Dentists, doctors and pharmacists can still practice in Florida even after committing crimes, while the Department of Health passes over criminal backgrounds in a lax and self-reported licensing procedure.
Beanery Endeavour: Georgia’s Famed Tallulah Students Stop By For 46 Brown-Bag Breakfasts
Georgia’s Tallulah School is one of the nation’s most celebrated schools. Its 7th graders have been making spring trips to Florida for years. They stopped by the Beachhouse Beanery for breakfast and a chat with Mayor Alice Baker.
Armed Robbery at Flagler Beach’s CVS on SR100; Oxycontin-Filching Suspects Caught
At least two suspects entered the CVS just after 5 p.m., one of them brandishing a gun. They were caught at Old Dixie Highway and I-95. No one was injured. Oxycontin appears again to be the motive.
Preliminary Report Suggests Walker May Have Lost Consciousness Before Air Show Crash
The National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report of the March 26 crash at Wings Over Flagler reveals that to Bill Walker was unresponsive when a fellow-pilot radioed him immediately before the crash.
NTSB Preliminary Investigation Report: Flagler County Airport Crash on March 26, 2011
Full text of the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary investigation report, released on April 19, 2011, of the fatal plane crash at the Flagler County Airport on March 26, 2011, involving an Aerostar S A YAK-52, piloted by Bill Walker.
News-Journal Inexplicably Spikes Follow-Up Story on Drowning of 3-Year-Old Girl
The story, spiked Wednesday evening after being approved for the next day’s paper, cited police saying that the girl’s 5-year-old brother had told his mother he’d drowned his sister–information that other media reported Wednesday evening.
Phantom of the Opera, Art for $100 or Less, Snake Farming: Culture Worth the Miles
The Morse Museum’s new wing opens, the Works Progress Administration’s arts come to life at the Mennello Museum of American Art, Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera at University High School, art for $100, snake farming and more.
Varieties of Religious Experience: Watching an Eagles’ Nest, Live
The Raptor Resource Project’s live, 24-hour streaming video of a family of eagles, from their nest in Idaho. With hatchlings and river sounds nearby. Warning: watching can be addictive.
TDC Approves $30,000 for Dual July 4th Fireworks Under Unifying Americana Theme
With Palm Coast fireworks on July 3rd and Flagler Beach fireworks on the 4th, the tourist council is hoping Flagler County will be a destination for racing fans worn out by July 1 and 2 races in Daytona Beach.
Wadsworth’s Eco Swag Fair Thursday: Saving the Planet 900 Students at a Time
Wadsworth Elementary school is inviting the community to its students’ first environmental community outreach Thursday, from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m., with music, food, games and presentations mixing awareness and kindness.
Bunnell Police Miscues Helping To Lessen Case Against Ex-Cops John and Lisa Murray
Lisa Murray faces one less count of official misconduct, but while a grand theft charge against John Murray was dropped, a charge of official misconduct was added. The cases, for now, are proceeding to trial.
Property Tax Reform: 50% Exemptions, Breaks for Investors, Losses for Local Governments
Supporters of the overhaul say it’ll fill up empty homes. Critics say it’ll also slash local government revenue and further shift the tax burden to current residents, exacerbating inequities.
Putt-Putt Golf at Belle Terre Elementary: 9-Hole Course Meets School Board Bogeys
Playground equipment at Belle Terre Elementary has been deteriorating, and causing a few injuries. But replacing some of it with putt-putt golf raised financial and “buy-in” issues from school board members.
More Losers Than Winners as HMOs Skim Off Florida’s $20 Billion Medicaid Overhaul
Managed-car plans will take over almost all of Florida’s 2.8 million Medicaid patients. The overhaul does nothing to change the status of 3.8 million uninsured Floridians.
District and Teachers’ Union Seal Crucial Agreement on Vast Cuts and Shorter Days
More than tree and a half hours into their latest bargaining session, the union and the Flagler County school district were almost ready to agree to cuts that would eliminate 40 teachers, shorten school days and save $3.5 million next year.
Stetson University Takes 3rd Place in National RecycleMania
Stetson’s third-place overall showing was out of a field of 288 colleges and universities. The university won first in the paper-recycling division, earning it a trophy made of recycled glass.
Suicide Off Hammock Dunes Bridge, Near European Village
Jane Allen, a 50-year-old resident of Oakmont Ct. in Palm Coast, fell to her death from the Hammock Dunes Bridge in early evening Saturday, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
It’s Not Enough to Say No to a Seawall in Flagler Beach: An Action Plan Past Opposition
Sherry Epley, a resident of Flagler Beach, lays out a six-point action plan on how to build and sustain opposition to a seawall while developing a viable alternative that saves the beach and State Road A1A.
