The break-in at the 500,000-gallon water tower was discovered Tuesday morning. City officials say they have no reason to think the water was compromised, but are conducting batteries of tests. Police is investigating.
Texbooks in All Florida School Districts Required to Go Digital By 2015-16
The new law requires Florida public schools to adopt digital-only textbooks by the 2015-16 school year, and spend at least 50 percent of their textbook budget on digital materials by that time.
Flagler School Board Defends Its Own Budget Cutting, Batting Down Most Alternatives
The county’s teacher and service employee unions and the tea party all questioned the way the district went about preparing next year’s budget, but without changing the district’s direction.
Florida Hospital Flagler Expanding Again With Clinic and Offices Near Walmart by June 2012
Saying the hospital was looking for a presence on Palm Coast Parkway, FHF CEO David Ottati said the 34,000-square-foot building will add up to 25 jobs and an urgent-care clinic, among other services.
Mechanical Trouble Briefly Grounds County’s Fire Flight Copter As 12 Brush Fires Burn
Flagler County’s Fire Flight helicopter has been vital in spotting fires early to prevent them from growing. Fire fighters depend on it particularly when they’re stretched thin, as they are this week.
Donald Trump Joins Mike Huckabee On Obama’s Re-Election Sidelines
Donald Trump won’t run for president, though he still claims he could have won. Firing people on the Apprentice was a bigger priority: NBC forced him to make a choice.
Endeavour Arcs Beyond Flagler Beach and Into History As Throngs Squint Goodbye
Space Shuttle Endeavour lifted off for the last time Monday morning as the ritual throngs of launch enthusiasts lined Flagler Beach’s boardwalk, pier and beaches.
Flagler 911: The Live Crime Blotter, April 27-May 8, 2011
A car stolen almost by invitation, an underage drinking party on Royal Palm Lane, Oxycodone for the taking, vandalism at Linear Park and Buddy Taylor Middle School, domestic battery in the shadow of an AK-47, and more.
Conklin: Time to End the Legislature’s
Betrayal of Florida’s Promise to Our Children
Describing relentless attacks on education and a state of fear in Tallahassee that cost her her own job recently, Flagler County School Board member Colleen Conklin explains why local school boards must take a stand against the state’s erosion of public education.
Gov. Rick Scott’s Ex HCA Suing Florida Over $757,000 in Unpaid Interest on Late Taxes
Hospital giant HCA is suing the Florida Department of Revenue in a tax dispute that stems from the turbulent era when Gov. Rick Scott ran the company.
Coulter’s Godless, A Night at Ikea, the Book on Mormons, Yo-Yo Ma’s Spiked Swan: The Live Wire
Erin McCaskill’s first art sale, atheists in the military, talking philosophy with children, next-generation digital books, Lil Buck and Yo-Yo Ma, Ann Coulter’s godless church of liberalism, and more.
An Eye for a Lens: Art League’s Photography Show Brings Out Simpler Pleasures
The Flagler County Art League’s 2nd Annual Photography Show pays homage to Photoshop, landscapes and animal pictures, with 75 works from 33 artists from Flagler, St. Johns and Volusia counties.
3-Hour Stand Off Ends in the Woodlands As Man Gives Himself Up to SWAT Team
A tense, 3-hour stand-off ended just after 5 p.m. today in Palm Coast’s Woodlands, after a man threatened to harm himself or others. The SWAT team and mobile command center were called in.
Solidarity Against Cancer As Survivors Relay For Life in Overnight Trek at Town Center
Some 57 teams of walkers turned out for Relay for Life at Palm Coast’s Town Center, the annual, overnight walk against cancer and the culmination of a fund-raising effort expected to net more than $100,000. See the photo gallery.
Brush Fire in Residential Area of Bunnell’s Mondex Flirts With Clothing Ministry
The fire in a residential area, believed to have been triggered by a lightning strike, was near a house and God’s Clothing Ministry, which hands out free clothes and shoes twice a week. No evacuations were necessary.
In Day of No-Shows, Latest Economic Summit Slouches Toward Enterprise Flagler
The end isn’t near: Friday’s economic-development summit between local governments and business launched more committee meetings and assigned Enterprise Flagler the responsibility of devising who might lead the effort in the future.
Hurricane Tallahassee: Environmentalists Survey Wreckage of 2011 Legislative Session
Developers gained more power in environmental disputes, state regulation of development was scaled back, the Department of Community Affairs is all but history as the Florida Legislature diminished the state’s growth management role in favor of development.
