Bunnell City Manager Armando Martinez ran out of lives late Monday night as the City Commission voted 3-2 not to renew his contract–essentially firing him–despite impassioned appeals by the mayor to retain him.
Troopergate: Florida Highway Patrol Was Wrong to Fire Charles Swindle Over Bogus Ticket
The Florida Highway Patrol shouldn’t have fired trooper Charles Swindle, who followed “the agency’s unwritten policy of professional courtesy” toward state legislators, a hearing officer ruled Monday. But that doesn’t mean the ex-trooper was right when issuing less expensive tickets last November to the lawmakers.
Florida Appeal Court Approves Weekly Check-Ins for Homeless Sex Offenders
In a case that may have ramifications beyond the Florida Panhandle, where it originated, a state appeals court Monday approved a Bay County Sheriff’s Office policy that requires homeless registered sex offenders to report by 10 a.m. each Monday about where, through a detailed log, they expect to spend the next seven nights.
Bunnell Manager Martinez’s Fate Again Hangs By a Thread as Vote May End Tenure Tonight
Bunnell Commissioner Elbert Tucker will trigger another discussion against renewing Armando Martinez’s contract, with Commissioner Bill Baxley having already pledged during his campaign not to renew it as written, and Commissioner John Rogers long opposed to the manager, which suggests that tonight’s vote may end Martinez’s five-year tenure.
Watch Live: George Zimmerman Trial
Live gavel-to-gavel coverage of the George Zimmerman on a charge of second-degree murder of Trayvon Martin. We have the NBC and WFTV news feeds.
Evolving from OMG to GED: Flagler’s Adult Education Innovates With a Class for the Deaf
Flagler Technical Institute’s Adult Education program (FTI) is offering a graduation-equivalency diploma GED preparation class to the deaf community, the first of its kind in the area. The curriculum will focus on math, English, science, and social studies.
NRA Bragging Rights: Arrogant, Mercenary, Irresponsible
The NRA used to be a gun-safety group. Now it tells us we need to be armed in order to fight our own government, writes Steve Robinson, obscuring the responsibilities of gun ownership while legitimizing fringe fanatics. Paul Miller’s murder of Dana Mulhall in Flagler Beach is our own Exhibit A of this dangerous trend.
Pressure Building on Scott to Sign–Or Veto–Bill Forbidding Local Sick-Leave Standards
Florida’s business lobby supports a bill that would forbid local governments from letting voters decide whether to require more generous sick-leave policies from employers than state or federal law requires.
Flagler School Tax Fails; “We Will Do Everything Possible to Meet Challenges,” Superintendent Says
The first batch of result, based on early-voting and absentee ballots, show the school tax referendum failing by a wide margin, with 60 percent of voters opposed and 40 percent in favor. The numbers: 4,663 against, 3,105 for, so far.
Why I’m Voting For the School Tax Referendum, Warts and All
The school district made several errors as it badly sold the school tax referendum. But it’s not about punishing the board. It’s is about warding off mediocrity in a district that managed, against odds, to maintain quality through recession and state and federal cutbacks. That quality is in jeopardy without a Yes to the referendum.
Gun Zealots Attack Scott For Replacing Sheriff Arrested in Concealed Weapon Misconduct
The governor is face criticism from Second Amendment advocates for his suspension of Liberty County Sheriff Nicholas Lee Finch, who allegedly destroyed documents tied to the arrest of a man charged with carrying a concealed firearm.
40-Ton Tanker Truck Overturns on Palm Coast Parkway, Which Closes for Several Hours
After 11 or 11:30 a.m. Friday, the westbound lanes of Palm Coast Parkway will be closed to traffic for one to two hours, from Old Kings Road west, as crews right a tanker truck that overturned on the parkway. There were no injuries, and no environmental hazards.
U.S. Economy Adds 175,000 Jobs But Unemployment Rate Rises Again, to 7.6%
The May unemployment rate of 7.6 percent is a decimal increase from April, and only a small decline from the 8.2 percent rate from a year ago as the U.S. economy continues to dawdle along, and in the face of further drags.
