George Zimmerman was back in custody Monday afternoon as part of an investigation involving domestic violence, the Orlando Sentinel is reporting. A Lake Mary police officer says a gun may have been involved, but it isn’t clear whether anyone will be arrested.
U.S. Marshals Arrest Suspect Wanted in Bank Robberies in Flagler, Volusia and St. Johns
William Carl Styffe, 32, of Coconut Creek in Palm Beach County, was arrested by U.S. Marshals Monday as the suspect believed to have tried to rob Hancock Bank in Palm Coast on Aug. 30 and to have robbed a SunTrust bank in Volusia the same day, and a bank in St. Johns County four days later.
Florida Groups Helping Uninsured Are Getting “Intimidating” Letters from GOP Lawmakers
Eight groups that are hiring and training “navigators” to help uninsured Floridians enroll in Obamacare have been sent letters by 15 GOP members of a U.S. House committee seeking information on their activities — a letter the Obama administration called a “blatant and shameful attempt to intimidate.”
Back From Budget Brink, Flagler Youth Orchestra Begins 9th Year on New and Record Note
The Flagler Youth Orchestra is back for its ninth year with a new artistic director–and what appears to be another record-setting enrollment–three months after the school board had considered eliminating the program altogether.
When an F Is an Automatic 50: In Defense Of Matanzas High School’s Grading Policy
Matanzas High School Principal Chris Pryor’s new policy of bottoming out all F’s at 50%–not zero–drew some grumbles, but teacher Jo Ann Nahirny explains why it’s a far more just policy than awarding zeros–and how the same policy may have changed her own life.
Some 450 Motorcyclists Turn Out For 9/11 Memorial Ride and 21-Gun Salute
the Flagler County Courthouse was all glittering chrome, American and black P.O.W. flags, leather jackets, tattoos beading in the sun and the occasional helmet as 400 to 500 riders gathered for the annual 9/11 memorial ceremony and ride across Flagler and Volusia Sunday morning. A photo gallery is included.
DCF Looking to Bring Family Drug Court to Florida as an Intervention Method
With substance abuse still threatening to overwhelm child-welfare systems like Florida’s, officials are looking at drug courts for troubled families as a way to address the problem.
Snap-and-Run: Sheriff Looking for Driver Who Sheared Off Red-Light Camera Pole
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s assistance in locating a vehicle captured on video that struck an ATS red light traffic camera pole on Moody Boulevard (State Road 100) at the intersection of Memorial Medical Parkway in Palm Coast. The pole belongs to American Traffic Solutions, the Arizona-based company that runs the red-light spy-and-snap camera system for Palm Coast.
Obama’s Born-Again Missile Envy Over Syria: Wrong on All Counts
Whether the Syrian regime used chemical weapons or not, Obama would be wrong to attack, even if Congress approves. It’s not America’s war to fight, it’s not Obama’s judgment to make, and his red line is an absurd marker when contrasted with two and a half years of atrocities, and 100,000 deaths, that never got a peep.
Bunnell City Manager’s Job Draws 83 Applicants, Including Two of Its Own Directors
The 75,000 to $80,000 position to replace Armando Martinez was advertised barely two weeks, but it’s drawn 36 applicants from 26 states and the District of Columbia, with the balance—47 applicants—from Florida, a dozen of them from Flagler County.
That Feared Flagler Schools Enrollment Drop And Loss of $1.8 Million? Didn’t Happen.
Last May, when the school board was campaigning for a new tax, it was projecting a loss of 283 students and $1.8 million. In fact, the district has added a handful of students two weeks into the new school year, ensuring that the state will keep sending that money to Flagler–and reducing pressure on the local district to think of closing some schools.
Projection Shows $846 Million Surplus Ahead of Florida’s 2014 Budget
The estimated $845.7 million surplus could be used during the 2014-15 fiscal year to increase spending or cut taxes — or it could be rolled into the budget for the following year. The projection comes with all sorts of caveats, as the 2014-15 year will not start until July 1.
Unemployment Rate Ticks Down to 7.3% But Job Creation Is a Hazy 162,000
The 7.3 percent unemployment rate for August is the lowest rate since December 2008, but job creation remains anemic, and June and July figures were revised downward by 74,000 jobs. The economy is still generating barely half the jobs necessary to return to pre-recession health.
