The county commission Monday evening voted 4-1 to give the courthouse committee until the end of March to find tenants who can pay their way and end the county’s $6,000-a-month subsidy of the building.
Bunnell
Renovate and Lease Old Courthouse But Don’t Sell or Demolish, Committee Recommends
An advisory committee’s much-awaited findings recommend that county government continue to carry the maintenance costs of the old courthouse until it is able to renovate and rent it to non-profits or office-type concerns.
Street Fight Escalates in South Bunnell, Drawing 15 Sheriff’s Units and City Police
A fight that began between students at a bus stop then drew in parents and escalated to include some 20 people and more than 100 “spectators” drew a large police response in South Bunnell late Tuesday afternoon into evening, and led to three injuries, though none were serious, police said.
Vaulting from Hollingsworth to Salvo Art: JJ Graham Opens Gallery of Revelations in Bunnell
With the opening of the Salvo Art Project gallery Saturday evening on the grounds of Nature Scapes in Bunnell–the reincarnation of Hollingsworth Gallery in Palm Coast–JJ Graham is creating an artists’ colony devoted to expressionist art in a space at once immense and intimate.
As Bunnell Cancels Christmas and Potato Festival, Private Group Aims to Save Both
Bunnell cancelled all special events to close a $1 million deficit, and the Flagler Chamber is unable to run the annual Potato Festival, but Mari Molina of Flagler Cats says she is organizing a group of private concerns and volunteers to take over the festival and re-name it the Bunnell Agricultural Festival.
Welcome Home, Bunnell: City Celebrates Its New Digs After Five Years’ Squatting
The four-building, $600,000 Bunnell City Hall complex has more space than the city knows what to do with, but acquired at a tenth the price it might have had to pay had it moved into the old county courthouse.
Citing Racism, Ex-Manager Armando Martinez Files Discrimination Charge Against Bunnell
Armando Martinez charges that when Bunnell Commissioner Elbert Tucker spoke of not wanting another manager from Miami, he was discriminating against Martinez’s Cuban heritage. Tucker says he was merely opposing hiring another big-city manager.
17-Year-Old Runaway Palm Coast Girl Found Unresponsive at Bunnell’s Budget Motel
A 17-year-old Palm Coast girl reported missing Saturday was found unconscious in a motel room Monday morning, where she’d checked in with a 27-year-old the night before, in a case Bunnell police terms “suspicious.” The girl was still in a coma Wednesday at a hospital in Jacksonville.
Weekend Violence: An Arrest Over Child Abuse, Another From a Baseball-Bat Assault
Jolynn Martin, 29, of Bunnell, was arrested following a violent argument with two adults, one of whom was holding a 2-year-old girl, who allegedly got punched. Martin Wright, 54, of Bunnell, was arrested for allegedly taking a baseball bat to another man’s head in an argument.
Flagler’s Constitutional Officers, With Combined Salaries of $1 Million, Get 0.4% Bump
When the $140,406 in salaries to city elected officials is added to the figure, the combined total, for elected officials in Flagler County, stands at $1.13 million for the coming year, not including benefits.
Fearing Ambush, Cops and Medics “Stage” Before Responding to Reported Shooting in Bunnell
The incident took place just after midnight Thursday in South Bunnell: 911 got several calls about an alleged shooting and a victim who’d been injured, but threats against police on social media led to precautions against an ambush.
Who Wants an Old Courthouse? County Opens Doors, and A Few Eyes
A county-hosted open house at the old Flagler County Courthouse drew dozens of people Friday, mostly local residents and perhaps three or four prospective businesses, as the county continues to study what to do with the old, 50,000-square-foot structure.
Bunnell Eliminates 40% Of Police Department as Part of Wider Cost-Cuts and Lay-Offs
Seeking to cut an $800,000 deficit that represents a fifth of the city’s budget, the Bunnell City Commission Monday cut its commission salaries by 10 percent, eliminated its grants department and laid off staff that have been mainstays of the Bunnell administration and police department over the years.
For 2nd Time in 5 Days, South Bunnell Is Scene of Violent Attack, This Time a Stabbing
Edward Godwin, a 68-year-old felon on probation and with a long arrest record, was arrested and charged with aggravated battery after allegedly stabbing a woman who interceded between Godwin and his wife as the couple were arguing in front of her house, and Godwin’s wife was calling out for help.
Man Is Shot and Wounded Near MLK Blvd. And S. Cherry in Bunnell, Suspect Still at Large
A man was shot just after 8 p.m. tonight (July 23) in the area of Martin Luther King Blvd. and South Cherry Street in South Bunnell, the city’s police chief, Tom Foster, said this evening. Authorities are investigating.
