• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
MENUMENU
MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • FlaglerLive Board of Directors
    • Comment Policy
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Values
    • Privacy Policy
  • Live Calendar
  • Submit Obituary
  • Submit an Event
  • Support FlaglerLive
  • Advertise on FlaglerLive (386) 503-3808
  • Search Results

FlaglerLive

No Bull, no Fluff, No Smudges

MENUMENU
  • Flagler
    • Flagler County Commission
    • Beverly Beach
    • Flagler History
    • Mondex/Daytona North
    • The Hammock
    • Tourist Development Council
    • Marineland
  • Palm Coast
    • Palm Coast City Council
    • Palm Coast Crime
  • Bunnell
    • Bunnell City Commission
    • Bunnell Crime
  • Flagler Beach
    • Flagler Beach City Commission
    • Flagler Beach Crime
  • Cops/Courts
    • Circuit & County Court
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • Federal Courts
    • Flagler 911
    • Fire House
    • Flagler County Sheriff
    • Flagler Jail Bookings
    • Traffic Accidents
  • Rights & Liberties
    • First Amendment
    • Second Amendment
    • Third Amendment
    • Fourth Amendment
    • Fifth Amendment
    • Sixth Amendment
    • Seventh Amendment
    • Eighth Amendment
    • 14th Amendment
    • Sunshine Law
    • Religion & Beliefs
    • Privacy
    • Civil Rights
    • Human Rights
    • Immigration
    • Labor Rights
  • Schools
    • Adult Education
    • Belle Terre Elementary
    • Buddy Taylor Middle
    • Bunnell Elementary
    • Charter Schools
    • Daytona State College
    • Flagler County School Board
    • Flagler Palm Coast High School
    • Higher Education
    • Imagine School
    • Indian Trails Middle
    • Matanzas High School
    • Old Kings Elementary
    • Rymfire Elementary
    • Stetson University
    • Wadsworth Elementary
    • University of Florida/Florida State
  • Economy
    • Jobs & Unemployment
    • Business & Economy
    • Development & Sprawl
    • Leisure & Tourism
    • Local Business
    • Local Media
    • Real Estate & Development
    • Taxes
  • Commentary
    • The Conversation
    • Pierre Tristam
    • Diane Roberts
    • Guest Columns
    • Byblos
    • Editor's Blog
  • Culture
    • African American Cultural Society
    • Arts in Palm Coast & Flagler
    • Books
    • City Repertory Theatre
    • Flagler Auditorium
    • Flagler Playhouse
    • Special Events
  • Elections 2024
    • Amendments and Referendums
    • Presidential Election
    • Campaign Finance
    • City Elections
    • Congressional
    • Constitutionals
    • Courts
    • Governor
    • Polls
    • Voting Rights
  • Florida
    • Federal Politics
    • Florida History
    • Florida Legislature
    • Florida Legislature
    • Ron DeSantis
  • Health & Society
    • Flagler County Health Department
    • Ask the Doctor Column
    • Health Care
    • Health Care Business
    • Covid-19
    • Children and Families
    • Medicaid and Medicare
    • Mental Health
    • Poverty
    • Violence
  • All Else
    • Daily Briefing
    • Americana
    • Obituaries
    • News Briefs
    • Weather and Climate
    • Wildlife

Flagler

A Tour of New Nexus Center Is a ‘Coast to Country’ Surfing Experience in Flagler’s Ultra-Modern Library

October 17, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 5 Comments

The waves are everywhere in the Nexus Center's "Coast to Country"-themed designs. (© FlaglerLive)

Library Board of Trustees members and others took a tour of the new, $16 million Nexus Center, the south-side library in Bunnell, on Monday. It’s not just the floor space or the large windows, the natural light, the high ceilings and the blue-green trim that make you feel as if you’re not entirely indoors.  The entire 23,000-square-foot building, with the exception of the back offices and the segment reserved for the Department of Health and Human Services, is designed along a “Coast to Country” theme that creates a sense of motion as if from one to the other and back. 

Flagler Tourism Office’s Debra Morgan Among 99 to Receive Society’s Certification

October 16, 2025 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

Debra Morgan, center, with members of the Tourist Development Council. From left, Oceanside Bar and Grill co-owner John Lulgjuraj, Flagler Beach Commissioner Eric Cooley,

Debra Morgan, Destination Development and Community Engagement Manager for Flagler County’s tourism office, recently earned the Travel Marketing Professional Certification (TMP) from Southeast Tourism Society (STS) Marketing College. STS is a not-for-profit membership association dedicated to the development of travel and tourism professionals and organizations within the southeast region.