High Times Ahead: The Political Side Effects of Tolerating Legal Pot
A nascent civil war is brewing between the social conservative and the libertarian wings of the Republican party, with legalized pot now another issue that could add to the divisions, and Attorney general Eric Holder’s decision not to prosecute marijuana possession in much of the nation lighting new fuses, argues Sanho Tree.
In a Surprising Shift, County Commission Finds Money for 2 Jail-Diversion Programs After All
Flagler County commissioners Thursday evening agreed to take on a $100,000 mental-health jail diversion program previously paid for by the state, and a $60,000 pre-trial release program they had opposed in earlier workshops. Both shifts took place during a hearing devoted to approving next year’s tax property rate.
19-Year-Old Accused of Molesting 12-Year-Old Step-Sister; R-Section Armed Robbery Report
Earl Robinson III, a 19-year-old resident of Rolling Sands Drive in Palm Coast, is accused of molesting his 12-year-old step-sister; an odd report of an armed robbery in the R-Section; a Good Samaritan Act gone bad on SR100, and rock-throwing and knife-pulling on Point Pleasant Drive.
Loretta Lynn, Just Named Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient, at Peabody on Sept. 13
Last month President Obama named Loretta Lynn, alongside Gloria Steinem and Bill Clinton, among others, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient. The 81-year-old country star will be at Daytona Beach’s Peabody Auditorium for one show on Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m.
Flagler Health Department Launches “Gospel” to Combat Twin Killers: Tobacco and Obesity
Two initiatives will be the centerpiece of the Flagler Health Department’s strategy in the coming year: Tobacco Free Flagler and an effort to reduce the incidence of overweight and obese residents through more awareness of good nutrition, BMI and healthier activities.
Coitus Prophylacticus: Advocacy Lawsuit Wants Florida Porn Flicks To Wear a Condom
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation filed a complaint with the Florida Department of Health, targeting a South Florida-based company it charges with making an adult video without protecting the performers from sexually transmitted diseases via the use of condoms.
Pit Bull Argument Then Homicide, Alan Grayson vs. Syria, Defunding Obamacare and the Benefits of LSD
The latest homicide in Jacksonville results from an argument over a pit bull, Alan Grayson says leave Syria alone, majority of Americans oppose defunding Obamacare, your brain on LSD and mescaline, badly paid women doctors, and 60 minutes of Louis CK.
Flagler County, Palm Coast, Habitat for Humanity and Stetson Line Up 9/11 Events
Several local organizations and local governments, including Flagler County, Palm Coast, Habitat for Humanity, Stetson University and others are commemorating the 12th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Lawmakers File Bill to Prohibit Red-Light Cameras in Florida as Palm Coast Snaps On
GOP Sen. Jeff Brandes blames red-light cameras “as backdoor tax increases,” but the Palm Coast City Council Tuesday reasserted its commitment to its 43 cameras even as they siphon out more than $3 million a year from the local economy–in taxes to state government, and in revenue to ATS, the Arizona-based company that runs the system.
From Indian Trails Middle School to The U.S. Open: Reilly Opelka’s Tennis Zoom
Reilly Opelka, 16, a Palm Coast native and former Indian Trails Middle School student, qualified for the main draw of the U.S. Open Juniors tournament. He lost in singles on Tuesday but he;’s still alive in doubles. He talks about what it was like growing up in Palm Coast and moving to a tennis academy in Boca Raton.
Palm Coast Quietly Plans Community Center Expansion For Bridge Club, Raising Questions
The Palm Coast Bridge Club and the Palm Coast city administration have agreed in principle on a plan that would have the bridge club writing a $250,000 check and the city building a facility it would lease to the Bridge Club as an expansion of the Community Center on Palm Coast Parkway.
Last Week’s Bank Robber in Palm Coast and Ormond May Have Struck Again in St. Johns
A man who bears a striking resemblance to the man who attempted to rob Hancock Bank in palm Coast last week, and actually robbed a Sun Trust bank branch in Ormond Beach half an hour later, is being sought in connection with a bank robbery Tuesday afternoon at Compass Bank on a U.S. 1 in St. Johns County.