Horse Killed, 2 People Injured, One Gravely, in Massive Wreck on SR100 and CR305
An older woman driving a pick-up truck was severely injured, the horse she was trailing was killed, and a man driving an armored truck that collided with the pick-up was hurt in a massive, rain-soaked collision at the intersection of State Road 100 and County Road 305 at 3:30 Thursday afternoon.
Tropical Storm Andrea: Flagler Under Storm Warning as Gov. Scott Takes Shots at Obama
Tropical Storm Andrea is here to stay for a few hours. Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who seldom misses an opportunity to attack the Obama administration, on Thursday named–and blamed–President Obama as the reason why a potential response to storm emergencies needing National Guard personnel would be delayed.
Argument and Death Threat Preceded Store Clerk’s Murder By a Week, Lawsuit Alleges
A lawsuit filed Wednesday on behalf of Zuheili Roman Rosado, the store clerk murdered at the Palm Coast Mobil convenience store in February, alleges that the gas station owner had witnessed an argument at the store between Rosado and a man who threatened to kill her, a week before the murder. The suit seeks compensatory damages from the gas station owner over claims of negligence and fraud.
Brett Cunningham, a Star On and Off Stage, Is Imagine Schools’ National Teacher of the Year
Brett Cunningham, a fifth-grade teacher at Palm Coast’s Imagine School at Town Center, was chosen from more than 2,000 teachers in 72 schools across 12 states, a yet unparalleled distinction for any teacher in any type of school system—traditional, charter or private—in Flagler County.
Media Descend on Florida for Zimmerman Trial Amid Duels of Fact and Prejudice
With 200 news organizations expected in Sanford for the second-degree murder trial of George Zimmerman, which starts Monday with jury selection, Florida is in an unwelcome spotlight again in the racially charged case, with likely far-reaching consequences.
Rotary’s June 9 Run/Walk Fund-Raiser for Flagler County Free Clinic Looking for Participants
The Rotary Club of Palm Coast is hosting the 7th annual Run for the Free Clinic this Sunday, June 9, 2013, a fund-raising event for the Flagler County Free Clinic, but more participants are needed.
A Pastor Reflects on Two Church Community Friends: Leonard Lynn and His Murderer
Rev. Beth Gardner, the pastor at Bunnell’s First United Methodist Church, heard the news of Leonard Lynn’s murder 10 minutes before services Sunday. He had been a member of her church community–as was his murderer, Erick Niemi.
District Throws In Towel on School Uniforms, Largely Relaxing Policy For Simplicity’s Sake
For high school students in Flagler schools, specific color restrictions will be gone, as long as students wear solid colors and sweatshirts and other “outerwear,” including all sorts of logos, will be allowed, making the policy look more like the pre-uniform dress code than not. Restrictions would still be in place for younger students.
FHP Director Julie Jones Is Shocked, Shocked to Hear of Troopers Issuing Fake Tickets
Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Executive Director Julie Jones said she expects the agency will look into allegations of bogus tickets, described last week by a handful of former and current troopers during an administrative hearing on the firing of former FHP Trooper Charles Swindle.
Flagler Emergency Director Warns: Forget Hurricane Predictions. Just Be Prepared.
As forecasters predict a busy hurricane season–18 named storms, nine hurricanes, four major ones–Flagler’s Emergency Operations Director Troy Harper warned against basing preparedness on predictions and actively developing a disaster plan instead, whether at home or in one’s business.
Flagler Middle & High School Principals Plead With Voters: Give Us Back Those 45 Minutes
Flagler County’s four secondary-school principals say restoring 45 minutes to the school day, or the equivalent of a month’s worth education, is indispensable if the district’s students are to excel consistently.
Florida Government’s DCF Looks to Religious Organizations to Recruit Foster Parents
Looking for foster parents, DCF Director of Faith Based Development Erik Braun told child welfare professionals at a conference that Florida has 12 million residents affiliated with a Catholic or Protestant church, 1 million Jews and 400,000 to 600,000 Muslims.