Randy Fine Still Well Ahead of Charles Gambaro and Will Furry in Money Race for 6th Congressional District

October 16, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 5 Comments

U.S. Rep. Randy Fine, still a front-runner. (© FlaglerLive)

Campaign finance reports for the 6th Congressional District that includes all of Flagler County point to a three-way race, and so far not a close one, between incumbent Randy Fine, Charles Gambaro and Will Furry, all Republicans, with Fine well ahead in fundraising and spending.

Mystery Development Company Buys Marineland Dolphin Adventure for $7.1 Million, Outbidding Hutson

October 14, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 18 Comments

Marineland Dolphin Adventure's days as an oceanarium may be numbered. (© FlaglerLive)

Marineland Dolphin Adventure, the world’s first oceanarium and for most of its 87 years a Florida tourist destination with a storied past, was sold at auction on Monday for $7.1 million to an apparent shell company that goes by the name of Delightful Development LLC. If the name augurs its future intentions for the 5.1-acre property, the site’s days as an oceanarium are approaching their end, and the 17 dolphins there, six of them born in Marineland, will have to find new homes. 

At Celebration of Life for Jorge and Nancy Salinas, a Couple’s Forever ‘Spirit and Joy’ Counter Brutality of Loss

October 13, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 5 Comments

An audience of some 150 people who’d turned up for the celebration of life for Nancy and Jorge Salinas Sunday afternoon at the Palm Coast Community Center. (© FlaglerLive)

“There is some sweetness in knowing that they passed after enjoying time together at Disney, and that they were together when they passed,” Jorge and Nancy Salinas’s daughter told the audience of some 150 people who’d turned up for the celebration of life for Nancy and Jorge Salinas Sunday afternoon at the Palm Coast Community Center. They were at Disney that October 4 barely a week ago, spending the day as they loved to spend it, and they were there in their last hours, before a hit-and-run driver caused their fatal crash on I-4.

Flagler Cares’ Carrie Baird Is Among ‘Women Shaping Florida’s Future’ at State Awards, a First for Flagler County

October 10, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 1 Comment

The annual Above and Beyond Award winners lined up for the cameras at the end of the event hosted by the News Service of Florida in Tallahassee Wednesday evening. (© FlaglerLive)

Close to 200 people gathered at Tallahassee’s DoubleTree Hotel Wednesday evening to honor “women who are shaping Florida’s future, who are leading, innovating and lifting others up as they rise,” as Shevaun Harris, Secretary, Agency for Health Care Administration, a keynote speaker and one of the honorees, told the audience. One of the women was Carrie Baird, Chief Executive Officer of Flagler Cares, the 10-year-old, Palm Coast-based nonprofit. It was the first time that the leader of an organization in Flagler County was the recipient of the News Service of Florida’s annual Above and Beyond Award.

Celebration of Life and Other Services Scheduled in Memory of Jorge and Nancy Salinas

October 10, 2025 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

Jorge Salinas with Heidi Petito at a July send-off for Al Hadeed, the retiring county attorney. (© FlaglerLive)

The family of Jorge Salinas and his wife Nancy Salinas have scheduled a celebration of life in honor of the couple’s memory at 2 p.m. at the Palm Coast Community Center on Sunday. It is the first of a week of services. Salinas, the deputy Flagler County administrator since 2020, and his wife lost their lives on Oct. 4 in a hit-and-run crash on I-4 that took the life of a third person as well. 

Hutson Companies, Major Housing Developer, Bids $3.5 Million for Bankrupt Marineland Dolphin Adventure

October 9, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 10 Comments

Marineland Dolphin Adventure has been in the shadow of its former glory. (© FlaglerLive)

The Hutson Companies, a St. Augustine developer of single-family homes and apartment complexes, has placed a $3.5 million bid for the bankrupt 5.1-acre Marineland Dolphin Adventure property in Marineland, suggesting that if the sale closes later this month, the famed attraction’s 87-year history may be coming to an end. An open auction is scheduled for Oct. 27 in Delaware. A stalking-horse bid, or agreement, is an opening bid that allows the company in bankruptcy to set a floor for potential future bids. But it gives the stalking horse an advantage.

Sheriff’s Operations Center May Be Renamed for Rick Staly in Recognition of His 50 Years in Policing

October 8, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 16 Comments

Flagler County Sheriff's Operations Center. name change

The Flagler County Commission is considering–and will likely approve–renaming the Sheriff’s Operations Center in Bunnell as the Sheriff Rick Staly Law Enforcement Center in recognition of Staly’s 50 years of service in law enforcement. Sheriff’s Chief Mark Strobridge, a colleague and friend of Staly’s going back to their many years together at the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, conceived and proposed the idea. Commissioner Leann Pennington is championing it, if with some policy-related pause from Commission Chair Andy Dance and Commissioner Greg Hansen.