Flagler Chamber Signals More Political Engagement With New Government Affairs Director
In the latest signal of the Flagler County Chamber of Commerce’s growing political profile, the chamber on Tuesday announced that it was creating the position of government affairs director, and appointing Gretchen Smith to fill it. Smith has been the chamber’s communications director since joining the chamber five years ago.
Giant Gambling Wish List and Seminole Compact on Florida Lawmakers’ Table
Slot machines, blackjack and roulette are back on the table as lawmakers prepare once again to tackle the high-stakes issue of gambling in a state that everyone agrees is already one of the industry’s biggest cash cows.
Labor Day Weekend Violence: Pointing a Gun at a Stepson, Punching a Pregnant Woman
Charles Lockhart, 23, of Palm Coast was jailed after allegedly punching his girlfriend, 34 weeks pregnant, and threatening a murder suicide, and Robert Knoblaugh, 63, of Bunnell was jailed for threatening his stepson with a gun front of grandchildren.
Freddy Krueger Act: Donald Rumsfeld’s False Notes Against Intervention in Syria
Donald Rumsfeld, who helped orchestrate an invasion on false pretenses to hunt for weapons of mass destruction that didn’t exist, is the last man to be giving President Obama lessons about what to do in Syria, argues Steve Robinson.
Bunnell City Attorney Lonnie Groot Resigns Three Days After Commissioner’s Sideswipe
Bunnell City Attorney Lonnie Groot resigned barely two months into his tenure, hinting at a lack of “professional principles and conduct” after Commissioner Jenny Crain-Brady said she didn;t want him “running” the city. The resignation is the latest in a series of blights on the city’s and commission’s conduct.
Insurance Commissioner’s Blurry Prediction of Rate Increases Under Obamacare Contradicted
RAND study findings stand in stark contrast to the widely publicized predictions of Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty that the individual market would see rate increases of 30 to 40 percent for next year.
29-Year-Old Palm Coast Woman Evacuated To Halifax After Shattering Wreck on US1
A 29-year-old Palm Coast woman driving alone, at the wheel of the Oldsmobile, was heading north on U.S. 1 in Palm Coast Sunday evening when, about half a mile south of White View Parkway, when she lost control and violently struck trees, demolishing the car and sustaining severe injuries.
Another Red State Takes Medicaid Dollars, Contrasting With Florida’s Holdout
Michigan, which like Florida has a Republican governor and legislative majority, has voted to accept federal funds and expand its Medicaid program to the low-income uninsured. It is yet another GOP-dominated state that has done what Florida, which declined $51 billion over 10 years, did not.
A Feral Cats Plea to Palm Coast: Time to Adopt Trap, Neuter and Return Rather than Kill
As Palm Coast continues to trap and kill feral cats, Jacksonville, Deland, Port Orange and Flagler Beach are among the growing list of cities and towns that have adopted trap, neuter and return programs. Cities are turning to the protocol not only because it is humane, but because it is cost effective.
Laptop Policy FAQ For Flagler County Schools, Explaining Macbook Distribution
This year (2013-14) the district is giving every high school student a Macbook Air, unless students or parents opt out. So-called “deployment” nights are scheduled at FPC and Matanzas High later this month. The following is the district’s own Frequently Asked Questions about the initiative.
Three High School Students Held Up at Gunpoint For Their Laptops at a Bus Stop
Earlier this week, three high school students were robbed at gunpoint of their Macbook Air laptops at a bus stop in Ocoee, in Orange County. The computers had been issued to the students as part of a pilot program. A similar but much broader initiative is under way in Flagler County Schools, though security issues have not been addressed as broadly.
Flagler and Ormond Cops Looking For Cavalier Bank Robber; Hancock and SunTrust Targeted
Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies and Ormond Beach police are looking for a man believed to be involved in an attempted robbery at Hancock Bank in Palm Coast and an actual robbery at SunTrust Bank in Ormond Beach Friday afternoon.
