Budget shortfalls, new financial burdens and disappearing sources of money are all converging on the Flagler school district at the same time, setting up a potential funding crisis in the next two years.
Flagler Schools Bracing for Dismal
4-Year, $168,600 Contract for Superintendent Janet Valentine
Janet Valentine will replace Bill Delbrugge on July 1, when Delbrugge heads to a new job and life in Cairo, Egypt.
Bohemian Rhapsody: Flagler Firefighters Go Czech to Defend World Title
They were world champions last year. This week, two teams of Flagler medic-firefighters return to Prague to defend their title.
Ménage-à-Stab in Bunnell
A morning argument at a S. Anderson St. home in Bunnell evolved into a stabbing that sent Kevin Harris to jail and Rickey Glover to the hospital.
Florida Medicaid Audit Reveals Shockingly Poor Oversight
Lax state oversight of Medicaid is fueling runaway costs in the health program covering 2.7 million poor and elderly Floridians.
Obama, Biden, Kagan: Where Their Pocket Money Comes From
Where does Obama’s, Biden’s and Elena Kagan’s money come from? Look for yourself: complete financial disclosure forms.
Best of the Rest: May 18, 2010
Marco Rubio doesn’t know his Arizona, BP’s latest insult to Florida, Elvis Costello won’t go to Israel, what to think of the Loop current, and more.
White Elephants Grinding Down Flagler Airport
Commissioners on Monday learned of yet another county airport building for which taxpayers are left holding the bag.
Goomba’s Ex-Hit Man Joe Milano’s Trials Delayed Until June
The trials of Joseph Milano, former Goomba’s Pizzeria owner and former mafia hit man, were delayed until at least mid-June by both the prosecution’s and the defense’s maneuvers in separate cases.
Anniversary Storm Clatters Through Flagler
Monday’s storms broke a long dry spell, caused little damage and only briefly flooded streets and swales thirsty for a good soak.
Live Coverage of Goomba’s Pizza Mobster Joe Milano’s Court Date
Joseph Milano/Joey Calco, former owner of Palm Coast’s Goomba’s Piza, is in court today, on trial for aggravated assault and other charges, but the state is seeking a delay. Live coverage.
A Musical Journey in the Key of Kindness
Caren Umbarger, who replaces Jonathan May as the new artistic director of the Flagler Youth Orchestra, relates her musical origins and philosophy.
Caren Umbarger Named Flagler Youth Orchestra’s Artistic Director
Caren Umbarger studied with Jonathan May and brings more than a quarter century of eclectic experience in teaching and performing music.
Photo Gallery: The Flagler Youth Orchestra From May to Umbarger
Images spanning performances and rehearsals of the Flagler Youth Orchestra from Jonathan May to Caren Umbarger, 2009-2010.
Flagler Beach Manager Search:
Carpetbaggers Need Not Apply
Art Woosley, a Flagler Beach activist, argues that the next city manager should be a local resident with heart and interests in line with the city’s.
Smetana’s Fatherland: “The Moldau”
For your Sunday fix: “The Moldau” evokes the power of nature and nationalism as if flows through Smetana’s Czech fatherland.
Photo Gallery: Bunnell’s 2nd Annual Potato Festival
The day was full of sunshine and spuds and blessedly free of puns. A rich gallery of the day’s faces, dunks and winners.
All Potatoes All the Time in Bunnell’s Festival
A mashed-potato eating contest and cookoff highlighted Bunnell’s second annual Potato Festival on Saturday.
Flagler Firefighter and Pro Volleyball Player Fighting for His Life
Professional volleyball player and Flagler County Firefighter-EMT Ranse Jones is fighting for his life in a Panama City hospital for nearly a week after being stricken by a brain aneurysm during a volleyball tournament at age 34.
Contrary to Fears, Bunnell Bypass Would Not Significantly Affect Traffic, Studies Show
Bunnell’s downtown won’t be lacking in traffic in the future. The real battle is over a mega-developer’s road-improvement funds.
Flagler Beach Dumps Desalination Group
The Flagler Beach City Commission cited costs and its own ready water supply as reasons to drop out of the Coquina desalination consortium.
Flagler Beach City Manager Search Launches Over Fault Lines
A fractured city commission decided against head-hunters or consultants in the search for a new city manager. Commissioners will do all the work.
Our Local (Lady) Sully: It Landed on SR 100 in Palm Coast
Leslie and John Nixon of Ormond Beach were on their way to dinner in Georgia when their Cessna 172 blew a cylinder over Flagler County, forcing them to make a hard landing on the westbound lane of State Road 100.
Photo Gallery: Sheriff’s Memorial Ceremony
What the ceremony looked like: the wreath-laying, symbols and solemnity, taps and bag pipes.