Flagler County Will Buy 11 Billboards on A1A and I-95 and Eliminate Most of Them By 2016
The Flagler County Commission agreed to buy 10 billboards on A1A and one on I-95 for $140,000, and eliminate all but three by 2016, retaining the one on I-95 and two on A1A to promote the county’s tourism and economic development efforts.
Leonard Lynn Murdered In Savage Beating Three Days Before Authorities Found Him
According to his confession, Erick Niemi knocked Leonard Lynn’s head against the floor and choked him for 1 to 2 minutes Wednesday, killing him then–and, until his arrest Saturday night, remaining in the house for three days after Niemi had locked the lifeless body in a bedroom.
Flagler Scrapes Up a Few Acres of Preservation Despite Demise of Florida Protection Program
Even though it’s not been a good few years for land preservation in Florida, two areas tagged by environmentalists as Jewels of Flagler County were expanded with recent purchases as those who work to set aside land for the future struggle with diminishing budgets amid great opportunity.
Man Is Killed at 26 Ryken Lane in Palm Coast, Suspect Charged With 2nd Degree Murder
Leonard Lynn, 76, was killed at 26 Ryken Lane in Palm Coast. Erick Niemi, a roommate, has been charged with second-degree murder. The murder was discovered Saturday evening. Niemi was picked up not far in the van he’d allegedly stolen from Lynn.
Between Fleeting Time and Family Feel at Matanzas High’s 2013 Commencement
Some 340 students graduated from Matanzas High School Friday evening in a ceremony that emphasized the school’s successes and the connections of the student body with its extended families.
Gas Station Murder Victim’s Employer Is Jailed on Workers Compensation Fraud Charge
Zuheily Roman Rosado’s assassin remains at large. But on Friday, her employer, Mohammed Ansari, was arrested on a third-degree felony charge of workers compensation fraud. His lapsed policy may have cost Roman’s family up to $157,000 in lost death benefits.
Flagler Tea Party Spreads False and Misleading Claims as It Declares Against School Tax
The Tea Party’s opposition to the referendum is based on flawed, misleading or outright false information, which the school district has been at pains to counter or correct. The fate of the June 7 referendum may hinge on the district’s success—or failure—in that counter-offensive.
Planning for Flagler’s Future, County Talks Library Repairs, New Fire Station and Jail
Expanding an overcrowded county jail, building a modern new sheriff’s operations center, upgrading an inadequate drainage system as urbanization changes the rural character of Flagler and improving fire and emergency medical response west of U.S. 1 were featured in the first of four strategic-planning sessions by the county commission Thursday.
FPC Graduates Are Urged: Don’t Just Show Up. Know the Why of Your Life’s Purpose.
For Flagler Palm Coast High School, a day that began with a bomb scare ended with the graduation of some 450 seniors at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach Thursday evening, with Katie Young delivering the Commencement Address and Lynettt Shott watching her first graduating class as FPC’s new principal.
George Zimmerman’s Murder Trial of Trayvon Martin: About Race, Pure and Simple
The George Zimmerman trial starting June 10 isn’t about self-defense or vigilantism or gun rights. It’s about race, pure and simple, argues Steve Robinson. For proof, we need look no further than at the strategy being pursued by Zimmerman’s defense.
Hasty Citizens Property Insurance Deal Draws Howls as Scott Signs Bills by the Bushel
The announcement of the bill-signing came as a Citizens committee discussed efforts to try to steer policies into the private insurance market — and a controversial deal approved last week that could funnel up to $52 million to St. Petersburg-based Heritage Property and Casualty Insurance, which would take out as many as 60,000 policies from Citizens.
11th Grader Admits to Bomb Threat at Flagler Palm Coast High School
An employee who’d been off Tuesday and Wednesday heard a phone message Thursday that referred to a bomb threat on the FPC campus, but the threat was for last Tuesday. The sheriff’s office recommended against evacuating the school and treated the matter as a “suspicious incident,” through the school was to be searched and a bomb squad called in.
Palm Coast’s Jim Landon Gets Top Career Award from Statewide Association
It is indicative of the persistent pettiness of the rivalry between Flagler County and Palm Coast that when the county sent out the announcement of its own deputy administrator receiving a state award earlier this week, it left silent the—somewhat more significant—award that went to Jim Landon, the Palm Coast City Manager.