Flagler Beach Planning Board Rejects Veranda Bay/Summertown Annexation in Striking Reversal of Former Welcome

October 8, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

Not a good night for Ken Belshe, left, the representative of Veranda Bay and its associated development, Summer Town, and his attorney, Mike Chiumento, seen here addressing the Flagler Beach planning board before the board rejected recommending annexing the developments. The proposal goes before the Flagler Beach City Commission Thursday. (© FlaglerLive)

In a striking reversal from its unanimous recommendation approving Veranda Bay’s annexation into Flagler Beach last year, before the threat of a lawsuit suspended further regulatory steps, the Flagler Beach Planning Board Tuesday denied recommending approval on a series of 4-1 votes. For Veranda Bay, it is the latest blow in a six-year slog through sustained public opposition, litigation, official courtship, second thoughts and now uncertainty.

Flagler County’s Development Authority Board Wants to Wade Into Economic Development, Conjuring Grim History

October 7, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 3 Comments

Some of the members of the Industrial Authority Board at a previous meeting. From left, Shawn Rhoto, County Commissioner Pam Richardson, the commission's liaison on the board, Chair Ray Ricchi, Bruce Parker and Don Turlington. (© FlaglerLive)

Some of the members of Flagler County’s newly appointed Industrial Development Authority wants to be more than just an industrial development authority. They want to be the county’s economic advisory council–reviving the sort of council the county killed in 2020 after years of meager results. Just as IDA members have mixed feelings about that, so did the Flagler County commissioners who appointed them. 

Fact-Check: How Flagler County Misuses Numbers in Pitch of $110 Million Sports Complex

October 7, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

Parents spend a lot of money on their children's sports--but not nearly the sort of money local tourism officials will have you believe as they pitch an expensive sports complex for the region. (© FlaglerLive)

In a pitch to the Flagler County Commission on Monday, the county’s tourism bureau and its consultant backed up an analysis of a proposed $110 million sports complex with numbers that, while accurate in themselves, were entirely without context and, on close inspection, had little to do with Palm Coast, and in some regards contradicted the county’s rosy claims. 

More Skepticism and Vagueness than Hard Data to Support Mammoth $110 Million Sports Complex in Palm Coast

October 7, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 16 Comments

A very long way from goal. (© FlaglerLive)

A company pitching a proposed $110 million sports complex for west Palm Coast claims it could attract up to 400,000 a year even though the county as a whole doesn’t attract more than 100,000 total visitors a year, including those who flock to its beaches. Yet the Flagler County Commission, with some strong skepticism from one member and questions from others, continues to encourage its tourism office to further explore the possibility of just such a complex, which would require a $6 million a year “rent” payment from taxpayers.

Jorge Salinas, Flagler County’s Steadying Deputy Administrator Since 2020, and His Wife, Are Killed in Crash

October 6, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 15 Comments

Jorge Salinas. (© FlaglerLive)

Jorge Salinas, Flagler County’s deputy administrator since 2020, a steadying voice of the county administration and one of the more beloved people at the Government Services Building, was killed late Sunday night in a four-vehicle hit-and-run car crash on I-4, as was his wife and an unrelated motorcyclist. 

In a Surprise, Flagler Commissioners Vote 4-1 to Indemnify Contractor of South-Side Library for Up to $1.25 Million

October 6, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 6 Comments

The Nexus Center, the south-side public library, is set to open later this year. (© FlaglerLive)

In one of the most unusual–if not unprecedented–moves on behalf of a building contractor, the Flagler County Commission this morning voted 4-1 to indemnify Ajax Construction for up to $1.25 million for non-structural-related contractual matters in its construction of the Nexus Center, the south-side library Ajax is building for the county. 

Every Flagler/Palm Coast Development Past, Present and Future Now Mapped Out and Accessible Thanks to Toby Tobin

October 3, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 11 Comments

GoToby's Residential Development Map, a work several years in the making, was made publicly accessible this month by its creator, Toby Tobin.

Imagine an interactive site where every housing development in Palm Coast, Flagler Beach, Bunnell and Flagler County, past, present, and future, is mapped out and available at a click. Every development’s details–number of homes, apartment units, commercial or industrial square footage–is listed, often with illustrations and links. Developers are listed. So are construction dates or projected buildouts. That map is now public and free to use, if not quite as free to its creator, who’s paying for it. 

