Quantcast
Channel: News Rss
Viewing all 9394 articles
Browse latest View live

Woman says man menaced her with knife

0
0

FORT WALTON BEACH - A Pensacola man faces charges after he allegedly punched a woman in the mouth and menaced her with a knife.

On Dec. 23 an Okaloosa County Sheriff's deputy visited a Shadow Lane residence to look into an alleged battering.

A woman told the lawmen 31-year-old Ladarrel Adrian Nichols entered her house and punched her in the mouth, causing her to fall down. 

He then picked her up and put her on a mattress in the living room, and stood over her. He placed a hand over her mouth and nose, and grabbed her neck with the other hand, restricting her ability to breathe.

At one point he pulled out a knife and said if he couldn't have her, nobody could.

Nichols was charged with assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, battery and kidnapping. His court date is Feb. 12.


Santa Rosa approves new incentives for Project Breeze (DOCUMENT)

0
0

MILTON — A manufacturing company looking to relocate to the industrial park in East Milton has qualified for even more county incentives than were initially approved last month.

Santa Rosa County commissioners voted unanimously Thursday to increase the amount of money they would offer to bring 200 high-wage jobs to the county.

“The best thing we can do now is pray that this occurs,” Commissioner Bob Cole said. “It’s a very exciting project, a very stable company.

“You just have to take my word at this point. This is something we’d really like to have in this county,” he added.

The name of the company has not been released. It is being referred to as Project Breeze by the county’s Economic Development Department.

Project Breeze incentive package. >>

County commissioners originally approved two incentive packages for Project Breeze at their Dec. 13 meeting.

The amounts were $60,000 for the local match to the state’s Qualified Target Industry incentive and $200,000 from the county’s Super Qualified Target Industry incentive.

However, those incentives were formulated based on the company offering 100 jobs within its first year in Florida.

“When we first talked about this, they were only looking at the number of jobs they would create in the first year,” Commissioner Don Salter said. “Since then, once they looked at their three-year relocation plan, they would increase the 100 jobs to 200 jobs over a three-year period.”

The new incentives approved Thursday include $120,000 for the local match to the state’s program and $336,000 for the county’s incentive.

In other business, commissioners approved a $15,250 contract with KontactIntelligence.com to lead a nationwide search for a new economic development director.

Santa Rosa has been without a permanent director since Cindy Anderson resigned in February. Shannon Ogletree has been serving as the interim director.

Contact Daily News Business Editor Dusty Ricketts at 850-315-4448 or dricketts@nwfdailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @DustyRnwfdn.

Man says he bought crack at 'The Thrifty'

0
0

CRESTVIEW - If you're riding in a car with illegal window tint, you should probably leave any narcotics at the house.

On Dec. 15 an Okaloosa County Sheriff's deputy stopped a car on Airport Road because its windows were tinted with illegal tint.

A Crestview Police K9 unit also stopped and the dog, K9 Eto, alerted to the presence of narcotics in the car.

The occupants were removed from the car and the passenger, 50-year-old Clarence Smiley of Pensacola, told the deputy he had "some narcotics" in his pocket. The deputy found a prescription bottle filled with suspected crack cocaine in Smiley's right-front pocket. He also found a large quantity of "dime bags" between the passenger seat and the center console, along with latex gloves.

Smiley said he bought the crack from a person at "The Thrifty" to sell and was on his way to make a "drop." He added he didn't smoke crack and insisted it was not for personal use.

He was charged with cocaine possession with intent to sell, and drug equipment possession.

His court date is Feb. 12.

FWB nominates two to fill vacant council seat (DOCUMENT)

0
0

FORT WALTON BEACH — Two local business owners have been nominated to fill the City Council seat vacated by Dennis Reeves in November.

The City Council on Tuesday selected former Councilman Mike Holmes and John S. Mead from a pool of eight residents who expressed interest in the post.

Read the nominees' letters of interest. >>

Fort Walton Beach City Manager Michael Beedie said the council will select a new councilman at its Jan. 22 meeting.

“(The council) will announce the two nominees and then they’ll basically vote, and whoever ends up getting the most votes will be the appointed council member,” he said.

