paraphernalia.
In April, a Pensacola Police Department officer pulled Hearn over for a brake light violation in the area of West Strong Street and North Rues Street.
PPD officers reporting finding a bag of meth in his pocket. In the vehicle, they located a digital scale, schedule 2 controlled substance pills containing acetaminophen and hydrocodone bitartrate.
“I then spoke with Hearn. Hearn stated he understood his rights and agreed to speak to me. I asked Hearn about the meth found in his pocket. Hearn stated that he lost his job about a week ago and was trying to make some money. Hearn explained that he got the meth to sell to a friend,” the officer wrote in an arrest report.
Hearn was also cited for habitual driving with a suspended license and received a written warning for a faulty brake light.
He remained in the Escambia County Jail without bond due a hold from Santa Rosa County.
Escambia Man Charged With DUI After Wrong-Way Crash On I-110
June 3, 2024
An Escambia County man has been charged with driving under the influence after a wrong way crash on I-110 in Pensacola.
Liam Michael Collins, 28, was charged with DUI with property damage. He was released from the Escambia County Jail on a $1,000 bond.
The FHP said Collins was driving northbound in the southbound lanes of I-110 about 2:37 a.m. Friday and nearly struck a SUV head-on, side-swiping the vehicle. Tthe debris struck another another vehicle.
Troopers said Collins’ vehicle continued for another 400 feet down the southbound lanes after the crash before coming to a stop.
The drivers of the other vehicles were transported to local hospitals with minor injuries.
Collins was arrested after being medically cleared. He was also cited for driving on the wrong side of the road.
Florida Gas Prices Decline As Summer Season Travel Starts
June 3, 2024
Florida gas prices have declined the past 10 consecutive days. During that period, the state average dropped 11 cents per gallon.
Sunday’s state average was $3.45 per gallon. That’s five cents less than a week ago, but six cents more than this time last year.
The average in Escambia County was $3.21. A low $2.93 could be found Sunday night on East Nine Mile Road. In North Escambia, the low price was $2.99 at stations of Highway 29 near Roberts Road.
“The summer travel season is beginning with gasoline prices that are 20 cents less than the highest price this year,” said Mark Jenkins, public relations manager for AAA – The Auto Club Group. “While gasoline prices are usually volatile through the summer months, recent futures prices suggest the state average could move lower this week.”
The U.S. price for crude oil dropped 1% last week, amounting to a combined 4% drop through the past two weeks. Meanwhile, gasoline futures are down 16 cents during that time. On Sunday, OPEC and its allies agreed to extend oil production cuts into 2025 in effort to prop up oil prices. Oil analysts expected the decision and the price of oil was unchanged as of early Sunday night.
The U.S. price for crude oil dropped 1% last week, amounting to a combined 4% drop through the past two weeks. Meanwhile, gasoline futures are down 16 cents during that time. On Sunday, OPEC and its allies agreed to extend oil production cuts into 2025 in effort to prop up oil prices. Oil analysts expected the decision and the price of oil was unchanged as of early Sunday night.
NorthEscambia.com photo.
Blue Wahoos, Shuckers Canceled In Biloxi
June 3, 2024
written by Erik Bremer
Cantonment Community Revival Begins Tonight At Carver Park
June 3, 2024
The Cantonment Community Revival is taking place June 3-8 at Carver Park in Cantonment.
The event is sponsored by the Cantonment Improvement Committee (CIC) and the North Escambia Fellowship of Churches.
The Cantonment Community Revival schedule is as follows:
- Monday, June 3: Pastor Anthony Perry, Gonzalez Methodist Church
- Tuesday, June 4: Rev. Leon Bell, Associate Pastor Greater First Baptist Church of Cantonment
- Wednesday, June 5: Pastor Gene McCants, Providence Baptist Church
- Thursday, June 6: Brother Vincent Wilson, Deliverance Tabernacle
- Friday, June 7: Pastor Robert Gross, Back to the Cross Christian Center
- Saturday, June 8: A Family and Friends Fellowship Day will wrap up the week from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m..
Bond Revoked For Suspect In Death Of Teen At Cottage Hill Party
June 2, 2024
Bond has been revoked for the 19-year old charged in the April fatal shooting of a 16-year-old at a party at a Cottage Hill home.
Ethan Alexander O’Brien, 19, is back in the Escambia County Jail charged with second-degree negligent manslaughter after Escambia County Judge John Simon revoked his $300,000 bond. He was also charged with tampering with evidence and improper exhibition of a firearm. Court hearing paperwork does not indicate whY bond was revoked.
O’brien is due back in court in September.
The investigation determined that during a large gathering at the residence, O’Brien (pictured) was showing off his firearm at which time it accidentally discharged hitting 16-year-old Bryson Allen. O’Brien fled the scene before deputies arrived,” the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said.
The incident happened about 11:30 p.m. Friday, April 12 at a home in the 600 block of Wishbone Road. Allen was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Emergency dispatchers received one call from someone who told them she heard a gunshot from her neighbor’s house and someone screaming “help me”. Another caller reported that they heard one gunshot and two vehicles leaving, and people were knocking on other residents’ doors.
Another caller reported that there was a male that had a gunshot wound to his stomach and leg. Another 911 call reported that a 16-year-old male had been shot in the chest and was not breathing.
Deputies arrived on the scene and found a male on the ground with a gunshot wound to the chest. Deputies unsuccessfully performed CPR and used an AED in an attempt to revive Allen, who was pronounced deceased by Escambia County EMS.
A 17-year-old witness told deputies that O’Brien pulled his gun from his trunk, and he had it out trying to shoot it, the report states. O’Brien then held the gun up midway and shot it. The witness told deputies that she did not feel that O’Brien was trying to shoot the victim on purpose.
Another witness, a 17-year-old male, said he heard a gunshot and screaming about five minutes after arriving at the home. He said O’Brien pointed the gun. “He believes he was messing around with the gun, and he felt that he didn’t shoot it on purpose,” the report states.
Another 17-year-old witness told deputies that she had invited a few friends over to her house and she was inside when the incident occurred. She heard a gunshot and went outside to find Allen on the ground and asked who was responsible.
“Do you want us to get in trouble, and he said I gots to leave,” she indicated O’Brien said. She continues that before the incident O’Brien showed her the gun that was in his trunk, and she asked to shoot it. She said she did not fire what she described to investigators as a “big gun”.
Allen grabbed his side after being shot and said, “You just shot me bro” before falling to the ground, an additional 17-year-old witness told law enforcement. He said O’Brien had an “AR style” rifle and he was playing with before the shooting.
Pictured top: The scene on Wishbone Road in Cottage Hill late Friday night, April 12, after a teen was shot and killed. Pictured below: Crime scene still surrounded the home the following Saturday morning. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