FC3, Flagler’s Cultural Council, Marks 3rd Year With Grant Showcase and Hopes Still Brighter Than Achievements

October 2, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 1 Comment

Part of the Flagler County Cultural Council's (FC3) annual meeting Wednesday evening at the Palm Coast Community Center was the selection of winners of the Flagler Palm Coast High School photo contest. (© FlaglerLive)

The Flagler County Cultural Council, the volunteer organization known as FC3 and designated local arts agency, marked its third year since that designation at its annual meeting Wednesday evening at the Palm Coast Community Center by featuring grant recipients, selecting winners of a high school photo contest and installing a new slate of officers. The fledgling council is still finding its footing, its “pillars” lifting more aspirations than achievements for now. 

Open-Carry Leaves Flagler County’s Government Attorneys Grappling with Ruling’s Application to Public Spaces

October 1, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 5 Comments

The sign stenciled on the entrance door at the Government Services Building in Bunnell, where county and school district offices are located, and where students are routinely in the building. (© FlaglerLive)

A Sept. 10 appeals court ruling that made it legal to openly carrying guns in Florida has created some confusion for Flagler County’s local government attorneys on the law’s applicability in certain public places such as government buildings and parks in light of a loophole in law that appears to leave long guns unregulated, and the permissibility of carrying guns in certain public spaces unclear.

Creekside Music and Arts Festival Set for Weekend Is Postponed to February as Precaution Against Storms

October 1, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 2 Comments

It'll have to wait until February: the view at Creekside. (© FlaglerLive)

The Creekside Music and Arts Festival scheduled for this weekend–Oct. 4 and 5–at Princess Place Preserve in Flagler County is being rescheduled to February due to an inclement forecast of lightning and storms ahead. The festival, the largest cultural festival on the county’s calendar, both in attendance and vendors, is rescheduled to February 7 and 8. It is the second time in eight years that the festival has had to be postponed due to weather. In 2017, in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, it was moved to November. 

Flagler County Government Prepares to Settle 4-Year-Old Lawsuit Over Sears Building, But Won’t Recover All Losses

September 26, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 15 Comments

What used to be the Sears building, now a Christian church, on Palm Coast Parkway. (© FlaglerLive)

Flagler County government is nearing a final settlement of a four-year-old lawsuit it filed against several parties after its ill-fated $1.125 million purchase of what was then known as the Sears building on Palm Coast Parkway. The county previously settled with two of the four parties, recouping $900,000 (or $843,000, depending on which document you consult). The pending settlement would recoup an additional $125,000, netting a loss of $100,000 (or $157,000). 

In Marineland, Boyfriend-Girlfriend Are Now Majority of Town Commission, and Team Up to Appoint Mayor (Boyfriend)

September 26, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 5 Comments

The new Marineland Town Commission. From left, Mayor Joseph "Buddy" and Commissioners Jessica Finch and Dewey Dew, ast last week's meeting shortly after Pinder's swearing in. (© FlaglerLive)

After a two-vote election put Joseph Pinder on the Marineland Town Commission, his girlfriend and Commissioner Jessica Finch nominated him mayor in place of Dewey Dew, and the nomination carried by the couple’s two votes. While perfectly legal, the situation is still unprecedented, and it underscores the strange status of a town hanging to its designation as a town by a thread and a $192,000 budget overwhelmingly dependent on one taxpayer’s money–Jim Jacoby, who is the mayor’s uncle.   

Snubbing Near-Unanimous Public Opposition, Bunnell Commission Approves Rezoning 1,259 Acres to Industrial

September 25, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 22 Comments

One of about two dozen protesters who demonstrated outside the Government Services Building last June before a Bunnell City Commission meeting, when they thought the rezoning of over 1,200 acres to industrial was on the agenda. There were no demonstrators before Monday's meeting, when it was on the agenda, but a sizeable crowd turned up to oppose it. The commission voted for the rezoning, 4-1. (© FlaglerLive)

Snubbing near-unanimous public opposition just as it had snubbed it when approving a mammoth 6,100-home development last month, the Bunnell City Commission on Monday approved on a 4-1 vote the first reading of an ordinance that will rezone 1,259 acres just east and south of the city’s core from agricultural to industrial, including heavy industrial, in what could potentially change the complexion of the city. Commissioner John Rogers was the lone dissenter. 