The new member will be sworn in Jan. 22, attend his first meeting Feb. 12 and hold office through March 31, Beedie said.

Holmes and Mead are running for the same seat in the March 12 election.

Holmes, who owns a local auto repair service, served two terms on the council. He left office in 2011 because of term limits.

Holmes said he wants to keep Fort Walton Beach a good place to live and work. He said he’s committed to keeping city fire and police services at their current levels.

“I don’t think we want or deserve anything less than what we have now,” he said.

Holmes said he doesn’t want to raise property taxes, but that such a move might have to be considered to keep essential services.

Mead, a local real estate attorney, also opposes raising property taxes “unless there is no other way.”

He said 2013 “is going to be a huge financial year” for the city, and council members will be faced with some difficult decisions.

Mead said he is concerned about rising fees, vacancies in the industrial park and making the city more attractive to businesses.

“The more you can work with small businesses within the city to develop their businesses, the better the city will be,” he said.

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Kari Barlow at 850-315-4438 or kbarlow@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KariBnwfdn.

Holcombe sentenced to four years

0
0

PENSACOLA — Randall Holcombe, a confidant of former Okaloosa County Sheriff Charlie Morris who benefited from his bonus kickback scheme, was sentenced Thursday to 48 months in prison for racketeering and grand theft.

Escambia County Circuit Court Judge Linda Nobles handed down a sentence identical to the ones she crafted nearly two years ago for fellow defendants Mike Coup, Sandra Norris and David Yacks.

Coup, Morris’ chief deputy; Norris, his finance director; and Yacks, an assistant supervisor of information technology; were sentenced March 30, 2011, after they were found guilty of the same charges.

Morris is serving a 71-month federal sentence for fraud, theft and money laundering. Teresa Adams, his administrative director, has completed a 36-month federal sentence and is serving probation for state charges of racketeering and theft.

Nobles referred often to the “Coup group” during Holcombe’s sentencing hearing.

“I am aware that the Coup group got more money than Mr. Holcombe, but testimony indicated they were working their job and that Mr. Holcombe seemed to be spending a substantial amount of time at (estate) sales,” Nobles said. “I am going to impose the exact same sentence I imposed in those cases.”

Holcombe received more than $90,000 in bonuses from Morris and kicked backed $18,000, according to prosecutors.

Nobles asked prosecutor Russ Edgar to compare the aspects of his crimes to those of “the Coup group.”

Edgar said there were similarities, particularly in the huge sums of dollars employees received and kicked back to Morris. However, there also were differences.

He said Coup, Yacks and Norris were working when they received their bonuses, while Holcombe — Morris’ assistant director of administrative service — didn’t appear to do much work at all. Edgar also said Holcombe abused an inmate labor force by using prisoners do perform tasks outside of the legal scope of their duties.

Edgar said Holcombe was able to get away without working because he realized Morris was beholden to him as a stakeholder in the scheme.

“Morris felt threatened by the defendant. The defendant had it over on him and he didn’t ever have to come to work,” Edgar said.

Wanda Clapp, Holcombe’s attorney, argued for a probated sentence. She said Holcombe’s health is so bad and his medical bills so high that he would be a burden on the state as a prisoner. She estimated medical bills of $300,000.

Holcombe suffered a heart attack last June, which delayed his trial.

Clapp also argued that Holcombe’s many charitable contributions to the community and the need for restitution to county taxpayers outweighed the need for incarceration.

Lastly, she argued that Holcombe took the bonus money and kicked it back to Morris because he feared retribution if he did not.

Nobles sided with Edgar, saying that evidence indicated Holcombe, not Morris, held the upper hand in their relationship. She said she feared that if he was left free he would be susceptible to not paying restitution so he could pay his medical bills.

She said taxpayers have spoken loudly and clearly that they wanted those involved in the scandal to be punished.

“This is a breach of public trust. It’s not just about money, it’s about public integrity,” Edgar said as he left the courtroom Thursday. “He deserves a prison sentence for these crimes.”

