The Flagler County Commission on Sept. 9 must decide whether to declare a 2-year-old Labrador dangerous, or whether to rule that the dog was merely defending its home from an intruder.
In Flagler Beach, Builders Are Beating Back Higher Standards For Flood-Plain Homes
Builders in February opposed new regulations raising new homes higher than current flood-plain heights. Builders are now objecting to a compromise, forcing the city to revisit its regulations yet again.
Thursday Briefing: Women’s Self-Defense, Paramedics in Flagler Beach, Jeb Goes Sour, Colbert Goes Live
Palm Coast is offering self-defense classes for women, budget-adoption hearings begin this evening at the county, Trump is getting under Jeb Bush’s skin, and Colbert goes live in a matter of days.
Bill Gates: The Rich World’s Responsibility to Those Who’ll Suffer Most From Global Warming
Climate change can’t be stopped tomorrow, but its devastating effects on millions of the poorest farmers can be reduced if richer countries invest in cleaner technologies now, and help farmers better adapt, Bill Gates writes.
Split Florida Conservation Commission Approves Letting Hunters Kill 10% of Bear Population in 4 Regions
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission cleared the killing of at least 320 black bears for two to seven days in October, the first bear-hunting season in two decades.
Men v. Women: Three Domestic Violence Incidents Land Three Men in Jail on Felonies
Three Palm Coast men ended up at the Flagler County jail in a 48-hour span following unrelated incidents that entailed allegations of substantial violence against women and girls–two of the men’s spouses, a girlfriend, and one of them men’s two teen-age daughters. All three incidents resulted in felony charges.
Speculate No More: Ex-Undersheriff Rick Staly Declares Run Against Ex-Boss Manfre
Staly’s announcement was long expected and similar to his 2004 run for sheriff in Orange County. He joins a crowded field of Republican contenders vying to take on Democrat Manfre.
Gov. Scott and Florida Cabinet Honor 3 From Flagler: John Seth, Rick Staly and Ed Wolff
Rick Staly until spring was the undersheriff in the Jim Manfre administration, John Seth is the long-time band director at Flagler Palm Coast High School, and Ed Wolff is the county’s teacher of the year.
Wednesday Briefing: Kiwanis at 100, Violent-Offender Pre-Trials, Taser-Armed Drones, Pythons and Bears
Numerous violent offenders appear in a series of pre-trials before Judge Walsh this afternoon, the Fish and Wildlife Commission takes on pythons and bears, Fox News falsely ties cop killings to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Florida’s New Drone Law, Restricting “Surveillance,” Is a Gift to Personal Injury Lawyers
Like medical marijuana, there’s an entrepreneurial rush to get in on the drone business, but states like Florida have been stumbling their way to legislation., argues Nancy Smith.
Alone Among 50 States, Florida’s Ban on Prison Newspaper Is Upheld
Florida Corrections officials have censored the publications for six years, objecting to certain ads and calling them a security risk. No other state prison system agrees.
“Somber” Board Severely Cuts Flagler’s Adults With Disabilities Program So It Can Survive
The program served 85 mostly full-time clients until it lost half a million dollars in state aid, forcing staff cuts and deep reductions in services. But unlike other districts, Flagler chose to keep its program going.
Privatize the Flagler Beach Pier? Commission Says Yes to 6 Events Per Year, to Make Money
The Flagler Beach pier already generates well over $300,000 a year for the city, and rising, but commissioners want more: they’d close off the pier to private parties six times a year, for $155 an hour plus additional fees.
Flagler Beach man, 18, Accused of Statutory Rape of 3 Minor Girls After Enticing Them With Drugs and Money
Tyler Harrison, an 18-year-old resident of 2239 South Daytona Avenue in Flagler Beach, was arrested Friday on three counts of lewd and lascivious battery, or statutory rape, after allegedly enticing two 15-year-old girls and one 14-year-old girl with drugs to meet him for sex.
Tuesday Briefing: Palm Coast’s Life-Saving Firefighters, Weaponized Police Drones, Rising Murder Rates
A Palm Coast couple writes of firefighters’ life-saving intervention, murder rates are rising sharply in many cities, Flagler Beach firefighters raise money for MDA, Shostakovich’s great waltz.
Supreme Court Weighs Solar Power Measure Big Utilities Want Unplugged From 2016 Ballot
The Floridians for Solar Choice constitutional amendment, in part, would allow businesses to generate and sell up to two megawatts of power to customers on the same or neighboring properties.
Why You’re Getting Poorer: iPhones Aren’t The Economic Engine Cars and Electricity Were
Robert Gordon argues rising standards of living brought by cars, indoor plumbing and electricity can;t be replaced by iPhones and the internet. Martin Feldstein disagrees.