M&E Cross Interior Design Moves Offices, to Palm Coast Parkway
Palm Coast’s M&E Cross Inc., the interior design company, has moved from its location at 5 Utility Drive to a home office location at 138 Palm Coast Parkway N.E. #308.
1 On 1 Fitness Accepting Florida Health Care Clients From Palm Coast’s YMCA, Free
1 on 1 Fitness in Palm Coast is extending a free invitation to former members of the YMCA at Florida Hospital Flagler, who are also Florida Health Care members.
“Education Savings Accounts” Would Shift Public Money to Private and Home Schools
A vast expansion of school vouchers, Education Savings Account would shift 40 percent of per-student funding to children attending private school, to college savings accounts or to home-school spending, among other diversions from public-education budgets.
How Slashing Water Management Districts’ Budget 25% Endangers Our Way of Life
Allan Milledge, a former water management district chairman, asks: Do you want to jeopardize protection of our rivers, lakes, springs, and wetlands and the protection of our water supply to save an average less than $20 dollars per household per year?
Textual Titillations, Chamber Scott, Perot Trump, Buying Legislators and Poetry in Jazz: The Live Wire
Buy one legislator, get one free, what’s far worse than sexting, a free speech leap in Vancouver, the Rude Pundit on Obama, when Donald Trump insults “the blacks,” and more.
Flagler Power: From Bunnell By-Pass to Weigh Station to A1A Seawall, FDOT Retreats
Three times in the past 12 months, Florida Department of Transportation projects in Flagler County have foundered on the well-organized shoals of local opposition across government boundaries and fiefdoms.
Charter Schools To Be Allowed To Go Virtual As Florida Expands Online Public Education
A proposed law would let charter schools open full-time K-12 “virtual” charter schools, all students would be required to take at least one online class, and school districts would have to offer full or part-time virtual programs.
Cops and Robbers Chase Through A1A in Flagler at 90 mph Before Crash in St. Johns
The high-speed chase, triggered by a former Palm Coast resident, wound through Old Kings Road, Palm Coast Parkway, the Hammock Dunes toll bridge, the Hammock along A1A and Marineland before the eluding truck overturned in St. Johns County.
At 14.5%, Flagler Unemployment Drops to Lowest Level in 2 Years, Florida’s at 11.1%
The unemployment rate locally and statewide appears to be trending downward consistently and finally following the national trend, which has been improving for most of the past year.
Upset That His Girlfriend Is Cheating, He Pistol-Whips Her and Fires 7 Shots
Salvitore Kilday, 28, went to a home on Wendlin Lane looking for his girlfriend, found her with another man, and turned violent. Three young children were in the house. He was arrested and jailed.
Water Wars, Side B: Why a Subdivision With 10% of Bunnell’s Residents Is Suing the City
Bunnell has been reading Palm Terrace Mobile Home park’s water meters and servicing its sewer station for 27 years. The city wants to stop doing so to save money, billing the park in one lump sum. The park owner says the city is breaching a 27-year-old annexation agreement.
BP Oil Spill Aftermath: “Spillionaire” Profiteers of Mismanagement’s Gulf Spoils
How the BP oil spill has made profiteers rich from BP’s $16 billion in clean-up spending while hiding the results of the cleanup, because BP, not the federal government, is in charge.
William Gregory Sentenced to Death for 2007 Double-Murder in Flagler Beach
William Gregory murdered ex-girlfriend Skyler Meekins, 17, and Daniel Dyer, 22, by shooting them in the head with a 12-gauge shotgun as they slept together in August 2007. “You have forfeited your right to live at all,” the judge told him.
Union-Busting Bill Narrowly Clears Hurdle and GOP Dissents Before Full Vote at Florida Legislature
The proposed law forbids union deductions from public employees’ paychecks, essentially gutting unions. It passed a committee, 11-9, with three Republicans breaking rank to oppose it.
Paul McCartney Redone, Sophocles at the Improv and Xanadu: Culture Worth the Miles
Brigan Gresh and Dina Mack at the Lake Eustis Museum of Art, a Greek tragedy a-la-improv at the Annie Russell Theatre, the Annual Taste of Oviedo, Tony Kishman as Paul McCartney, and more.
County and City Fire Departments Merge Methods and Training in Hint of Consolidation
The Flagler County and Palm Coast Fire Departments will share a medical director. Both agencies are holding regular joint exercises and learning shared procedures with the Bunnell and Flagler Beach departments. Consolidation next?
