Driver’s License, Tag, Tax Collector Services Tuesday In Walnut Hill
September 23, 2024
Driver’s license and other tax collector services will be available in in Walnut Hill on Tuesday.
The Escambia County Tax Collector will be at the Walnut Hill Community Center on September 24 from 10 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.
Mobile Licensing and Identification Office (MILO) is a fully functional tax collector office on wheels, offering a range of services. The mobile unit provides a convenient method to renew a driver license, obtain a replacement driver license, conversion/reciprocation of out-of-state license, change a name or address on a current driver license or identification card, and get a first-time identification card. In addition to licensing services, the mobile unit also provides an opportunity to renew or replace a vehicle registration, receive a parking placard, transfer a title, pay property taxes, and apply for a business tax receipt. Written and driving tests are not available from the MILO unit.
The Walnut Hill Community Center, also known as the “Ruritan Building”, is at 7850 Highway 97, just north of Ernest Ward Middle School and the fire department.
Pictured: The Escambia Tax Collector’s MILO at the Walnut Hill Community Center on June 11. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
AAA: Florida Gas Prices Hold Steady as Oil Prices Rise
September 23, 2024
Florida gas prices averaged $3.13 per gallon on Sunday, according to AAA. The state average increased 6 cents at the beginning of the week, then sank back down to $3.13 by the weekend.
“Crude oil and gasoline futures rose last week, cooling off the downward trend of prices at the pump,” said Mark Jenkins, spokesman, AAA – The Auto Club Group. “The price gains are being attributed to optimism that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut would boost the global economy and energy demand.”
The average price per gallon Sunday in Escambia County was $2.84. The low price in North Escambia was $2.69 at several gas stations in Cantonment, while $2.67 could be found on Burgess Road in Pensacola along with $2.69 at multiple locations.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
FHP Chase Ends With Crash And Arrest
September 23, 2024
A Florida Highway Patrol chase Sunday in Escambia County ended with a crash and an arrest.
Dante Jamon Walker, 24, was charged with aggravated fleeing and eluding, possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana over 20 grams and no driver’s license.
An FHP trooper was conducting traffic enforcement on Fairfield Drive in the area of Stanford Road when he observed a black Jeep Wagoneer operating in reckless manner. The trooper activated his emergency equipment in order to initiate a traffic stop on the vehicle.
FHP said Walker rapidly accelerated and fled from the trooper. The pursuit continued for a short distance until Walker crashed into an oak tree estimated to be 100 years old on Cherokee Trail. He was taken into custody uninjured without further incident.
A passenger fled on foot and had not been located as of Sunday night.
This was one of two FHP pursuits that ended in a traffic crash over the weekend in Escambia County. Click here for details on the other incident.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Supervisor of Elections: Century Charter Changes Will Remain On November Ballot
September 22, 2024
The Escambia County Supervisor of Elections (SOE) office is moving forward with vote-by-mail and sample ballots with Town of Century charter amendment questions for voters that live in the town limits.
As we previously reported, the Century Town Council Tuesday night gave final approval to three charter amendments for the November 5, 2024, general election ballot. The town submitted the charter questions to be placed on the ballot without a final approval, and the ballots were printed.
The town council gave first approval in July to the three ordinances to place the items on the ballot, but did not give a secord required approval until September 17 — nearly a month after emailing the ballot questions to the SOE office.
Bender requested final, signed copies of the ordinance setting the ballot amendments after they received a second approval at a town council meeting he attended last Tuesday night.
“The language in the ordinances did match what was previously submitted and placed on the ballot,” Bender said Friday afternoon. “The charter questions will remain on the ballot for voters in the Town of Century.”
He noted that his office did make some minor changes to the required Spanish language version of the ballot questions. “We did make some changes to accents and a few words, but the English version remained the same.”
What are the three chanter questions on the ballot?
The exact ballot questions for voters were not actually approved Tuesday night.