FHP Troopers Speak of Unwritten Directive to Ticket Lawmakers Less Harshly Than Other Drivers
A sheriff who appeared at a hearing for a trooper fired over for being lenient toward a lawmaker said it’s a “common practice” that legislators have been given leniency on state highways, the same as law enforcement officers regularly waive rules for other law enforcement officers as a “professional courtesy.”
Property Appraiser Gardner: Correcting the Record on School Taxes and the Referendum
In an endorsement of the half-mill school tax levy, Flagler County Property Appraiser James Gardner responds to claims that the school district has “continually increased our taxes. Based upon factual information, this is simply not true.” He shows why.
Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down Scott’s Drug-Testing of State Workers as Too Broad
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals declared an executive order by Riock Scott to drug-test 85,000 state employees and all job applicants as mostly unconstitutional, but left room for a lower court decision to be rewritten to allow for certain employees in certain categories to be drug tested–essentially restoring Florida’s drug-testing standard to what it was before the governor’s executive order.
Elmer Carroll To Be Killed at 6 p.m. as Stay Is Denied; Exonerated Men Will Deliver Petition to Scott
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday denied the last appeal by Elmer Leon Carroll to stay his execution, On Thursday, Herman Lindsey and Seth Penalver – the 23rd and 24th men exonerated from Florida’s Death Row – will deliver a letter to Gov. Rick Scott, asking him to veto the Timely Justice Act, which will fast-track executions.
A “Nasty” Government Building Highlights County’s Priorities as Budget Spells Higher Taxes
An unclear Government Services Building and what it costs to maintain it properly was emblematic of the Flagler County Commission’s budget discussion this morning, as the government faces at least a $3.3 million gap, or more, if it hires an extra custodian, no new revenue, and the likelihood of higher taxes.
A State Leadership Award for Sally Sherman, Flagler’s Deputy County Administrator
Flagler County Deputy County Administrator Sally Sherman received the Assistant For Excellence In Leadership Award Friday (May 24) in Orlando at the annual meeting of the Florida City and County Management Association.
Surveillance Drones Give Germans Bad Memories
Railway operator Deutsche Bahn wants to police its rail yards with tiny drones to fight graffiti, triggering a debate in a country where clandestine surveillance is a strongly emotional issue. Florida banned police surveillance by drone this year, absent a warrant.
The Military’s Sexual Assault Crisis: Our Women in Uniform Deserve Better
There were 3,374 reported cases of sexual assault in the military in 2012, and 26,000 assaults likely went unreported. Those shameful numbers don’t have to speak for themselves, argues Martha Burk, but most of the victims were afraid of being punished by superiors if they reported what happened.
Radiology Associates’ Al Falco Is Named Fellow at National Conference
Al Falco, CEO of Daytona Beach-based Radiology Associates was awarded the highest honor in the field of Radiology business management – Fellow of the Radiology Business Management Association (RBMA), for his significant contributions to the RBMA and his profession.
Rediscovering Color, Palm Coast May Relax Restrictions on Homeowners’ Paint Schemes
Palm Coast isn’t about to go Miami Beach, but the City Council approved going ahead with a plan by the Flagler Homebuilders Association and its own administration to broaden allowable colors homeowners may use to paint their own houses, a restriction that has often vexed newcomers unused to a city government controlling private property to that extent.
2 Children and 2 Teens Escape Injuries in 2-Car Wreck at Intersection of US1 and SR100
Kaenin Brinkley, 18, and Jasmine Lampley, 19, were driving their respective vehicles, Lampley with a 13-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy on board, when the two vehicles collided and one overturned, though no one was injured. Segments of U.S.1 and SR100 were briefly closed in mid-afternoon Tuesday.
81-Year-Old Stabs His Caretaker in a Clash Across the Street from Mayor’s House
August T. Lindquist, 81, was jailed on an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge Monday night after stabbing his caretaker outside his home on Flintstone Court, across the street from Palm Coast Mayor Jon Netts’s home. Linsquist is in the early stages of dementia, when violent outbursts are not uncommon.