Like Coup, Norris and Yacks, Holcombe was ordered to serve a six-year probation following his jail term and to pay restitution to the county. In his case, the restitution amounted to $82,548. His fine and court costs came to $94,666.06

Also like “the Coup group,” Holcombe was allowed to remain free on bond while a promised appeal winds its way through the First District Court of Appeals in Tallahassee.

Coup, Yacks and Norris continue to await the results of their appeals.

Clapp said she believes her client has many good points to argue on appeal.

“When the ruling in the other appeals come down, it may have an impact on the appeal of this case,” she said.

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Tom McLaughlin at 850-315-4435 or tmclaughlin@nwfdailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomMnwfdn.

18-year-old charged with throwing bicycle, flood lights

0
0

NICEVILLE - Police charged a man after he allegedly threw a neighbor's bicycle and flood lights, according to an arrest report.

Niceville Police went to a Galway Drive residence where they were told an 18-year-old neighbor picked up a bicycle and hurled it down on a driveway, then began throwing flood lights and smashing them against the driveway.

The young man said he believed his neighbor had thrown a beer bottle in his back yard.

The bicycle was damaged and the cost to repair it is $160.

The 18-year-old was charged with criminal mischief. His court date is Jan. 22.

Grit and glitz: Hurlburt airman to be crowned state rodeo queen

0
0

On Saturday, 24-year-old Jenna Smeenk will trade in her military fatigues for a cowboy hat and crown.

At a stable in Santa Rosa Beach, the Hurlburt Field airman will be crowned Florida’s rodeo queen, a title she’s been working toward almost all her life on the rodeo pageant circuit.

The dream of becoming a rodeo queen is one the small-town South Dakota native has never let go, even after joining the Air National Guard, accepting a job at Hurlburt and traveling to Iraq and Afghanistan in intelligence operations with the Air Force.

See photos of Miss Rodeo Florida.

The glitz and glamour of the pageant world and the grit and guts required for military service may seem incongruent, but they have worked well for Smeenk.

 “I don’t know any other rodeo queens who are in the military,” she said earlier this week. “I’m the first from Florida to win the title, but it’s great I can make them both tie in to each other.”

Smeenk grew up on a 10,000-acre cattle ranch in tiny Belle Fourche, S.D., near Rapid City. Her family always had horses.

“Growing up, my sister and I spent more time on our horses’ backs than we did inside,” she said.

She and her sister Trisha, two years her senior, rode their horses bareback and without bridles through the wooded terrain until dark. They played cowboys and Indians, and put war paint on their horses.

“We would get into all kinds of stuff,” she said. “My mother would always say, ‘I can’t believe you two are out doing that.’ ”

When Smeenk was about 5 years old, she attended a stock show in the Black Hills. Across the arena, she spotted a beautiful woman wearing a crown — her first rodeo queen.

She ran over to her.

The woman stooped down to pose for a picture with the young Smeenk and gave her an autograph. It was love at first sight.

 “I thought, ‘Man, I want to do that. I want to be that girl,’ ” Smeenk said

The rest, as she says, is history.

Shortly after, she and her sister started competing on the pageant circuit and performing well in both horsemanship and the beauty and public persona categories. Her sister was crowned Miss Rodeo USA in 2012, a title Smeenk intends to pursue the next few years.

One thing Smeenk had not imagined at that young age was that she would join the military. She made the decision in 2007 shortly before she graduated from high school.

“I needed to either go to college or find something else to do with my life,” she said.

Her parents weren’t in the military, but her sister had joined the South Dakota Air National Guard on the recommendation of a cousin in the Army.

She encouraged Smeenk to join. Not only would it be a good experience, but the military would help pay for her college education, something her family could not afford.

A few months after high school graduation, Smeenk signed a six-year contract.

Basic training was an eye-opener, unlike anything she had imagined, she said.

“I think everybody in basic goes through this feeling of ‘what did I get myself into?’, but you have already made a commitment to it,” she said.

She made the best of it, and when she got out she felt an enormous sense of accomplishment and closeness with the other members of her flight.

She’s had a great experience in the military since then.

“I really couldn’t imagine my life any other way,” Smeenk said.

Now a staff sergeant, she joined up with the 745th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt to provide intelligence information and mission support to pilots. She has volunteered for two deployments.