Summit-Scaling: Enterprise Flagler, Rising Again, Wants $6.5 Million Over 3 Years
What you can expect at Friday’s economic-development summit: Demands for more tax dollars, speculative promises of thousands of jobs from executives, skepticism and disconnects. In short, a retread of old scenarios.
Foreclosures Down 59 Percent in April, But Don’t Celebrate Yet, Florida
Longer processing times and the backlash against banks’ speed-dialed foreclosures have more to do with the brighter number than an actual recovery in the housing market.
Fallen Officers Are Commemorated as Sheriff Declares: “This Is Unacceptable.”
The annual, solemn ceremony at the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office recalled the four officers killed in the line of duty in this county, and the nearly 70 killed so far this year across the country.
Thelma and Louise of Geometric Abstractions Ride Into Hollingsworth Gallery
Louise Lieber, a sculptor and painter, and Antoinette Slick, a painter, are paired in a beguiling new show at the Hollingsworth Gallery. Their art is a journey into the possibilities and beauties of geometry.
The Taste of 100 Wines, Henry Patrick Raleigh, Shrek & Fringe: Culture Worth the Miles
All Florida art at the Mennello Museum, American illustrator Henry Patrick Raleigh at the Maitland Art Center, the science of wine-tasting at the Orlando Science Center, Shrek at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center, violinist Joshua Bell, and more.
Fallout from Sylvan Learning Center Closures: Benefit for Palm Coast, Word War Elsewhere
When three Sylvan Learning Centers closed abruptly in Volusia County, Palm Coast’s center offered to take in students left out. Meanwhile, the Volusia franchise owners and Sylvan’s home office are in a war of words.
Mondex Man Faces 2 Attempted Murder Charges After Chasing and Tipping Ex’s SUV
William Jordan, a resident of Bunnell’s Mondex, was upset that his ex-wife, whom he divorced nine years ago, was with another man in another car. He chased and tipped the car over before crashing his own.
Making It Right in New Orleans, 6 Years After Katrina: The Grit of Pitt and Green
From Brad Pitt’s Make It Right program to a broad-based spirit of enterprise, Flagler Beach’s Frank Gromling has been tracking New Orleans’ rebirth every year by attending the city’s annual jazz festival.
Florida Home Sales Rise in 1Q, Home Values Tumble Again
Florida home sales rose 13 percent in the 1st quarter, led by a glut of bank-owned homes on the market, but housing prices continued to fall, dampening hopes that property values have bottomed out.
Reserves and Stratagems All Spent, Palm Coast Faces Up to Higher Taxes and More Cuts
Palm Coast lost $3 million in revenue last year by refusing to raise taxes. It’s about to lose close to $2 million more. The administration and the council are preparing taxpayers for a tax increase–or crippling cuts.
Flagler Commissioner Nate McLaughlin Settles Ethics Violation With $600 Fine
The Florida Ethics Commission had offered a $1,000 settlement, which McLaughlin negotiated down to $600, with no admission of intentionally failing to disclose financial information.
Strong-Armed Hard Drive Robbery at Palm Coast Target Lands Kiev Native in Flagler Jail
Yuli Ilchenko, a 22-year-old resident of Prescott Lane in Palm Coast, knew he was under surveillance at Target when he allegedly swiped the 500-GB hard drive and pocketed it on his way out. He tried to flee.
From Nursing Homes to Medicaid to Pill Mills, Florida Re-Writes Austere Health Rules
Health care reform opt-out, broad abortion restrictions, managed care for 2.8 million Floridians, less care for patients in nursing homes, Healthy Start slashed: Florida redrew the state’s health care map in the 2011 legislative session.
Loan Modifications: How Banks Require Struggling Homeowners to Waive Rights
Mortgage loan modification scams: Regulators ban the practice, but banks are forcing homeowners struggling to save their home to sign away their right to sue.
Wicked Transition to Stage Magic as FPC Goes Emerald With “Wizard of Oz” This Weekend
“The Wizard of Oz” at the Flagler Auditorium is the biggest FPC stage production to date, with a live orchestra and a cast and crew of 75. The production gelled in a mere six weeks under a new director, after the previous one quit.
Weather and Climate Extremes Punctuate a Very Warm, Very Wet April Across the U.S.
The average temperature was almost 1 full degree above the 100-year average, and Florida’s drought aside, April was the 7th wettest month on record, triggering historic flooding.
Florida’s FHSAA Slaps $2,500 Fine on FPC Lacrosse Team; Questions Arise About Payment
The $2,500 fine was the result of the lacrosse coach mingling school athletic funds with funds for a separate lacrosse club team not officially associated with FPC. The case led to a district-wide policy revamp on teams and fund-raising.
