Second Fountain Correctional Staff Member Tests Positive For COVID-19
June 17, 2020
Another staff member at the Fountain Correctional Facility has tested positive for COVID-19, the second positive staff report at the Atmore prison.
The Alabama Department of Corrections said the staff member informed the department of their positive status on Tuesday, and they have self-quarantined under the direction of their health care provider.
The ADOC’s Office of Health Services (OHS) has initiated an investigation to determine which, if any, ADOC inmates or employees may have had direct, prolonged exposure to the staff members. Upon completing the appropriate follow-up interviews and due diligence, OHS will advise any exposed staff members to contact their health care providers and self-quarantine for the recommended 14-day period, or as advised by their doctors.A
Another Fountain staff member was reported positive earlier this month.
Across the state, the Alabama Department of Corrections has reported 43 positive inmates and 131 positive staff members. Four inmates have died.
Cottage Hill Neighborhood Cleanup Collects 32 Tons Of Debris
June 17, 2020
About 32 tons of debris was collected during a recent Cottage Hill neighborhood cleanup.
The event allowed residents to leave items at the curb to be disposed of free of charge by the county and partnering agencies as part of the county’s ongoing efforts to keep local communities clean and safe.
In Cottage Hill, the county collected about 12 tons of yard waste, 16 tons of bulk waste, four tons of tires and 2,560 pounds of household hazardous waste placed at curbside for pickup.
The county’s neighborhood cleanup program is hosted by the Escambia County Community Redevelopment Agency’s Safe Neighborhood Program. Local partners include Escambia County Waste Services, Environmental Code Enforcement, Public Works, Animal Services and Road Prison, along with the City of Pensacola Sanitation Department.
The cleanup area was generally east of North Highway 95A and north of Eden Lane.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
New COVID-19 Death Reported In Escambia County, Alabama; Cases Increase To 112 Total
June 17, 2020
An additional COVID-19 death has been reported in Escambia County, Alabama, as the number of positive cases continue a steady climb.
There have now been four fatalities in the county with a total of 112 confirmed cases. There have been 37 cases reported in the past two weeks out of 442 tests, a positivity rate of about 8.4%.
Atmore Community Hospital has reported 69 positive cases, while 12 have been reported at D.W. McMillan Memorial Hospital in Brewton.
Pictured: Atmore Community Hospital. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Century Council Member Questions Longstanding Practice Of Sending Public Notices To NorthEscambia.com
June 17, 2020
Just weeks after saying NorthEscambia.com should not be listening to public meetings of the Century Town Council conducted only by telephone, a Century town council member is questioning why public notices are sent to NorthEscambia.com, a practice that has been ongoing for over a decade.
This week, the town council learned that a public notice intended to serve as the legal notification of the qualification period and the upcoming election in Century was never published by the weekly newspaper in Flomaton. The failure was due to a changed email address at the Tri-City Ledger, according to Town Clerk Kim Godwin.
When NorthEscambia.com questioned why the public notice was never sent to our media outlet for publication, council member Luis Gomez, Jr. began to question why we receive the notices and even went so far as to make a formal request to our publisher for records from our privately-owned business.
“I ask for your records. I ask for a records request from you,” Gomez told NorthEscambia.com. He said he wanted to see a “memorandum of agreement” between the town and NorthEscambia to publish public notices.
“If we can’t find one, that means one doesn’t exist….I would like to formally ask you for a copy of your MOA,” he said.
“There is not a MOA or no agreement that you keep referencing on your page that we made an agreement years ago with you. So if there’s no memorandum of agreement you need to cease and desist on saying that we made an agreement to send you everything,” Gomez said.
But Gomez was gravely mistaken.
During the council meeting Monday night, NorthEscambia.com made a verbal records request for copies of council minutes where the agreement was made. Godwin promptly fulfilled the request Tuesday morning by email.