Florida Doubles Rates For 36,000 KidCare Full Pay Children, and Blames Obamacare
Thousands of parents were slammed with new rates with less than a month to pay, though they’ll have a chance to leave Florida’s plan for Obamacare in a special enrollment period.
Flagler, Among Top 10 Counties With Most Concealed-Weapon Licenses, Will Fast-Track Permitting
Flagler has 8.24 concealed carry permits for every 100 residents. Starting Jan. 1, the Flagler Tax Collector’s office will accept concealed-weapon permit applications for $134 and renewals for $72.
The Hammock’s Paul Hillman Charged With Attempted Murder In July Attack on Couple
Paul Hillman, a 43-year-old resident of 29 N. Shady Lane in Palm Coast’s Hammock, was jailed overnight on charges of aggravated assault, armed burglary and burglary with assault after he allegedly stormed the house he used to live in and battered both occupants—on of them a blind 55-year-old woman—with a rifle.
Still Under Internal Investigation, Flagler Sheriff’s CSI Pazarena Returns to Full Duties
Laura Pazarena, the Flagler County Sheriff’s crime scene technician hired two years ago to launch the department’s first CSI unit, is under internal investigation, and has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the investigation’s outcome.
Monday Briefing: Facebook and Twitter After You Die, Flagler Photography Club Annual Show, Denali’s Rebirth
Find out what happens to your Facebook and Twitter pages after you die, Denali takes back its name from McKinley, Oliver Sacks dies, the Flagler Photography Club’s annual show is on.
With Florida Leading U.S. in Child Drownings, States Are Pressed to Improve Prevention
Florida had 50 drownings of children 15 or younger last year, by far the most in the nation. California was second with 36. Better pool-safety regulations help.
Indentured Regression: Marco Rubio Thinks College Students Should Be Sharecroppers
Marco Rubio is proposing human capital contracts as a way for college students to pay tuition: investors would foot the bill and claim a percentage of the graduates’ income for years. It’s a terrible idea.
Degraded Erika No Longer Severe Threat to Flagler, Though State of Emergency Still in Effect
Though a state of emergency remains in effect in Flagler, Erika has degenerated into a tropical depression and moved wide west of the Florida Peninsula.
The New World of Wimbledon Junior Champ Reilly Opelka: Autographs, Pressure and a Rising Ranking
Palm Coast’s Reilly Opelka turned 18 today as he prepared for the U.S. Open, where he qualified for the doubles draw and will play in the Juniors tournament next week, but fell in qualifiers for the men’s draw.
In Flagler Beach’s On-Again, Off-Again Relationship With Manager Campbell, It’s On Again
The commission doesn’t want to have an interim manager, fearing a return to the years when it employed one—Bernie Murphy—for five years.
Weekend Briefing: Dank and Stormy Days, A Night at the Ag Museum, Israel’s Red-State Illusions
A wet, relatively uneventful weekend in anticipation of Tropical Storm Erika, Israel’s illusions as a GOP red state, a sleep-over at the Florida Ag Museum, plus Edward Gibbon and Rubenstein playing Chopin.
SLAPP This: Florida Scores a Big Free Speech Victory Against Intimidation Lawsuits
It was a rare success in the last Florida Legislative session: a new law protecting the public from frivolous corporate or otherwise intimidating lawsuits intended to silence public expression in government issues.
Disaster Economics 101: Flagler Businesses Are Made Part of County’s Recovery Plans
Kevin Guthrie, the county’s emergency services director, told some 80 Flagler business leaders what role they must play in the immediate recovery after a disaster to ensure that the local economy returns to normal.
Sheriff Plans DUI Checkpoint Saturday at SR100 East of Old Kings Road Saturday Night
The checkpoints typically result in far fewer arrests for drunk driving than for other reasons: drivers may charged with a host of issues that have nothing to do with drunk driving, including for drug possession or for non-moving violations such as non-functioning headlights or tail lights or irregular registration.
Thursday Briefing: Raising the Floor in Flagler Beach, Live Murder of Journalists, That Old Trump-Bush Feud
Two journalists are murdered on live TV, Flagler Beach aims to raise base-floor elevations of new homes (builders are unhappy), plus Jonathan Franzen, R.L. Lewis, Trump and Bush.
Overselling Flagler: How County Tourism and Government Zeal Lost the Spartan Race Before It Started
An examination of the documents behind the Spartan Race proposed for Princess Place show tourism chief Matt Dunn repeatedly getting ahead of the process, showing little awareness of policy and protocols and virtually no appreciation for the political context that ultimately sank his biggest pet project to date.
State Education Board’s “Historic” Funding Proposal Is Still $1,000 Per Student Below 2006 Level
In inflation adjusted dollars, current spending on public education is $1,100-per-student less than it was in 2007, and would still be $1,000 less if the Legislature goes along with a state board of education proposal.