Per-Student Funding Dropping $572, or 8%; Flagler District Poised for Severe Cuts
As state lawmakers cut school budgets by $1.3 billion, the Flagler school district already has plans to cut its budget by 3.5 percent through teacher layoffs and other means. It’ll make up the difference by using more than a third of its $9 million reserves.
A Cardboard Castle Contest and Other First Friday Royalties in Flagler Beach
Flagler Beach’s May edition of First Fridays brought the most construction activity to the county in three years, and tastings from around the globe.
Il Scott, Il Duce, Whites Against Black Movies, Florida Against Watchdogs: The Live Wire
The what-ifs of capturing bin Laden, Obama’s Osama rap, Florida’s war on watchdogs, why whites don’t watch movies starring blacks, a girl is forced to cheer for her rapist, arts, education and Obama, David Hume at 300, and more.
2011 Session Under GOP Supermajority: Stingier, Looser, More Preferential Florida
The 2011 Session revamped Medicaid, teacher pay and pill-mill regulations, cut the budget and brooked favors with insurers, but culminated in corrosive revolts among Republicans as anti-union and anti-immigration bills failed.
Lawmakers Quietly and Hurriedly Approve $10 Million Statewide Boarding Charter School
The charter school, vehemently opposed by Ormond Beach Sen. Evelyn Lynn, who cited other education priorities, would focus on troubled youth but be paid for with public funds and run by a private concern.
Carver Gym’s Journey from Legacy to Ashes And Back–and How To Sustain It
Barbara Revels, the Flagler County commissioner, was chiefly instrumental in reviving Carver Gym’s fortunes, and setting it on course toward a sustainable future as a youth and community center. She sums up what’s been achieved and where to go from here.
Another Random Shooting in Palm Coast, Loaded on Alcohol, Leads to an Arrest
Pavel Bolotnikov was driving drunk and firing a .45 caliber gun Friday morning along Riverview Bend in the gated community of Tidelands in Palm Coast. He was arrested and jailed.
Class-Size Limits Lifted on Numerous Courses As Lawmakers Redefine Meaning of “Core”
Foreign language classes, Advanced Placement courses, and certain social studies courses would be exempt from constitutionally required class-size limits, while caps in other classes could be exceeded by three to five students.
Doubts, Debates, Debacles and New Details: The Bin Laden Follies Weekend Round-Up
In the wake of Osama bin Laden’s death, there’s no dearth of debates over torture’s merits, whether he’s really dead, what Pakistan knew and when it knew it, and the Obama administration’s ever-changing stories. A guide.
1-Year-Old Marketing 2 Go Adds Brandi Fowler As Social Media Manager
Marketing 2 Go, the marketing company Cindy Dalecki founded a little over a year ago with an emphasis on social media, is adding Brandi Fowler to its team.
“For Colored Girls Who’ve Considered Suicide”: Blunt Poetry Theater at AACC Saturday
Ntozake Shange’s play for seven women characters, staged at the African American Cultural Center, was a Broadway hit in 1976 and remains a classic of an entirely original style of American stage poetry and oral folk traditions.
Underage Sex Sting Nets 17 Men in St. Johns, Including Teacher and 2 in Military
“Operation Sheepdog” involved undercover detectives posing as juveniles between 8 and 15 years old or parents online to arrange for unknown suspects to meet with them at an undercover house.
Economy Adds 244,000 Jobs, an Unexpected Surge, But Unemployment Back Up to 9%
The 244,000 net new jobs defied economists’ expectations of a much weaker April, but the unemployment rate, obtained from a separate survey, rose for the first time in five months.
Prom Night Recklessness: FPC Rattles Students With Tombstones and Scary Statistics
Carrying pickets and tombstones to symbolize the dangers of recklessness on prom night, students and FPC Activities Director Cheryl Perry sent a cautionary message to fellow students who’ll be partying on prom night Friday.
Last-Minute Budget Deal Reduces Districts’ Dollars and Oversight of Charter Schools
Charter schools that have received an “A” or “B” rating in the last three years would be given the ability to expand enrollment or add new grades without having to wait for approval from the school district.
Violinist Joshua Bell with the Orlando Philharmonic and Other Virtuoso Acts: Culture Worth the Miles
Joshua Bell in two concerts with the Orlando Philharmonic, and the Orlando Philharmonic’s Concert at the Springs, Epcot’s annual Chef’s Gala to benefits Heart of Florida United Way, The Audubon Center for Birds of Prey’s “Baby Owl Shower” in Maitland, and more.