Honoring Flagler’s Finest, and Fallen
Flagler County Sheriff Don Fleming on Thursday led a moving memorial for officers lost in the line of duty.
Best of the Rest: May 13, 2010
Duke Ellington, race and music in America, Kagan and Thurgood Marshall, bikini meter-maids in Australia, and why you can’t trust the Wall Street Journal anymore, and more.
Best of the Rest: May 12, 2010
Children on trial for rape, Crist renounces the party that raped him, Ginn suits redux, and more.
Bunnell’s Audrey Montine Barber McKnight, 1917-2010
A letter from Sisco Deen, curator of the Flagler County Historical Society, on the death on May 11 of Bunnell pionneer Audrey Montine Barber McKnight.
Desalination’s Future Brackish as Costs Soar for Palm Coast
Hopes for a desalination plant are down to whether Palm Coast can bear the burden of mounting costs mostly by itself as other governments drop out of the colossally expensive consortium.
$75 Billion Mortgage Modification Program Is $74.76 Billion Behind
The Obama administration committed to spend up to $75 billion on its foreclosure-prevention program. More than a year later, only about $242 million had actually been paid out.
Hell Freezes Over: Flagler Chamber Wants To Hike Your Taxes
The Flagler Chamber of Commerce is pushing for a property tax increase to pay for business infrastructure and economic development.
Crime Reports May 10-16
A resident wakes to find an intruder in his bedroom, a stabbing in Bunnell, bungled auto theft attempt and more.
Florida’s Small-Business Health Insurance Exchange a 2-Year Bust
Two years after GOP lawmakers launched it as a way to deregulate the health-care market for small businesses, Florida Health Choices still offers no coverage and faces an uncertain future.
Flagler Beach Man Arrested in Two Burglaries
Gary Haney is accused of stealing beer and cigarettes from two Flagler County convenience stores in April.
Rap Sheet Six Years Long Books
Flagler County Lay-Over
Matthew William Freeman faces charges of kidnapping, roberry and aggravated assault from a March 3 incident near Bunnell.
Palm Coast Hops on Bunnell Train Station Bandwagon
Palm Coast was absent from the May 1 Amtrak attention-grabber in Bunnell, but the city council is making amends with a resolution of support.
Palm Coast Resolution of Support for Amtrak/Florida East Coast Railroad Project (2010)
Text of the Palm Coast City Council resolution supporting an Amtrak train station in Bunnell or Flagler County.
County Employees’ New Health Plan: Higher Premiums, Lower Out-of-Pocket
County government is edging toward opening an in-house clinic for employees and dependents, but premiums would rise.
DOT Bypass “A Stake Right Through Bunnell’s Heart”
The bypass would accommodate a traffic surge from a Palm Coast development but might also accelerate Bunnell’s decline.
Construction Update: What’s Going Up, Where, When
From the movie theater in Town Center to Wal Mart to Red Lobster, Olive Garden and ABC liquors, a summary of visible and planned construction around Palm Coast.
Wildfire Spares Homes on Esperanto Dr.; Expect More Smoke
A wildfire on Esperanto Drive in Palm Coast broke out at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, forcing the evacuation of eight homes. None were charred.
Florida Regulators Stop Admissions to Troubled Youth Facility
Officials cut off admissions to Manatee Palms Youth Services, a 60-bed facility that serves 6 to 17 year olds when the facility failed to address violations.
Whip This: Roller Derby Jams Up Palm Coast
Palm Coast’s Derby Beaches are raising elbows, skirts and eyebrows as they storm their way into the nation’s naughtiest league sport.
Boners for Business
The Pat Rice era began at the $218-a-year News-Journal in late April. That’ll buy you a whole lot of Twinkies.
Palm Coast Man Accused of Abusing Girls for Almost a Decade
Two sisters, now young adults, claim Phillip Maida abused them from the time they were 12 until as recently as this year.
Gov. George W. Bush’s Jesus Day Proclamation in Texas
In 2000, while thick in his first campaign for the presidency, then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush issued a proclamation declaring June 10 “Jesus Day.” Here’s the full text and an image of the proclamation.
Crime Reports, May 3-9
Motorcycle speeding on Palm Coast Parkway on a suspended license, a mysterious windshield shattering on Radium Lane, and more.
Palm Coast Group Nails Historic Marker on Church-State Wall
The first-ever Day of Inclusivity was held at Palm Coast’s Heroes Park under the umbrella of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Job Creation Soars by 290,000,
Unemployment at 9.9%
Job creation improved by the largest margin in four years in May, solidifying gains of 559,000 jobs in the past three months.
Best of the Rest: May 7-9, 2010
Conservatives fail to take over UK Parliament, the dome meets the oil slick, the US Senate votes for Wall Street, and more.