Contrition, Grimness and Encouragement from Flagler County’s Lawmakers Ahead of Another Messy, Miserly Session

September 22, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

Sen. Tom leek, left, and Rep. Sam Greco. (© FlaglerLive)

Florida Sen. Tom Leek spoke contritely, then grimly, then encouragingly at Friday’s annual Flagler County legislative delegation meeting, ahead of the legislative session in January. The contrition was for the misbehavior of the legislature in the last session, the grimness was about another year of tight budgets, and therefore few legislative appropriations for local governments, and the encouragement was for local officials to make their pitches anyway, as long as they matched that with commitment of their own. 

Flagler County’s Unemployment Rate Rises Again, to 5.4%, Highest Level in 4 Years; Florida’s Ticks Up to 3.8%

September 22, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 13 Comments

Flagler County's unemployment rate, in green, has continued to rise steadily. (© FlaglerLive)

Flagler County’s unemployment rate rose for the third straight month and hasn’t declined since March, reaching 5.4 percent in August, the highest unemployment rate since June 2021, when it was 5.4 percent. Palm Coast’s unemployment was also 5.4 percent in August, according to figures released by the state’s Commerce Department Friday.

Commissioners Dismayed Over County’s Impotence as They Write Off $10 Million in Seemingly Unpaid Ambulance Bills

September 19, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 16 Comments

ambulance billing

Since 2018, the county has accrued on average $1.7 million a year in what the county considers to be uncollected bills, or $10.3 million through February 2024. It’s happened for years, if not quite by those amounts. For years, the County Commission has periodically written off the loss. But it’s not all unpaid bills: the majority of that “loss” is the difference between what Medicaid and Medicare reimburse, as opposed to what the county bills.

At Charlie Kirk Vigil on Courthouse Steps, Calls for Unity and Healing ‘Deep Divide in Our Country’

September 19, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 21 Comments

Throngs filled the plaza and parking lot of the Flagler County Courthouse Wednesday evening for a vigil in memory of Charlie Kirk. (© Eryn Harris)

Well over a thousand people gathered in Bunnell on Wednesday to attend a candlelight vigil for the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The event was held outside the Kim C. Hammond Justice Center, with attendance high enough that sheriff’s deputies had to direct traffic in and out. Sheriff Rick Staly called for healing wounds, grief and “the deep divide in our country.”

2 of Marineland’s 3 Residents Approve $192,000 Budget and Familiarly High Tax Rate

September 18, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 3 Comments

From right, Marineland Mayor Dewey Dew and Jessica Finch, with Town Planner Janis Fleet and Town Manager Suzanne Dixon. (© FlaglerLive)

After a brief and precedent-breaking Christian prayer by its mayor, Dewey Dew, the Town of Marineland this evening approved on first reading its tax rate for the coming fiscal year–the highest in the county, as it has been for years–and its $192,252 budget. There are no homeowners in town.

Four Years After Reopening, Boston Whaler Will Close Palm Coast Plant by Next Year, Affecting 300 Workers

September 17, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 34 Comments

Once again, it will close: the Boston Whaler plant in Flagler Beach when it re-opened four years ago. (© FlaglerLive)

The Brunswick Corporation announced late this afternoon that it was shutting down the Boston Whaler boat manufacturing plant it had reopened in Palm Coast/Flagler Beach just four years ago, dealing a severe blow to the city’s and county’s largest manufacturer and their local economy. Brunswick is consolidating the Palm Coast plant with the manufacturing facility in Edgewater by next February.

Pre-Register for Free Virtual Skywarn Storm Spotter Class Oct. 1

September 15, 2025 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

skywarn class

Flagler County Emergency Management and the National Weather Service will host a free Skywarn Storm Spotter webinar class on at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, October 1, at the Emergency Operations Center.

Flagler Beach Tells County: No Joint Talks on Taxing District Unless You Revive Sales Tax for Beach Protection

September 15, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 24 Comments

Flagler Beach Commissioners Scott Spradley, left, and Eric Cooley led the opposition to a joint meeting with the County Commission to discuss a special taxing district in Flagler Beach, if it is not to be paired with the revival of a sales tax proposal. (© FlaglerLive)

The Flagler Beach City Commission has rejected a request from the County Commission to hold a joint meeting on establishing a special taxing district in the city. The tax revenue would have been earmarked for beach protection. If the county wants to talk, it should revive an earlier proposal to raise the sales tax by half a penny. Flagler Beach’s unequivocal message was a sharp rebuff to the three county commissioners who asked for the joint meeting–and who killed the sales tax proposal: Kim Carney, Leann Pennington and Pam Richardson. 