GOP Rep. Debbie Mayfield Files Bill to Limit or End Common Core in Florida
Rep. Debbie Mayfield’s measure would require the State Board of Education to meet certain requirements before moving forward with the English and math portions of the standards and specifically bar it from implementing common core in any other subject areas.
No PALs Allowed: A Mom’s Struggle With Flagler Schools’ Latest Dress-Code Absurdities
Though her children could wear PAL jersey shirts on Spirit Fridays last year, Michelle Taylor was ordered to Bunnell Elementary School Friday morning to replace her two sons’ PAL shirts as the 1st and 2nd grade boys were pulled from class and made to sit in the office “as if they’d committed a crime,” Taylor says.
Palm Coast’s Scott Jones, 51, Drowns in Intracoastal During Fishing Trip
Scott Jones, 51, of Wildwood Drive in Palm Coast, drowned while swimming in the middle of the Intracoastal Waterway Thursday afternoon, during a fishing trip with friends.
Burnishing Green Creds Ahead of Election, Gov. Scott Wants To Give Everglades a Lift
Gov. Rick Scott is proposing $90 million to help lift a section of the Tamiami Trail, which groups such as the Everglades Foundation have called “one of the most prominent dams” blocking the natural flow of the River of Grass.
Memo to Palm Coast Council: Don’t Let an Unelected Manager Dictate Democracy in the City
By letting Jim Landon’s feud with Supervisor of Elections Kim Weeks drag on at voters’ expense, the Palm Coast City Council is improperly letting its unelected city manager set early voting policy while reminding us why it bears a big share of the blame for sending election turnouts in Palm Coast tumbling to record lows for the past several cycles.
She’s Accused of Burglarizing a Sheriff’s Employee’s Home, Then Defrauding the Elderly
After burglarizing the home of a Flagler County Sheriff’s employee in the W Section, Jennie McAfee, a habitual offender, was arrested for defrauding a 79-year-old woman who was convalescing in a nursing home.
Flagler Tourism Office Rebuffs Consolidation With County, Hinting at More Autonomy Instead
County Commissioner George Hanns and Administrator Craig Coffey had talked of absorbing the tourism office–currently a branch of the chamber of commerce–into county government. It won’t happen. Rather, Tourism Director Georgia Turner is talking of having a stand-alone tourism office in a few years.
Police Chiefs and Civil Liberties Lawyers Tangle Over Florida’s Drug-Monitoring Database
Florida Department of Health officials say they want to tighten security on the state’s prescription-drug monitoring program, after the names and detailed prescription-drug histories of more than 3,000 people were released to defense attorneys after a drug sting in May.
County Rejects Roma Court for Sheriff’s Office as “Unworkable,” Citing 10 Issues
County Administrator Craig Coffey ended the Roma Court option’s prospects with a 10-point memo listing a series of structural and logistical concerns about the 57,000 square-foot property on Palm Coast Parkway, about half of which would have been leased to the county for the sheriff’s uses in a 15-year arrangement.
Flagler Beach’s Bobby Pace Pleads Not Guilty to Obstruction Charge
Bobby Pace, the 41-year-old Flagler Beach acting fire chief until late July, has pleaded not guilty to an obstruction charge the State Attorney filed against him on July 25 and waived an appearance before County Court Judge Melissa Moore-Stens at an arraignment on Tuesday.
Pessimism Creeping Into Floridians’ Consumer Confidence as Index Declines
Consumer confidence among Floridians remained in August at 77, the same as the July after that number was revised downward, the University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research reported today. Three of the five components that make up the index declined while two increased, suggesting increased pessimism.
Palm Coast Food and Wine Festival Returns, This Time With Wine, and Free Admission
The Palm Coast Food and Wine Festival at Town Center’s Central Park is scheduled for noon to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 31, with no gate admission, a dozen wines and more than a dozen food vendors from several countries, along with cultural and other entertainments.
Palm Coast Tax Holds Even, But Council Tiring of Deficit-Ridden Golf and Tennis Operations
The Palm Coast golf course had a $50,000 deficit this year, the tennis center a $100,000 deficit, both covered by taxpayers, with more deficits expected ahead. Palm Coast City Council members are wearying of carrying both centers. But they’re not ready to end the subsidies, either.