Conklin Is Fired From State-Backed Job After Talk of Suing the State Over Education Funding
Colleen Conklin has been an outspoken advocate for education as a Flagler County School Board member for 10 years–and as the COO of a largely state-funded education foundation for the last four. One job cost her the other.
From Robert Penn Warren to Stanley Drescher: Flagler Beach Names Its First Poet Laureate
Stanley Drescher, a son of New York’s Lower East Side, has lived in Flagler Beach less than two years. He’s already left his mark on the city’s water tower, wielding his poetry like a crusader’s mightiest weapon.
Flagler Beach’s Steve Settle Will Again Attempt to Appoint Bruce Campbell Manager
Settle has three votes to make Bruce Campbell’s appointment permanent as Flagler Beach city manager. He needs four when he makes his proposal Thursday. Commissioners Jane Mealy and John Feind are mum.
Popping Again: Drug Database and Pill-Mill Regulations Return From the Dead
Taken for dead only weeks ago, a revised bill that would preserve many pill-mill regulations, ban doctors from dispensing some pills and require permitting process for pharmacies cleared a Florida House committee Tuesday.
Driver Takes Truck on Bunnell’s Dirt-Bike Course, Flips Into a Pond, Triggers Rescue
The 60ish driver was riding his truck illegally on the Bunnell’s Pax Trax Motocross course. Two men–Jeff Armstrong, a former fireman, and Jake Flumerfelt–rescued him as water filled his truck and he sat there, awake but not moving.
Palm Coast Maps Out Gentler, Kinder Impact Fees on Developers, But Questions Arise
The one-time impact fees developers pay when they build something would be lower for residential construction. Builders would get discounts for paying up front, or get to pay them on an installment plan.
Dust Up Those Squeals, Venus: Frankie Avalon At the Flagler Auditorium Tonight
Frankie Avalon, now 70, is making the Flagler Auditorium one of just 12 stops on his 2011 tour. He’ll be singing the hits that made him famous in pre-Beatles days, along with songs from his 30 movies that kept him famous.
Bunnell Commissioners Crain-Brady and Rogers Are Sworn In, Flynt Exits After 8 Years
Unlike last year, when the mayor and two commissioners were re-elected after facing no opposition, Jenny Crain-Brady and John Rogers were the survivors of a five-way race last month.
76-Year-Old Man On a Scooter Killed in Crash With Waste Pro Truck South of Bunnell
The man was traveling north on U.S. 1 in Korona, just south of the Old Dixie Highway intersection, when a maintenance pick-up truck pulled out of the service station and struck him.
Flagler Beach Against DOT’s Seawall: County Joins City’s Opposition, With Conditions
Flagler County doesn’t want a seawall in Flagler Beach either, but the county doesn’t want to lose $6 million in highway funding–earmarked for SR A1A’s protection–that it hopes to shift either toward a study or toward an alternative to the seawall.
30 Days to Go, $3.8 Billion to Find: Lawmakers Set to Flatline Health Care Programs
Hospitals, Medicaid, the poor, the very sick and the Department of Health would all face severe cutbacks as the Legislature enters its session’s second half, with abortion, pill mills and medical malpractice issues yet unresolved.
Flagler County School District Employee Health Insurance Benefits, 2011-2012
Flagler County school district employee health insurance benefits, dental and vision plans as provided by United Health Care for 2011-2012: chart and comparison with previous year’s premium costs.
Barack Obama and Rick Scott In Florida Voters’ Eyes: From Lousy to Dismal
The latest poll has Obama’s approval at just 44 percent, and Scott’s at 35 percent, with Scott’s disapproval rating doubling in two months, and 60 percent of Floridians saying Florida is on the wrong path. The poll reveals widespread dissatisfaction.
Flagler Beach’s Turtle Savior Honored by Daughters of the American Revolution
Lori Ottlein has been involved in land turtle rescue, sea turtle protection and rehabilitation for almost 15 years. She received a national conservation award for her work with the turtles from Daughters of the American Revolution.
Tour de Goodwill: 460 Cyclists Set Off in Flagler Beach Rotary’s 8th Annual Ride
The Flagler Beach Rotary’s Cycle Flagler drew the largest number of cyclists and raised upward of $14,000 for the Rotary’s Christmas and scholarship funds. Riders cycled from 24 to 100 miles.
Palm Coast’s SoHo: Secca Tree Studios Double Hollingsworth Gallery’s Arts Empire
With its Secca Tree Studios expansion at City Market Place, Hollingsworth Gallery is increasing local contemporary art’s and artists’ exposure while anchoring the arts’ role in Palm Coast’s identity.