On Saturday, Smeenk’s  sister, the rest of her family and her entire squadron will see her crowned Miss Rodeo Florida at noon at Gulfside Stables in Santa Rosa Beach.

The event begins at noon and is open to the public.

Smeenk said she chose the stables for her coronation because the staff there helped her greatly while she was training for the pageant.  She also wanted to show her friends and fellow airmen who aren’t familiar with the rodeo world what it’s all about.

Horses will be available for trail rides after the ceremony.

 After she gets her crown, Smeenk’s duties as queen will begin.

“I’ll basically hit the ground running,” she said.

She’s booked at rodeos and events every weekend until the end of March. Most are in Florida, but she will travel out of state when money and time allow.

She said it’s going to be a challenge to balance that with her work in the Air Force, but she’ll be able to make it happen.

“The squadron I work at is very supportive because they understand what a huge deal this is to me, and I really appreciate them for that,” she said.

On weekends and any leave time she gets, Smeenk will don her crown at rodeos and stock shows, where she’s apt to stoop down for a photo and sign an autograph for a little girl who will want to grow up to be just like her one day.
 

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Lauren Sage Reinlie at 850-315-4443 or lreinlie@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @LaurenRnwfdn.

New device can help those with tinnitus

0
0

A medical company wants veterans and people in the military to know they have a new device on the market to treat tinnitus — a condition marked by ringing in the ears — that may help where other treatments have failed.

The department of Veterans Affairs recently approved Sound Cure’s new device, the Serenade, to treat tinnitus, which plagues many people who have been exposed to explosions in war zones or have spent time working around large aircraft or with loud weapons.

“We’re seeing lots of providers that are having very good success with patients,” said Jeff Carroll, director of clinical services and engineering at Sound Cure and one of the Serenade’s creators.

The Serenade consists of a handheld device that produces sound waves through earphones to help mask tinnitus. It’s been on the market for a little over a year.

Tinnitus has been the leading cause of military service-related disability since 2005, according to an analysis of Veterans Affairs statistics by the American Tinnitus Association.

Tinnitus primarily is caused by noise exposure, either cumulative or from a single extreme noise. Head and neck injury is also a cause, said Jennifer Born, director of public affairs for the Tinnitus Association.

She said military members are disproportionately impacted by tinnitus compared to civilians because of the nature of their work.

“They’ve been exposed to noise that is going to do damage to the ear instantaneously,” Born said.

About two-thirds, or more than 840,000, of all service members who seek disability care from the VA do so for tinnitus, she said. It costs the government about $1.28 billion annually to compensate them.

Born said tinnitus causes sleep problems and sometimes makes it hard for people to go to work. She said it is often linked closely with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

Existing treatments do not work for many people and have often proved to be more uncomfortable than the tinnitus itself, Born said. There is no known cure.

Several years ago, the Tinnitus Association provided a grant to Sound Cure to come up with a new product to treat a wider range of people with more success.

The Serenade was born.

Other treatments use sound waves to try to mask the tinnitus or ringing sensation. Often, the devices’ “white noise” sounds had to be played loudly to cover it up, said Carroll with Sound Cure.

Many patients choose to suffer their tinnitus rather than deal with the devices’ loud noise, he said.

The Serenade uses a softer level of a wider variety of sound waves, which the developers call S tones, to mask the tinnitus. The softer level makes it easier for patients to comply with the therapy.

“It’s not trying to cover up all these other sounds but still provides relief,” Carroll said. “A long-term program could lead to perceptual changes where they can hopefully habituate and be able to stop using the treatment.”

Last summer, the VA approved the Serenade, meaning VA audiologists could begin prescribing it to appropriate patients. The VA is authorized to foot the bill for medical visits and the cost of the device, estimated at $800, Born said.

Carroll said he hopes the new device can provide another way for medical providers to try to bring relief to the large number of people in the military struggling with the condition.

“This is the No. 1 disability for veterans returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars,” Carroll said. “It’s a massive problem. There are a number of ways to tackle tinnitus, and we feel that the Serenade is a very powerful tool with multiple options, but it’s certainly not a panacea.”