Overflow Crowd Tells County Commission: No to Taxing District on Barrier Island, Yes to Sales Tax for Beach

September 12, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 19 Comments

Forty people addressed the Flagler County Commission over a 90-minute public comment segment during Thursday's hearing, which lasted three and a half hours overall. (© FlaglerLive)

In spite of near-unanimous opposition from an overflow crowd at the Flagler County Commission Thursday, the commission adopted by a 4-1 vote a controversial special taxing district covering all unincorporated property owners on the barrier island, including the Hammock, to help pay for beach protection. There was not one voice in support of the taxing district as an exclusive funding mechanism. There was not one voice opposed to a sales tax increase for that purpose, and many supported the taxing district in conjunction with the sales tax increase.

County Commission’s Kim Carney Peddles False and Misleading Claims in Opposition to Sales Tax for Beach Protection

September 12, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 23 Comments

Flagler County Commissioner Kim Carney at Thursday evening's hearing. (© FlaglerLive)

Speaking to a capacity crowd at a budget hearing Thursday evening, Flagler County Commissioner Kim Carney, who has complained of misinformation getting peddled around about county business, dispensed false and misleading information of her own on a central issue dividing the commission: the imposition of an additional sales surtax to help pay for a long-term beach-protection plan.

Flagler County Hires Tywan Arrington as Economic Development Manager, Replacing Dolores Key

September 11, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 3 Comments

Tywan Arrington. (Flagler County)

Flagler County has hired Tywan Arrington to serve as the county’s new economic development manager. Arrington brings years of experience in the sector with a focus on economic and international development, research development, urban planning and rural development.

Shock, Sadness, Anxiety: Flagler County Leaders Grapple with Charlie Kirk Assassination, and Worry About What’s Next

September 11, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 63 Comments

Charlie Kirk at the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. (Wikimedia Commons)

Flagler County leaders from across a broad spectrum were reacting with shock, sadness, anxiety and concern to the assassination Wednesday of Charlie Kirk, the right-wing activist, charismatic speaker and incendiary provocateur, who was shot while doing what he did best: engage with university students while manifesting the nation’s oldest tradition of free expression. 

Bunnell Gives Final Approval to 6,100-Home Haw Creek Development That Will Dwarf City’s 1,000 Households

September 9, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 20 Comments

The view of the Bunnell City Commission Chamber from City Manager Alvin Jackson's vantage point on the very first night of a meeting at Bunnell's new City Hall Monday. It was a capacity crowd, with many people having to stand--not because they'd turned up to mark the occasion, but to address concerns about a development that will change the face and character of the city.

What Bunnell Vice Mayor John Rogers is calling a “city within a city” with “no compatibility with the size, the character or the infrastructure” of the city will start taking shape west and south of Bunnell as a divided City Commission on Monday gave final approval to the 6,100-home development known as the Reserve at Haw Creek. As was the case two weeks ago, when the commission approved a series of regulatory steps, it did so with the same 3-2 split. Commissioners Pete Young, Dean Sechrist and Mayor Catherine Robinson voted in the majority, Rogers and Commissioner David Atkinson were opposed. 

How Peter Johnson’s ‘Bullshit’ Trespass Led to Sunshine on FC3 Cultural Board and Its Accountability to Palm Coast

September 8, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 9 Comments

Peter Johnson's undisciplined brilliance can at times be his Achille's heel. A minor incident got him trespassed from the board he was serving on last June. But the incident led to needed reforms on other fronts. (© FlaglerLive)

The trespassing of Peter Johnson, a former candidate for mayor, underscored what had become an uneasy and contentious relationship between the Palm Coast City Council and FC3, as the Flagler County Cultural Council likes to refer to itself. Palm Coast is requiring more accountability and openness. And it led to an opinion by the county attorney’s office that FC3 should henceforth operate under sunshine, meaning that its meetings must be advertised ahead of time and be open to the public, and that its members refrain from communicating with each other on FC3 business outside of those meetings. 

More Than Third of Flagler County’s Renters Are Under Water as Florida Rents Increased 39% in 4 Years

September 6, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 21 Comments

An apartment complex in Orlando. (© FlaglerLive)

A University of Florida study found that rent for multifamily units in Florida rose by 39 percent between 2019 and 2023, as 1 million households entered the state. In Flagler County, 4,478 renting households out of 12,000 total renting households–or 37 percent–are in that category. Among the most low-income, cost-burdened renting households in the county, 72 percent are occupied by one or two people. The majority are younger than 54.

He Faced a Minimum of 4.2 Years in Prison for Hit and Run. He Got Less Than 1 Year in Jail After Paying Victim $150,000.