The official minutes from the July 21, 2008, meeting of the Century Town Council (pictured below) substantiate NorthEscambia.com’s statements that the council voted to send all public notices to us. The minutes are signed by a town clerk and all five council members at the time, which included current council president Ann Brooks and now-mayor Henry Hawkins.
On page 10 of the minutes, it indicates Brooks said NorthEscambia.com would be a “very good place” for the town to post public notices, in addition to other places like the city hall, library and post office.
“Gary Riley made a motion to always post public notices on NorthEscambia.com in addition to other places,” the minutes state. They continue, “Henry Hawkins seconded the motion and all voted in favor.”
While not reflected in the minutes, NorthEscambia.com agreed at the time and continues 12 years later to publish Town of Century public notices at no cost to the town as part of our ongoing commitment to community service and the public’s right to know as provided by Florida law.
The 2020 Government In The Sunshine Manual prepared by the Florida Office of the Attorney General states, “The use of press releases, faxes, e-mails, and/or phone calls to the local news media is highly effective in providing notice of upcoming meetings”.
“I want to make sure I ain’t keeping no secrets either,” Gomez remarked Monday night.
Pictured top: Century council member Luis Gomez, Jr. during a January 2020 meeting. NorthEscambia.com photo.
UWF’s Pete Shinnick Named Gulf South Conference Coach Of The Decade
June 17, 2020
In four years of competition, it’s safe to say the UWF football program has been a difference maker in Division 2 college football. More proof of that came to fruition on Tuesday when the Gulf South Conference named its Football All-Decade Teams for the 2010s, which featured three Argonauts and head coach Pete Shinnick being named the Coach of the Decade.
Marvin Conley was named to the First Team, while Tate Lehtio and John Williamson were voted onto the Second Team.
Shinnick has been the architect of one of the most inspiring startups in the history of college athletics, taking UWF to the NCAA D2 Playoffs twice in the first four years of the program. The Argonauts reached the title game in their second year and won the national championship last December in year four – becoming the second-fastest startup to win a football title in NCAA history.
The Argonauts are 35-17 all-time and own the highest postseason winning percentage in NCAA history at .900 with a 9-1 record with a minimum of 10 games. Shinnick was named the National Coach of the Year by multiple outlets in both 2017 and 2019.
Conley is a 2-time All-America selection from Tampa, Fla. who is UWF’s career leader in interceptions, interceptions returned for a touchdown, solo tackles and pass break-ups. He is second with 212 total tackles and was a 2018 First Team All-GSC selection when he had 62 tackles, two interceptions and three PBUs.
Lehtio ended his career as the program leader in receptions with 215 and receiving yards with 2,463, including 70 catches for 733 yards and seven touchdowns in postseason play. He is second with 4.13 receptions per game, 14 touchdowns, and 90 points scored. He was a 2019 All-Region and First Team All-GSC honoree. The Parkland, Fla. native finished national
championship season with 1,120 receiving yards and 80 yards per game. He was also 3-time GSC Fall All-Academic selection, a CoSIDA Academic All-District choice and a NFF Hampshire Honor Society recipient.
Williamson was one of the most dominant defensive linemen of the decade. He started for two seasons at defensive end for UWF, compiling 110 tackles, 32 tackles for loss and a school-record 21.0 career sacks, which ranked fifth in GSC history at the time (currently seventh). He was particularly nasty in the 2017 national runner-up season when he set the league single-season sacks record with 14.5, earning him All-America, All-Region and All-GSC honors. The Stockton, Ala. native was a 2-time CoSIDA Academic All-District and 2-time GSC Fall All-Academic performer.
Rogan Wells of Valdosta State and Tavarius Wilson of North Alabama were named the Offensive and Defensive Player of the Decade, respectively.
Heroes Of The NAS Pensacola Terror Attack Honored (With Photo Gallery)
June 17, 2020
Heroes of the December terrorist attack at Naval Air Station Pensacola were honored Tuesday.