He said VA clinics now have several treatment plans in place, including the Serenade. Veterans seeking more information should contact their local VA medical providers.

TO LEARN MORE More information about tinnitus and its treatments can be found at the American Tinnitus Association website at ata.org.

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Lauren Sage Reinlie at 850-315-4440 or lreinlie@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @LaurenRnwfdn.


Residents weigh in on U.S. 98 plans

0
0

DESTIN — Residents at an informational meeting Thursday night had differing views about plans to widen and modify U.S. Highway 98.

“We want to make sure the public has input on the corridor,” Ian Satter, district spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, said at the meeting at Village Baptist Church.

About 25 people looked at maps, chatted with DOT officials and left comments about the plans to widen 4.1 miles of U.S. 98 to six lanes from Airport Road east to the Walton County line. The project would skip the existing six-lane stretch from Matthew Boulevard east to Kel Wen Circle.

“We recognized the need,” Satter said of the project. “It’s not a secret that people are moving here. We want to make sure the roadway is set for 30, 40 years in the future.”

Other improvements would include modifying traffic signals and adding sidewalks, curb ramps and handrails to comply with the Americans with Disability Act. Bicycle lanes also would be added at all right-turn lanes.

The $33.8 million project is unfunded at the moment. Work will begin as soon as funding is available, Satter said.

Although a timetable hasn’t been set yet, similar projects take almost three years to complete, he said.

Destin businessman Craig Norwood was unsure how he felt about the project as he looked at one of the maps. His business, The Track Family Recreation Center, sees 250,000 to 300,000 visitors each year, all of whom may have problems leaving the park because of the construction.

“We have safety concerns, primarily,” Norwood said.  

The plans had Joanna Gann and Margaret Gesler discussing whether to sell their homes. The 20-year-old magnolia trees that serve as a buffer between their homes in the Tuscany subdivision and U.S. 98 would be removed to widen the highway. Gann said would increase the noise and lower her home’s value.

“This is just going to make it like you come out of your door and onto the highway,” she said.

For Larry Looney, the inconveniences and changes of construction would be worth it in the end. He was particularly happy to see plans for a traffic light at Indian Bayou Trail.

“Traffic is getting heavier all the time,” Looney said. “I think it’ll help traffic flow and safety, too.”

Four people taken to hospital after wreck

0
0

DEFUNIAK SPRINGS - Four people were taken to area hospitals Thursday after a three-car wreck on U.S. Highway 331, according to Walton County Fire Rescue.

A vehicle crashed into two cars at 4:42 p.m. as one of them waited to turn onto Sherwood Road, firefighters said.

Two people were taken to Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast the other two went to Healthmark Regional Medical Center.

There was no word on their condition Thursday night.

Laurel Hill leaders forgo compensation for debt

0
0

LAUREL HILL — The city’s elected leaders will discuss the north county community’s budget during the 6 p.m. Jan. 15 workshop at City Hall.

One way they say they’ll help pay down a $126,000 debt is by giving up their pay. City leaders on Tuesday voted to contribute their compensation toward the debt.

Council members Larry Hendren, Clifton Hall and Betty Williamson voted in favor of deferring the pay; Willie Mae Toles and Robby Adams dissented.

"I don't have any problem with anyone who decides to do that," Adams said. "I don't see why everybody else should decide for the others."

Mayor Joan Smith monthly would give up $200, whereas each council member would defer $100, according to City Clerk Anita Miller.

"Were trying to get the debt paid off," Hall said.

Officials seek armed robbery suspect

0
0

NICEVILLE — Officials with the Niceville Police Department are investigating an armed robbery that occurred early Thursday morning at an area convenience store.

The Tom Thumb store clerk told officers he was in the back of the store when he heard someone enter the front door, according to the Niceville Police offense report.

When the clerk came to the front he saw a black man, approximately 6-foot tall, pull out a 12-inch knife and demand money from the cash register and two packs of Newport short cigarettes.

The man told the clerk, "Sorry, I gotta do this man. My kids gotta eat." After taking the money, the man ran out of the store.