September 5, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 11 Comments

A $150,000 settlement paired with a $100,000 insurance settlement can go a long way to convince the victim of a hit and run to turn advocate for his assailant and ask the court not to send him to prison. The prosecutor put it more bluntly: “It creates the perception that justice can be bought.” That’s what appears to have happened between Joao Fernandes and Tristen Thompson, who until last month had spent the previous year as adversaries, with Fernandes facing several years in prison on top of a civil suit from Thompson over a 2024 hit and run on Belle Terre Parkway that left Thompson in a heap of injuries.

A Groveling Flagler County Amplifies FEMA Falsehoods as Feds Release $3.72 Million Owed Flagler Beach Pier

September 5, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 12 Comments

FEMA lies

Setting aside what a federal judge called a “categorical freeze of appropriated and obligated funds,” the Federal Emergency Management Administration finally released a reimbursement of $3.72 million for the Flagler Beach pier’s $15 million demolition and reconstruction project, bringing FEMA’s share to $11.2 million. FEMA and Flagler County have issued news releases falsely crediting that and other releases of FEMA dollars to the rump administration, which had ordered the money frozen and been forced to release it by a judge’s injunction.

What the Hell? An Indecorous DeSantis Calls Renner’s Governor Run ‘Ill-Advised’

September 3, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

DeSantis, who may have had his wife in his 2026 sights, is not saluting Renner's decision to run for governor. (© FlaglerLive)

Ron DeSantis does not want former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner to succeed him as governor, he told a packed crowd Wednesday. His blunt take on the 48-year-old’s candidacy stood in contrast to Renner’s campaign launch earlier Wednesday, when the former House Speaker lauded himself as a top GOP figure who played a key role in advancing DeSantis’s agenda.

Palm Coast’s Paul Renner, Aligning Himself as DeSantis Heir, Enters Race for Governor Against Byron Donalds

September 3, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 6 Comments

Paul Renner in an appearance at Flagler County's airport in April. (© FlaglerLive)

Former state House Speaker Paul Renner on Wednesday launched a 2026 campaign for governor, becoming the first high-profile candidate to take on Congressman Byron Donalds — who has the backing of President Donald Trump — in the Republican primary. Renner, whose district represented Palm Coast and Flagler County, left the House in November after two years as speaker. He issued a statement that drew links with Gov. Ron DeSantis, who cannot run again because of term limits.

Ex-Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller Endorses Charles Gambaro in Race Against U.S. Rep. Randy Fine

September 3, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 1 Comment

Randy Fine

Former Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller has endorsed Palm Coast’s Charles Gambaro in the city councilman’s bid to unseat Randy Fine in next August’s GOP primary for the congressional seat Fine won in a special election. President Trump named Miller acting secretary of defense for the last three months of Trump’s first term after Trump fired his predecessor, Mark Esper. 

Registration Open for Flagler County’s 2026 Citizens’ Academy, But Class Size Is Limited to 24

September 2, 2025 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

flagler county budget 2024-25

Registration is open for the 2026 Flagler County Citizens’ Academy that will be held on Wednesday mornings beginning February 18, and officials invite residents to treat themselves to this enriching educational endeavor. The course is designed to introduce participants to the day-to-day operations of Flagler County government, inclusive of its elected Constitutional Officers.

5th Annual 9/11 Memorial Tribute Climb at Hammock Beach

September 2, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 2 Comments

Steel beams from the South Tower at the 9/11 Memorial in Manhattan. (© FlaglerLive)

The community and media are invited to the 5th Annual 9/11 Memorial Tribute Climb on Thursday, September 11, at Hammock Beach Golf Resort & Spa. This year’s event is a two-part tribute—a ceremony at 8:15 a.m., followed by the climb at 8:46 a.m.—ensuring everyone can participate in remembrance, whether or not they choose to climb.

Randy Fine Wants to Federalize Princess Place, Pellicer Creek and 4.2% of Florida for ‘Massive Increase’ in Tourism

August 29, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 31 Comments

U.S. Rep. Randy Fine thinks Pellicer Creek and 2,800 square miles of Florida land should be federalized. (© FlaglerLive)

U.S. Rep. Randy Fine, whose district includes Flagler County, wants to federalize Pellicer Creek, Princess Place, Crescent Lake, Lake Disston and Haw Creek Preserve, all of which are in Flagler County in whole or in part. In all, he wants to federalize 1.8 million acres or 2,800 square miles of Florida land–4.2 percent of the state’s land mass–between Jacksonville, Gainesville Orlando and Daytona Beach into what he would call Florida Springs National Park. 

Would You Favor a Half-Cent Sales Tax Referendum for Beach Protection? Local Governments Consider It.