Personnel assigned to NAS Pensacola’s Navy Security Forces and Fire and Emergency Services Gulf Coast were honored for their reactions to the attack. Those honored were:
- Master-at-Arms 1st Class Donald Scott with the Navy And Marine Corps Medal
- Master-at-Arms 2nd Class David Link with the Navy And Marine Corps Medal
- Daniel Dugger with the Secretary of the Navy Distinguished Civilian Medal for Valor
- Charles D. Hogue with the Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) Medal of Freedom and Secretary of the Navy Distinguished Civilian Medal for Valor
- Cassandra Avant with the Secretary of the Navy Distinguished Civilian Medal for Valor
- Robert Johnson with the Secretary of the Navy Distinguished Civilian Medal for Valor
- David Clark with the Commander, Navy Installations Command Certificate of Life Saving
- James McCabe with the Commander, Navy Installations Command Certificate of Life Saving
- Chad Goetter with the Commander, Navy Installations Command Certificate of Life Saving
- Robert Wragg with the Commander, Navy Installations Command Certificate of Life Saving
For a gallery with additional photos, click here.
Captain Timothy Kinsella, commander of NAS Pensacola, remembered the three killed during the attack – Ensign Kaleb Watson, Petty Officer Mohammed Haitham and Petty Officer Cameron Walters.
“If not for the brave actions of the men and women here before you, the list of fallen would be much longer,” Kinsella said. “It has been said that courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway. John Wayne said that. Despite the fear, despite the danger, a lot of good people saddled up that morning.”
Photos by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Timothy Schumaker and others for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Northview Graduating Seniors Will Pick Up Graduation Tickets Thursday Morning
June 17, 2020
Northview High School graduating seniors will be pick up their graduation tickets for their guests by driving through the school bus loop on Thursday, June 18 between 9 and 11 a.m.
Students will also receive and cords or medals that can be worn during the ceremony, along with printed instructions.
Northview’s graduating seniors must arrive at the Pensacola Bay Center on Wednesday, June 24 between 12:45 and 1 p.m. fully dressed for graduation. Students should park toward the front of the Bay Center where a staff member will direct them to a special entrance.
Family members and guests should report to the Bay Center between 1 and 1:45 p.m. with tickets in hand. There will be no entry after 1:45 p.m.
NorthEscambia.com photo.
Molino Manhunt Called Off With No Arrest
June 16, 2020
An Escambia County Sheriff’s Office manhunt in the Molino area was called off Tuesday afternoon with no arrest.
A suspect wanted on a violation of probation warrant fled from deputies in the area of Highway 95A and Highway 196 about 1 p.m. Deputies set up a perimeter in the area and K-9 units were called to assist in the search.
The ECSO did not release the name of the suspect or any description.
NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Pilot Killed In Crop Duster Crash Identified
June 16, 2020
The pilot was killed when a crop duster plane crashed north of Atmore Tuesday morning.
Escambia County (AL) Sheriff Heath Jackson has identified the victim as Eddie Gideons, a well-loved member of the local community.
“Escambia County lost a good man today,” Jackson said.
The plane went down off Gideons Lake Road off Atmosphere Road. That’s just north of I-65 near the Poarch/Jacks Springs Road Exit.
It crashed about 7:30 a.m. in a brushy area near a gravel lake.. The accident scene was just behind a lake house in an area Jackson said was initially difficult to reach.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is conducting the initial death investigation. The FAA is responding to investigate the cause of the crash.
There was no one else on board the single engine aircraft.
NorthEscambia.com photos.
Motorcyclist Airlifted To The Hospital After Highway 97 Crash With Pickup Truck
June 16, 2020
A motorcyclist was critically injured in a crash with a pickup truck Monday night in Davisville.
The crash between the motorcyclist and a Nissan Titan happened about 8:35 p.m. at Highway 97 and Nokomis Road. The motorcyclist was thrown into the windshield of the truck.
He was airlifted by LifeFlight helicopter to Baptist Hospital in Pensacola.
The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating and has not released additional information.
The Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue, Escambia County EMS and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office also responded.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
