All lanes southbound were closed at I-95 around US 92 in Volusia County shortly after 7 p.m. Look for alternative routes if you’re heading that way.
Marineland Mobilizes Against BP Oil Spill — and Beyond
Florida has no contingency plan if dolphins, turtles and manatees begin showing up coated in oil. Marineland’s Jim Jacoby wants to fix a blind spot in planning dating back to two Jeb Bush vetoes in 2000 and 2001.
Flagler County’s Half-Cent Sales Taxes for Schools and Infrastructure, 2002 Referendum Results
Results of the 2002 Flagler County and Flagler County Schools half-cent sales tax referendums for school construction and infrastructure.
Steeling It Up at the Caribbean Festival (Parking Grinches Aside)
The two-day festival, running through Sunday, is a celebration of the senses in music, food and dance. Bring empty stomachs and open ears.
What’s the State of Ecumenism in Flagler (And What on Earth is Ecumenism Anyway)?
Saturday evening’s music and fellowship program at Santa Maria del Mar brings together six churches and five denominations in a historic display of unity in Flagler County.
Best of the Rest: June 4-6, 2010
Oil slicks Florida tourism, Bill McCollum’s homophobia, Lawton Chiles’ inpedendence, good and bad bullying, and more.
Flagler Paramedics Take 2nd and 14th Place in Czech Competition
Flagler’s paramedics competed against 10 countries and 23 teams. Photo gallery included.
Job Creation Soars by 431,000, Almost All Census-Driven; Unemployment Down to 9.7%
Despite the surge in employment, signs are grim for sustained job recovery as private-sector and construction jobs lag.
Palm Coast Replaces Tired Fire Truck With $374,000 Model
The new fire truck, part of the city fire department’s fleet of 14 vehicles, will burn fuel more cleanly and replaces a model that had logged 169,000 miles since 1995.
Crime Reports, May 31 – June 6
Two men break into a local bar but get nothing, a stolen car is found stripped, a man with chicken and beef in his pants, and more.
Class-Size Limits: How Flagler Schools Are Scrambling to Fit in Costly Strait-Jacket
The Flagler school district will spend upwards of $600,000 (to start) to comply with constitutionally required class-size reductions that have no appreciable effect on quality education.
Best of the Rest: May 3, 2010
Jim Greer’s felonious corruptions, how to blame Obama for the Gulf spill, Ayn Rand meets Charles Murray, the pleasures of imagination, and much more.
Feds, Not Florida, Will Pay for Medicaid’s 1 Million New Beneficiaries
Attorney General Bill McCollum’s claim that health reform forces Florida to shell out too much money for Medicaid is demonstrably false.
Palm Coast: Best Place to Retire Or
Real Estate Hell? Take Your Pick
One publication declares Palm Coast real estate gold for retirees, another declares Palm Coast a lost cause for home prices.
Attention Flagler Beach: The County Isn’t Looking to Devour Your Fire Department
Sometime over the weekend a rumor started spreading like fog around Flagler Beach that the county was going to take over the Flagler Beach Fire Department. It was false.
County Administrator Craig Coffey Wants More Job Security
Flagler County Administrator Craig Coffey fears being fired without severance when his contract runs out this fall.
Tax-Averse Parents Send Per-Student Spending Tumbling in Flagler Schools
Per-student funding has risen and fallen over the year, but today it’s identical to what it was in 1996, even as the student population, academic expectations and administrative burdens have multiplied.
Taxable Property Values Plummet a Record 20%; Dire Numbers for Local Governments
The drop is the steepest of the last three years. Some $5 billion in taxable values have been wiped out since 2007.
Brain Drain: School Board Retires 36 (and 745 Years of Experience)
Some of the school district’s most familiar names took their last bows Tuesday, including Michele Crosby, Hanneke Jevons, Myra Middleton and Rebecca Dunn.
Rachael Kopec Withdraws from School Board Race
Kopec says she was not ready for the glare, the politics and the time commitment away from her family.
FPC Does ESPN: Sports’ Video Year in Review
Three FPC students distilled a year’s worth of 19 school sports into a 30-minute highlight video. Here it is.
Raven Sword Wins Florida Bar Pro Bono Award
Raven Sword, a lawyer with the Rice & Rose law firm, won the Florida Bar Pro Bono Award for the Seventh Judicial Circuit which includes Volusia, Flagler, Putnam and St. Johns counties.
Ego and Egoer
Two of Volusia’s giant egos, Daytona State’s Kent Sharples and ICI Homes’ Mori Hosseini, have turned the college board into their own little Khe Sanh. The NJ puts in some worthy war reporting.
Emerson: The American Scholar
Emerson’s “American Scholar,” a graduation speech to Harvard’s Phi Beta Kappa, redefined the way Americans saw themselves–as intellectual individuals on their own terms. Take a second look in this season of commencements.
Pryor to Class of 2010: “Take Your Chance, Make Your Choice, Make Your Move”
Citing William Jennings Bryan, Robert Frost and David Wilcox, Matanzas High School Principal Chris Pryor mixed anecdotes and metaphor in his last words of advice to the Class of 2010.