The SOE face a deadline of September 21 to send vote-by-mail ballots to “Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act” (UOCAVA) voters, according to the Florida Division of Elections. But the Century precinct has no uniformed or overseas voters. The deadline period to send vote-by-mail ballots to domestic voters is September 26, 2024 – October 3, 2024.
The ballot questions that were submitted without were as follows:
Question 1:
TOWN CHARTER AMENDMENT PROVIDING FOR TOWN PURCHASING TO BE GOVERNED BY COUNCIL-APPROVED PURCHASING POLICIES
Amending the Town of Century Charter to remove specific bidding, contracting, purchasing, and expenditure requirements and procedures from the Charter, and provide that Town bidding, contracting, purchasing, and expenditures will be governed by Town ordinances, policies, and procedures adopted by the Town Council. Shall the above-described amendment be adopted?
Question 2:
TOWN CHARTER AMENDMENT CONCERNING MAYOR’S EMPLOYMENT AUTHORITY
Amending the Town of Century Charter to expand the Mayor’s powers to select, appoint, suspend, and remove town employees and appointive administrative officers, by limiting the requirement for Council approval of such actions solely to the selection, appointment, suspension, or removal of the Town Clerk, Town Attorney, and Town Manager. Shall the above-described amendment be adopted?
Question 3:
TOWN CHARTER CLEANUP AMENDMENT
Amending the Town of Century Charter to correct scriveners and codification errors, and to conform charter provisions to the requirements of the Florida Election Code. Shall the above-described amendment be adopted?
NorthEscambia.com will provide more coverage before the election on the specifics of each ballot question.
Pictured: Escambia County Supervisor of Elections Robert Bender and Chief Deputy Supervisor of Elections Sonya Daniel sit quietly in the back of the room at a Tuesday night Century Town Council meeting. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Ernest Ward Middle School Names Employee Of The Month
September 22, 2024
New for this year, Ernest Ward Middle School is now naming an employee of the month. The August Employee of the Month is Wesley Stafford, information technology. He is pictured left with the Ernest Ward August Students of the Month and Principal Tyvanna Boulanger. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Tate High School To Hold Junior Parent Night
September 22, 2024
Tate High School will be hosting a Junior Parent Night this week.
The event will be held Tuesday, September 24 at 6 p.m. in the school cafeteria. This event is designed to provide parents and guardians of junior students with essential information regarding graduation requirements and upcoming opportunities.
NorthEscambia.com file photo.
More Details Released: Cantonment Man Charged With Shooting His Brother In The Quintette Community
September 22, 2024
We are learning more about what deputies say happened during an incident last weekend that left one brother shot and another brother charged with attempted murder.
Horace Brown, Jr., was charged with attempted second degree murder and violating a domestic violence injunction by possessing a firearm or ammunition.
The victim, who suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen, was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital in critical condition following the incident reported around 1:50 p.m. in the 2800 block of Highway 95, just north of Quinette Road.
Shortly after the incident, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said Brown claimed he shot his brother to intervene in an altercation where the brother was allegedly hitting their mother.
According to a recently released arrest report, Brown was in his recording studio, located in a shed in the backyard of the family’s mobile home. He told deputies that his brother has a history of mental issues that cause him to him to have violent outbursts. He told deputies that he heard his mother and brother in a loud altercation inside the resident.
“He ran into the residence and stated that his mother was being attacked and that he ‘boom boom boom boom’ indicating that he shot (the victim),” the ECSO report states. Brown refused to speak further without an attorney present.”
Investigators responded to Sacred Heart Hospital but were unable to speak to the victim because he was undergoing surgery.
The mother told deputies that both brothers are her children and all live together at the residence. She said that the victim became upset, and she told him to go outside to cool off, the report states, and she went outside onto the porch where he punched her in the face. After she was allegedly punched in the face, they went back inside the residence to the kitchen.