The suspect was last seen wearing a dark blue hoodie with a red scarf covering his face. He also was wearing dark jeans and black tennis shoes.

A perimeter search was set up, but the suspect was lost near Valparaiso Boulevard, the report said.

Pryor students safe after temporary lockdown

0
0

FORT WALTON BEACH — Pryor Middle School was locked down for about five minutes Friday morning while authorities investigated a rumored “dangerous situation.”

Principal Jeff Palmer declined to elaborate on the rumor, but said officials secured the school just before 9 a.m. after news of the potential threat reached the front office.

“Obviously, given the circumstances of the last weeks we’re taking no chances,” he said. “We’re going to err on the side of safety.”

With the help of the school resource officer, Palmer said school administrators determined no actual threat existed and the lockdown was lifted.

Man produces pills, not ID

0
0

NICEVILLE - A man found on Eglin Air Force Base property was carrying hydrocodone pills, according to an Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office arrest report.

On Jan. 2 a deputy was summoned to White Point Road to help Eglin Security deal with trespassers.

A security officer who investigated the trespassing incident told the deputy he found three individuals. One man, Chester Lee Smith, 56, of Niceville, could not find his identification. When the officer asked what was in his pocket, Smith produced a bottle of pills.

The bottle was prescribed to a different person than Smith and containe 16 hydrocodone pills.

The officer was told Smith tried to sell the pills to people in Fort Walton Beach.

He was charged with trafficking in an opium derivative and has a Feb. 26 court date.

Edwins’ staff reacted quickly when student began choking

0
0

FORT WALTON BEACH — Lunchtime nearly turned tragic Thursday at Edwins Fine and Performing Arts School.

Third-grader Ayden Cady was sitting with his friends and had just taken two bites of a corn dog when he realized something was dangerously wrong.  

“I hiccupped all of the sudden, and then I went to the cafeteria to tell the ladies and I couldn’t talk,” Ayden said Friday morning.

Patricia Owens expected to see a child behind her grabbing a snack when she turned from the cash register. What she saw was much more serious.

 “All he did was just grab his throat and I was like, ‘Oh, no! He’s choking,” Owens recalled.

She starting to perform the Heimlich maneuver on Ayden as her co-worker, Amanda Reed, took off for the front office to get help. After squeezing him three times, a piece of food came from his mouth and Owens breathed a sigh of relief.

See how to perform the Heimlich maneuver »

But it didn’t take long to figure out all was not well, and cafeteria manager Chiqueda Douglas quickly wrapped her arms around Ayden’s abdomen.

“It seemed like I did it forever and nothing came out,” Douglas said. “He was just turning blue and I just thought, ‘Oh my God.’ ”

That’s when Ellen Powell, who is known for being calm in stressful situations, took over and dislodged another piece of food.

“I just always think that God just always puts us in the right place,” Powell said. “You just have to step in when you have to.”

The women thought everything was OK, but Ayden was still choking.

Principal Cheree Davis then stepped behind him and gave him one more quick, hard squeeze.

A large piece of corn dog shot of Ayden’s mouth. After a few seconds, the staff realized the immediate danger had passed.

 “My son definitely would have died if (the employees) had not been there,” said Ayden’s mother, Jennifer Vaghayeanegar. “This was my worst nightmare. It really was.”

After it was clear he was OK, Vaghayeanegar said they talked about what happened.

“He was scared when he came home,” she said. “He didn’t want to eat.”

It took several hours to coax him to eat, but by Thursday evening he was his old self, she said.

He returned to school on Friday and said he was doing just fine.

“No bruising or anything,” Ayden said.

Life also was back to normal for the cafeteria staff. Each marveled how well everyone assumed their roles, including the new school resource officer who got paramedics to the on the scene almost immediately.

“It was just one of those instances where you go into fight-or-flight mode, and everybody went into fight (mode),” Davis said.

As to lunch Friday, everyone agreed that Ayden would eat pizza.

“I told him ‘you’re no longer allowed to have corn dogs,’ ” his mom said.

 

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Katie Tammen at 850-315-4440 or ktammen@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieTnwfdn.


Stick a fork in it - this argument is over

0
0

SHALIMAR - An 18-year-old woman was accused of assaulting her younger sister with a fork.