Matanzas’ 318 Senior Pirates Sail Past Commencement
A first for hundreds, and end for a few: The 2010 graduation ceremony in St. Augustine was a blend of heat, Frost and overwhelming emotions.
Photo Gallery: Matanzas High School Class of 2010
A 38-image gallery of Matanzas’s third graduating class, with the full David Sequence.
Mentors
Marking successes over struggles, 54 students and 30 mentors were honored at the 3rd annual African American Mentor Program’s banquet Friday.
Ten Things You Should Know About the $70.4 Billion Budget Crist Is About To Sign
Undermining Bright Futures, imposing ultrasounds on pregnant women, studying school funding, favoring bikers, and more curiosities from the state budget.
Best of the Rest: May 28-30, 2010
What else: oil spill plumes, Crist vetoes, Boortz rumors, boys and teen sex, and more.
Old Courthouse Plans Collapse; Holland Charges County Administrator “Railroaded” Her
A meeting on what to do with the old Flagler County Courthouse turned into a bitter clash between Commissioner Milissa Holland and County Administrator Craig Coffey.
3rd Grade FCAT Scores Well Above State Average; 11% Fail; Charter School Lags
The district’s overall score dropped 3 points in reading and improved one point in math. Heritage Academy is a drag.
Table: Complete 2010 FCAT Scores By School, Flagler 3rd Graders
School-by-school achievements in math and reading by proficiency level, including 2009 comparisons.
Who has Dibs on This Old Thing?
(Hint: Sheriff Not Too Interested)
Three years on, the Flagler County Commission is still trying to decide what to do with the old courthouse, with Bunnell and the Sheriff at the top of the list of possibilities.
Florida Legislature’s Spending Misleadingly Labeled as Pork
Most of the spending called “pork” (or “turkeys” by Florida TaxWatch is of immediate and necessary benefit to senior health, care for the poor and transportation.
Youth Orchestra’s 200 Take a Bow in Year’s Final Concert
The Flagler Youth Orchestra’s musicians, under the new direction of Caren Umbarger, dedicate the final concert to Superintendent Bill Delbrugge.
Loner Palm Coast Drips Desal to Fraction of Original Plan; Water Costs Would Rise Sharply
The city is reducing its desal ambitions to a sixth the original size, but 1,000 gallons would cost five to six times more than current water.
Crime Reports, May 24-30
A suicide thwarted, a home health aid accused of having sticky fingers, a mom unaware that her teens are stealing while she shops, and more.
What You Should Know Before You Buy Your Usher, Rihanna and Bieber Tickets in Daytona
Manuel Bornia, head of Daytona’s International Festival, has a growing trail of exaggerations, self-promotion, and outright inventions to his credit–on other people’s dime.
Bloody Head and Assault Charge Following Bowling Alley Fight
A verbal scuffle degenerated into a physical and bloody assault early the morning of May 26 at the bowling alley bar in Palm Coast.
Palm Coast Council Strains to Live Within Its Means at Goal-Setting
The flush years over, the council is looking to set measurable goals that don’t cost too much money but still provide services residents are looking for.
Night-Stick, Taser and Punches in Foot-Chase Through P Section
Following a traffic stop, a sheriff’s deputy chased after Anthony Capitola on foot through the P section before subduing him with Taser shots.
Bunnell Approves Bypass Study as Part of Broader City Planning
Looking to capitalize on developers’ dollars funding the study, the Bunnell City Commission approved a broader look at the city’s road needs in the future.
FPC Commencement Stirs Tassels and Circumstance at Daytona’s Ocean Center
Anthony DeAugustino, Taylor Tofal and Brandon Dean headline Flagler Palm Coast High School’s Class of 2010’s commencement.
Revenue Crunch Not Yet Sobering
Palm Coast City Council’s Ambitions
Palm Coast’s flush years are over, yet City Manager Jim Landon and the council are still high on a new city hall and a water desalination plant.
Provincialism and Its Confessors
If Flagler news falls in the forest and there’s no one there to pulp it into newsprint, has it really happened? Further tales and tails from the provinces of journalism.
Best of the Rest: May 24, 2010
BP skates by as Obama lets it, Ayan Hirsi Ali is back, John Mica’s two faces, the crap about cougars, and more.
Why Tea Parties Are More Bunkers than Bunker Hill
The tea party’s booting out of Utah Sen. Robert Bennett from his state’s GOP primary, despite Bennett’s extreme conservative credentials, is emblematic of a movement in the grip of its own delusions.
Monique Forte, Rising Star at Stetson’s
Business School, Dies at 43
Monique Forte had just been awarded Stetson’s 2010 McEniry Award for Excellence in Teaching, and skydived with her graduating students. She was 43.
Best of the Rest: May 21-23, 2010
Oil begins to wash up on Florida beaches, a father rapes his daughter and kills himself, Hobbes returns, Democrats love Rand Paul, and more.