She said that a few minutes later, Brown entered the back door, pulled a firearm, and pointed it at the victim, according to investigators. The mother yelled several times for Brown not to shoot his brother before one shot was fired.
The mother stated that Brown “did not need to do that, and at no point was she in fear for her life due to the attack by (the victim)”, the report says. She stated, “that the initial battery between her and (the victim) was separate incident from when Brown, Jr. shot (the victim) as where was no continuation of the initial altercation.”
In 2005, Brown had been served with a permanent domestic violence injunction that contained a condition that he was never to possess firearms or ammunition.”
Investigators located two projectiles and one shell casing in the kitchen of the home.
Brown has entered a not guilty plea in the case through his public defender and is due back in court next month.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Registration Underway For Tri-City Children’s Choir
September 22, 2024
Young singers in the Century, Jay, Flomaton, and surrounding areas in grades 1-6 are invited to join the Tri-City Children’s Choir, a program of the Pensacola Children’s Chorus.
Weekly rehearsals begin on October 10 from 4-5 p.m. at the First Pentecostal Church Century Campus at 8451 North Century Boulevard
Financial assistance is available for those who qualify, with rates as low as $25 per month.
To learn more and register, visit www.TriCityChoir.org or contact program director Holley Driver at (850) 324-6182.
Holly Driver has more than 15 years experience in music lessons, including piano. She grew up playing and singing at First Pentecostal Century and has taught in the Escambia County School District for over 15 years. She also served as the choral director at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Molino for nine years during which the choir grew under her direction and leadership.
NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Argos Valiant Comeback Falls Short in Double OT Loss to UWA
September 22, 2024
by Bill Vilona
The dramatic finish UWF’s football team waged late Saturday night ended in heartbreak.
But not without promise.
Trailing 20-10 in the fourth quarter, the 12th-ranked Argos tied the game on their final possession, then twice produced overtime touchdowns, only to fall on a missed two-point conversion attempt to extend the game, as No. 23-ranked West Alabama held on for a wild 35-33 win at Pen Air Field.
This season’s Gulf South Conference opener for both teams became memorable. Just for different reasons.
“Obviously it’s frustrating to lose like that, double overtime…physically exhausting,” said Argos head coach Kaleb Nobles. “But I am so proud of the team with how they played – four quarters. I love them to death. I tell them that every day, but they showed me today that they love each other. It hurts to lose. It should hurt to lose. But this team has heart. This team has fight.”
It was the Argos second double-overtime loss on this field. They sustained a 45-42 loss on Sept. 24, 2022 against GSC rival Delta State in a season where UWF quickly recovered and reached the NCAA Division II national semifinals.
No way to tell, of course, how this season might evolve, but Nobles gained some insight about his team’s makeup two games into the schedule.
After a 16-day gap from UWF’s season-opening win Sept. 5, the Argos’ offense battled through three sluggish quarters, then a display of grit at the end.
“We just came up one play short,” Nobles said. “That’s part of football, part of life. These guys are resilient, they will learn and I promise you we will be better, because of this game.”
The enthralling finish left West Alabama (4-0) unbeaten and with back-to-back season wins against UWF. The Tigers head coach Brett Gilliland is a Pensacola native and former Escambia High School quarterback star when playing for his father, Ronnie Gilliland.
Both men were star players in different eras for West Alabama. After his father passed away in February 2023, this was Brett’s first win against UWF in returning to his hometown.
As UWF (1-1) might have feared, the longest break between games in team history had its effects in the first half on the Argos offense and first-year starting quarterback Marcus Stokes.
The Argos had only two of their six offensive possessions result in first downs. They finished the half with less than 100 yards of total offense as the unit looked to find its rhythm.
But they only trailed 7-3 at halftime. West Alabama got a 9-yard scoring pass early in the second quarter, then UWF kicker Cade Lombardo – a Gulf Breeze High graduate – converted a 28-yard field goal with 2:23 left in the half.
The first five minutes of the second half became a different kind of game. And a preview of what would ensue later.