On Dec. 31 an Okaloosa County Sheriff's deputy was called to a Dogwood Drive residence about a domestic violence incident.

The deputy was told the sisters had gotten into an argument. The younger girl, age 14, walked away and sat on the couch. The 18-year-old allegedly took a fork and struck her in the right forearm, causing four puncture wounds and swelling, the deputy wrote in his arrest report.

The 18-year-old was charged with battery and has a Jan. 22 court date.

Okaloosa’s 2013-14 school calendar mirrors this year (DOCUMENT)

0
0

The 2013-14 school calendar for Okaloosa County will be similar to this year’s if it’s approved.

View the proposed calendar »

The proposed calendar has classes beginning Aug. 19 and ending June 5, 2014, according to Ryan Gore, who oversees the calendar committee for the school district.

“We had two (meetings) scheduled, but the committee was able to make a unanimous vote at the first meeting,” Gore said. “The calendar looks basically the same (as this year).”

Students once again will have a week off at Thanksgiving, and the first semester will be divided by winter break, he said.

Elementary and middle schools also will continue to have early-release days once a month, and high schools will have a late start once a month.

Gore said the committee had a few discussions during its meeting, but no other calendar option was proposed.

“There were a few talking points, but nothing of major significance,” he said.

The School Board will vote on the calendar at its meeting Monday. Board members could ask for changes, but that’s unlikely given that the start date of school is controlled by a state law.

The law states that school districts not ranked as high-performing by the Florida Department of Education cannot begin classes any earlier than two weeks before Labor Day.

School districts are designated high-performing only if they meet class size requirements, have no findings in their audit and if all their schools receive a passing grade from the state.

In the summer of 2011, the School Board was forced to change the start of the school year after the district lost its high-performing status because Emerald Coast Career Institute South received an F grade from the state. The school is closed now.

At that time, the school district suggested starting the school year later permanently to avoid any future schedule changes in the summer.

WANT TO ATTEND? The School Board will vote on the calendar during its meeting at 6 p.m. Monday at 120 Lowery Place in Fort Walton Beach.

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Katie Tammen at 850-315-4440 or ktammen@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieTnwfdn.

Police: Fla. clerk's gun beats thief's cattle prod

0
0

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Authorities say a Florida Panhandle man has been arrested after he tried to rob a convenience store with a cattle prod but was thwarted by a clerk with a gun.

The Leon County Sheriff's Office says 26-year-old Lance Tomberlin went into a store just outside Tallahassee on January 2, produced the cattle prod and demanded money from the clerk. Officials say he shocked the clerk several times before the clerk pulled a handgun.

Authorities say Tomberlin fled and another employee tried to restrain him, but he eventually escaped in his truck. Deputies stopped Tomberlin's truck but he fled on foot.

The sheriff's office says Tomberlin was arrested Tuesday and charged with armed robbery and aggravated battery.

Jail records didn't say if Tomberlin had an attorney. He was being held without bail.

Large pet reptile found guarding Calif. pot stash

0
0

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Authorities in Northern California made a snappy discovery during a routine probation check: An alligator-like reptile named "Mr. Teeth," who was apparently protecting a stash of marijuana.

When Alameda County Sheriff's deputies entered the Castro Valley home on Tuesday, they not only found 34 pounds of marijuana valued at an estimated $100,000, but also the 5-foot-long caiman inside a Plexiglas tank guarding it in a bedroom.

Caimans are usually found in the wetland regions of Central and South America. They're considered close relatives of alligators.

"We get guard dogs all the time when we search for grow houses and people stashing away all types of dope. But alligators? You just don't see that every day," Sgt. J.D. Nelson said Thursday.

The reptile's owner, Assif Mayar, was arrested Tuesday and later charged with one count of possessing marijuana for sale. Mayar, 32, did not enter a plea during his arraignment in Alameda County Superior Court. He is being held in jail on $20,000 bail and is due back in court on Jan. 15.

He could also face citations from the California Fish and Game Commission, including possession of an exotic animal without a permit.

Mayar told deputies he got the creature to commemorate rapper Tupac Shakur's 1996 death.