Portuguese Secretary of State José Cesário Marks Palm Coast Opening of Honorary Consulate
Thanks to its huge Portuguese community, Palm Coast now has the distinction of having one of just two such honorary consulates with full administrative powers.
Wednesday Briefing: Heat Index Up to 105, Bicyclist Killed in Wreck With Palm Coast Woman on U.S. 1 in St. Johns, Scott Less Hated
Kalette Manka, 18, of Palm Coast, was not injured, but Charles Frederick Barret, 50, of St. Augustine, was killed in a crash at U.S. 1 and Datil Pepper Road in St. Johns County.
Ex-Con With Long History of Arrests Charged in Pizza Hut Stabbing of Homeless Man
Larkland Harris Jr., a Palm Coast resident with a long history of violence and who spent six years in state prison, was charged Tuesday in the stabbing of Raymond Glass, a 21-year-old homeless man, in the parking lot near Pizza Hut off Palm Coast Parkway late Monday night.
Lawmakers and Judge Turn to Supreme Court to Break Congressional Map Stalemate
A Leon County judge will ask the Florida Supreme Court how to move forward with a redistricting lawsuit after the Legislature failed to draw new congressional lines in a special session that collapsed last week. Circuit Judge Terry Lewis told lawyers for the House and Senate at a conference Tuesday that he wants to hear […]
No Pollution Problem Along Florida Park Drive, Council Concludes, Ending Further Debate
After ruling out traffic as a problem, the Palm Coast council Tuesday ruled out pollution and appeared to end its response to recurring complaints from residents along Florida Park Drive.
Tuesday Briefing: Palm Coast Annexing Near Sea Ray and Borrowing $30 Million, Lush Paradise at Ocean Art
Palm Coast plans annexation of nearly a dozen properties along Roberts Road near Sea Ray, and will borrow $30 million to pay for the city’s second sewer plant.
2 Men Stab Each Other in Confrontations That End Near Pizza Hut Off Palm Coast Parkway
Two men, one of them believed to be in his 20s, the second believed to be in his early 40s, were both stabbed as a result of an altercation with each other in the parking lot of Palm Coast Parkway Plaza just after 9:30 p.m., authorities are reporting.
Permitted Hunters Outnumber Florida Black Bears 6-to-1 as Killing Season Nears
Florida’s October hunt has drawn almost 1,800 hunters against a black bear quota of 320, in parts of the state where the killing will be allowed.
Brazen Car Break-Ins at Belle Terre Swim and Racquet, Frieda Zamba Pool and County Park
Unlike the majority of break-ins targeting unlocked vehicles, five break-ins resulted in smashed windows to five vehicles at three county and city parks or clubs and in one private driveway in the B-Section.
Capitalism Doesn’t Cause Poverty. Its Absence Does.
The world’s poorest countries are not characterized by naive trust in capitalism, but by utter distrust, which leads to heavy government intervention and regulation of business. Under such conditions, capitalism does not thrive and economies remain poor.
Cashing In on Pot: How Business Is Getting High on Marijuana’s Potential
The industry totaled $2.66 billion in U.S. sales in 2014, up 74 percent from $1.53 billion the year before, with expectations that the market will expand exponentially as more states legalize marijuana for both medical and recreational use.
Monday Briefing: Be Careful Out There, It’s Back to School Day, Bush and Manatees, DSC Fights Cyber Crimes
Public and private students are back in school across Flagler County today, Daytona State College is designated a Center of Digital Forensics Academic Excellence (CDFAE) by the Defense Cyber Crime Center.
Princess Place Saved Again: Flagler Pulls Extreme Race Out of Preserve and Looks Elsewhere
County Administrator Craig Coffey, conceding to the outpouring of opposition to holding such a race at the preserve—and to a majority of county commissioners’ categorical opposition to the event there—informed commissioners Sunday that the race would be pulled.
How County Government Is Pimping Princess Place While Spinning Fairy Tales
Flagler County’s justifications for holding a Spartan extreme-sport race at Princess Place Preserve fails the smell test on all counts and raise questions about how tourism chief Matt Dunn and County Administrator Craig Coffey got the deal so far to start with.
Nearly Condemned, Old Courthouse in Bunnell Gavels Back to Life as Christian School
First Baptist Christian Academy opened its doors today before throngs of celebrants marking the rejuvenation of the old county courthouse, now as a viable business in the heart of Bunnell.
Lawmakers Can’t Get It Done: Redistricting Session Collapses, Leaving It Up to Courts
The end of the session without agreement on the shape of Florida’s 27 congressional districts likely means the final decision will be made by the courts, though some lawmakers held out slim hopes for a resolution in the coming days that could avoid such an outcome.