West Alabama scored on its first second-half possession to take a 14-3 lead and keep the crowd of 5,000-plus mostly quiet.
The Argos then hit the game’s longest play when Stokes threw a perfect deep ball to Corey Scott, who caught the pass in stride, then juked his way pass the defender for a 73-yard scoring play.
After a pair of field goals from West Alabama’s Elijah Guyton, the Tigers had a two-score lead (20-10) on the first play of the fourth quarter.
The Argos then finished a nine-play, 74 yard drive to get back in the game when Stokes connected with Jackson Blalock on a 12-yard scoring pass.
“(West Alabama) played some different stuff (on defense),” Nobles said. “They changed it up, we knew they would give us something different just because Marcus is a 19-year-old redshirt freshman (quarterback). They’re going to do everything to mess with him and we have to keep improving with everyone around him. But I thought we woke up in the second half and played very well and took what they gave us. I love this team. I can’t say it enough.”
The Argos got the ball back with 5:43 left in the game. They used 11 plays and erased most of the game clock to tie the game on Lombardo’s 28-yard field goal.
Overtime followed. The Argos scored first, needing just two plays from the 25 to take a lead after Jamontez Woods scored from 3-yards out. But the Tigers answered with a six-play drive and converted the PAT to tie.
The overtime rules for a second OT require teams to go for two points. West Alabama produced a 25-yard scoring pass from quarter Spencer Arceneaux, a Mobile native, Arceneaux then converted the two-point play in a uncertain way as he slid and reached the ball over the pylon.
Nobles challenged the call. The GSC officials spent considerable time in the replay tent before confirming the two-point play was good.
“It’s tough to win a challenge a lot of times in the GSC because of maybe they don’t have the right angle, things like that,” Nobles said. “But in my mind, a two point conversion is worth a challenge as opposed to keeping a timeout. We fell like his knee was down and maybe with a tough angle it’s hard to see.”
The Argos were down to their final play. They faced fourth down from the 12. Stokes bought some time and hit Da’Mani brought for the touchdown. But on the two point attempt, Stokes rolled to his right and his pass toward the end zone was batted down by the Tigers’ defensive front.
Nobles instantly consoled Stokes as the quarterback walked toward the sideline. Stokes finished completing 13 of 37 passes for 197 yards and three touchdowns, two interceptions.
“I told him, ‘Hey man, I love you to death.’ And big picture is we took a chance on Marcus Stokes,” said Nobles, of the former Florida Gators recruit. “We didn’t have to take him, we didn’t have to recruit him, but I love the kid, I love how he’s growing up as a man with so much that people don’t see. I told him I love how you played. Because he didn’t quit. He didn’t play perfect, but he did what he had to do to give us a chance. And we came up one play short. He gave us a chance.”
Woods led UWF’s rushing game with 40 yards on 14 carries.
“Like coach said, we’re going to fight. I love my teammates to death. I’ll fight with them every day,” Woods said.
The Argos will now turn attention to next Saturday’s marquee matchup against Grand Valley State in Allendale, Michigan. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CST at Lubbers Stadium.
Photo Emily Miller/UWF for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Girlfriend Of 2023 Escambia County Mugs And Jugs Murder Suspect Sentenced On Plea Deal
September 21, 2024
The girlfriend of suspect in an August 2023 murder at Mugs & Jugs has taken a plea deal in connection with the incident.
Rachel Marie Derise, now 24, was charged with misdemeanor battery following the incident. Under the plea deal, she was sentenced to 60 days in county jail and 12 months probation.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said DeRise was the girlfriend of Christian Ketchup who was charged with homicide in the shooting death of 25-year old Tierra Binion.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office says Binion and Derise were involved in an argument before Derise punched Binion.
Investigators said Ketchup then pulled a handgun and shot Binion seven times.
Ketchup remains without bond in the Escambia County Jail charged with murder. He is due back in court next week.