"We have come across alligators before, but nobody can remember one this big and situated in such close proximity to act sort of as a sentry to the marijuana," Nelson said.

Officials at the Oakland Zoo said Mr. Teeth died Wednesday, a day after it was seized by county animal control officers.

The caiman was very sick when it arrived at the zoo's veterinary hospital, zoo spokesman Nicky Mora said Thursday.

"The veterinarian said he came in with a poor prognosis and was unresponsive when he arrived here. He passed away overnight," Mora said.

At home with the homeless (SLIDESHOW)

0
0

FORT WALTON BEACH — Police Cpl. Candy Galindo’s lips tighten as she pours out a beer she took from a homeless man sitting near the corner of U.S. Highway 98 and Beal Parkway.

Galindo, a Fort Walton Beach community redevelopment officer, poured out the same man’s beer the day before. She says that’s not unusual; most of her days are similar.

Galindo, known to the homeless as Miss Candy, is as much a presence downtown as the people she monitors, which consist of about 20 regulars who walk the streets with the smell of booze and hard living in their wake.

View a slideshow of Cpl. Galindo's day. >>

After dumping the beer, Galindo fills out a citation with a pen topped with a large fabric daisy. Then she hands the pen to the man for him to sign.

“Some of these people who have been out here for just a few months, they want to find a way out,” Galindo said.
“But the ones I deal with, the ones that have been out here for 13 years, they are OK with their way of life.

“What I try to do is keep the law, but I also try to make them see that they can do more for themselves,” she added. “I tell them to make a plan, save their money. This is not an easy lifestyle.”

Galindo has been with the Police Department since 1997 and has been a community policing officer for two years.

She is one of five officers who patrol the downtown area with a focus on residents and businesses.

Her job seems simple: She drives the same streets during her 12-hour shift, talks to the same people and walks the same paths.

“I go through a pair of boots a year,” Galindo said, laughing. “People started asking me how far I walked so I bought a pedometer. It’s about 10,000 steps a day.”

Three hours into her shift, she already has logged 6,152 steps. Before 9 a.m. she has roamed some wooded areas, trekked through a park and made several stops at the corners were people often are seen holding their “homeless, God bless” signs.

“Sometimes I want to see more of the city than just three corners,” Galindo said as she drove to the Economy Motel at U.S. 98 and Beal for the third time that morning, where she spotted the corner’s regular, Kenneth Shultz.

She says most of the homeless on the streets have a way out, but they choose not to take it. She says Shultz receives enough money each month to find a home and get a job.

“Instead, he’ll get a check and rent a room at the motel, invite a bunch of people, get alcohol and some drugs and it’s gone,” Galindo said as she watched Shultz quickly grab his items and walk off.. “The rest of society would have to have Charlie Sheen’s money to live like that.”

She says some people on the street make more than rookie police officers.

“It comes back to bad choices,” Galindo said. “They have to want to change.”

She can tell you the names of each homeless person, even without seeing their faces. She knows their walks, their hangouts and their stories.

But she says she never tries to be mean. Instead, she chats with each person, tells them where the free lunch is that day and makes sure they’re doing well.

Galindo has found ways of working with the homeless, from holding a sign asking those wanting to give them money to donate to a nonprofit instead, or sitting with a group of men playing cards on the street until they realize she’s not going anywhere and leave.

At one stop, she talks with a homeless woman named Loretta and asks about her 9 a.m. doctor’s appointment to make sure she makes it.

Loretta is sitting with a man named Doug who was so intoxicated the day before that Galindo had to call EMS.

She said she calls EMS for Doug about three times a week and already had issued him an open container citation before 7 a.m.

Galindo says she never harasses people and doesn’t want to put anyone in jail. She just wants what’s best for the people of Fort Walton Beach and for the homeless she encounters.

“Every day it’s different,” she said. “Sometimes it’s the same thing when I go from corner to corner to corner, but there‘s always something. And I get to know the people and I get a chance to hopefully inspire them to want more.”

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Angel McCurdy at 850-315-4432 or amccurdy@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @AngelMnwfdn.

Viewing all 9394 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images