August 28, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 51 Comments

The alternative to beach protection. (© FlaglerLive)

Representatives of Palm Coast, Flagler Beach, Bunnell and the county agreed at a joint meeting of local governments to consider the possibility of adding a referendum to the November 2026 ballot to raise the sales tax by half a cent and use some of the revenue to pay for beach protection. 

Flagler Beach and County Hope to End Uncertainty Over Lifeguard Program Now that Tourism Tax Revenue Can Pay Salaries

August 28, 2025 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

The lifeguard program in Flagler Beach has often seemed to be on the brink, as it seemed to be three years ago, when signs like the one above appeared around town. The county and the city are hoping to work toward a more stable funding source, in part using tourism tax revenue. (© FlaglerLive)

State law changed in July to allow counties to use tourism sales surtax revenue to pay for lifeguards. That’s good news for Flagler Beach: last month Flagler County said it was ending the annual contribution that paid for half the city’s lifeguard personnel costs. The county backed down after an outcry from Flagler Beach and from some of its own county commissioners, but only to extend the payment–$106,000 this year–one more year. That left future funding in doubt. That doubt may be removed if tourism tax revenue is used.

FEMA Releases $8.8 Million Long Owed Flagler County’s Beaches After a Campaigning Congressman’s Nudge 

August 28, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 11 Comments

The Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) released $8.8 million due Flagler County for the reconstruction of several miles of dunes from Mala Compra Road to Marineland, after additional pressure from U.S. Rep Randy Fine, who cast a campaign appearance in Flagler County Wednesday as a press conference to announce the delivery of the money.

Palm Coast City Council’s Theresa Pontieri Will Run for Greg Hansen’s County Commission Seat

August 27, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 17 Comments

Palm Coast City Council Vice Mayor Theresa Pontieri today at the Emergency Operations Center, shortly after a press conference featuring U.S. Rep. Randy Fine, who upstaged Pontieri's announcement for county office. (© FlaglerLive)

First-term Palm Coast City Council member Theresa Pontieri will be running for the County Commission seat Greg Hansen is vacating in 15 months. Pontieri had planned to announce the run this weeek, but U.S. Rep. Randy Fine, who’s not known for his political or rhetorical propriety, upstaged her announcement in her presence, on her own turf, at a press conference today.

Bunnell Approves 6,100-Home Haw Creek Reserve Development 2 Months After Rejecting It as Young Switches Sides

August 26, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 34 Comments

reserve at haw creek

The Bunnell City Commission on a 3-2 vote Monday cleared the way for the 6,100-home Haw Creek Reserve development west and south of the city. The largest single development in Flagler County since ITT platted Palm Coast in the 1960s will surge the Bunnell’s population sixfold by build-out in 20 years. It was a startling reversal from the commission’s 4-1 vote in June to kill the development. The reversal had taken on the shade of a done deal the moment Mayor Catherine Robinson revived the proposal two weeks later, after the developer lobbied commissioners and reduced build-out from 8,000 to 6,100 houses.

  • Page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 78
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Recent Comments

  • Laurel on States Push to Put 10 Commandments in Schools as Supreme Court Turns Clerical
  • david on Space X’s Destructive Plans for its Starship-Super Heavy Rockets in Florida
  • Deborah Coffey on Space X’s Destructive Plans for its Starship-Super Heavy Rockets in Florida
  • Laurel on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, October 17, 2025
  • Ray W. on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, October 17, 2025
  • Michael J Cocchiola on A Tour of New Nexus Center Is a ‘Coast to Country’ Surfing Experience in Flagler’s Ultra-Modern Library
  • Jan on A Tour of New Nexus Center Is a ‘Coast to Country’ Surfing Experience in Flagler’s Ultra-Modern Library
  • Laurel on Florida GOP Lawmakers File Slew of Proposals Slashing Property Taxes
  • Bunnell resident on It’s a Great Day for Bunnell Manager Alvin Jackson, Who Gets $14,500 Raise Despite Checkered Record
  • Fernando Melendez on It’s a Great Day for Bunnell Manager Alvin Jackson, Who Gets $14,500 Raise Despite Checkered Record
  • Al Hadeed on A Tour of New Nexus Center Is a ‘Coast to Country’ Surfing Experience in Flagler’s Ultra-Modern Library
  • BillC on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, October 17, 2025
  • Ray W. on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, October 17, 2025
  • Ed P on Florida GOP Lawmakers File Slew of Proposals Slashing Property Taxes
  • Joe D on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, October 7, 2025
  • Ray W. on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, October 17, 2025

Log in