Find a Lawyer: Flagler Duo Launches Unique Web Venture Rating Attorneys’ Success Rate
CourtCaseResults.com, the brainchild of Trevor Tucker and Darren McGuire, is a freely accessible website that gives consumers full histories of lawyers’ success and failure rates in Flagler cases. Launched Monday, the site is gradually moving to include cases statewide.
Divided and in Crisis, Bunnell Begins Deep Cuts to Close $844,000 Gap But Police Department Survives, For Now
The Bunnell City Commission in a tension-filled, four=-hour meeting Monday voted 3-2 to eliminate code enforcement and the humane society, among a list of cuts, but delay eliminating the police and grants department for two weeks, giving department heads time to make their case for survival.
Citing Growing Deficits, Auditor Warns Bunnell Is On an Unsustainable Course
With recurring deficits of close to $1 million in the general fund, the Bunnell City Commission heard the bleakest audit report it’s heard in recent years, with no new revenue expected to brighten the picture.
As Committee Tours Old Courthouse, Size and Financial Viability Loom Larger Than Repairs
Wednesday’s tour was the first time most committee members had a chance to see the building from within. The Flagler County Commission earlier this month appointed the seven-member committee to recommend what to do with the 50,000-square-foot courthouse, as the county is no longer willing to be its caretaker.
Bunnell Planning Board Approves Ordinance Targeting Bible Half-Way House For Addicts
The Bunnell board’s unanimous decision, if ratified by the Bunnell City Commission, would likely prevent the half-way house from opening its doors, but the city and the targeted ministry are locked in a federal legal battle which the proposed ordinance could exacerbate.
Another Pit Bull Blamed in Mondex Attack, This Time on a 1-Year-Old Girl
A pit bull mix is blamed in an attack on a 1-year-old Bunnell girl who ended up with deep bite punctures and gashes on her face Thursday as she played in her front yard Thursday.
Bunnell and Christian Ministry Locked in Federal Battle Over a Recovery Home for Addicts
Bunnell city government passed an ordinance to prevent Open Door Ministry from opening an addicts-recovery center at the south end of town. The ministry sued in federal court, citing discrimination.
For $600,000, Bunnell Buys Former Heritage Charter School Campus For Its New City Hall
The decision was the result of ma 3-1 vote at a special meeting. Bunnell projects spending an additional $300,000 to prepare the three-building campus for its permanent offices, including the police department, all of which have been spread through three locations around Bunnell for the past five years.
With Revels Chairing, County Puts Its Imprint on Committee to Study Fate of Old Courthouse
The seven-member committee will to the commission recommend whether to sell, demolish or redevelop for local businesses the old county courthouse again saddling county taxpayers, after Bunnell rejected its ownership in April and the county angrily took it back in May.
Ordered to Unseal Secret Redistricting Papers, GOP Operative Seeks High Court Intervention
Pat Bainter on Wednesday asked U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to issue an emergency stay blocking an order by the Florida Supreme Court less than 24 hours earlier that granted permission for the documents to be used in an ongoing trial challenging the constitutionality of the congressional map approved by the Florida Legislature in 2012.
Tri-County Drug Sweep Nets 57 Arrests, 20 in Flagler, But Many Back On the Streets Swiftly
Dubbed “Operation Safe Summer,” the three-county drug sweep was conducted to reduce the amount of drugs available as summer break approaches, officials said, but by late afternoon several of those arrested were already back on the streets, and many more would likely follow.
Bunnell Cop Arrested Over Computer Porn Conducted Unauthorized Background Searches on City Commissioners
the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which is still investigating the case, uncovered evidence that Michael Stavris conducted unauthorized background checks on three sitting city commissioners: Bill Baxley, John Rogers and Elbert Tucker. Stavris may face no penalty for doing so, for lack of a policy in Bunnell.
Angry But Cornered, County Takes Old Courthouse Back from Bunnell, Handing Its Fate to a Committee
Commissioners Barbara Revels and George Hanns bitterly criticized Bunnell’s decision to reverse course and reject the old courthouse, blaming the city for accelerating the building’s deterioration and leaving the county little choice. In the meantime, the county will again pick up the $60,000 to $80,000-a-year tab of maintaining the building to keep it from deteriorating more than it already has.
County’s Generosity To Bunnell Runs Out as Commission Imposes Rent and Exit Deadline
Bunnell city government has been occupying county office spaces for almost five years. On Monday. the county agreed to slap on $2,400-a-month rent and $100-per-meeting fees on the city, starting Aug. 1, and it will expect Bunnell to vacate the GSB by Dec. 1 regardless.
Charles Cowart Jr., Just Released From Jail on Dropped Charges, Is Arrested For Burglary
Charles Cowart Jr. was accused of breaking into a Cowart family-owned house in Flagler Beach Monday evening–the same house where part of the incidents that led police to investigate Cowart and three other men on rape and kidnapping charges had unfolded in March 2013. Those charges were dropped last week.
Supreme Court’s Decision Allowing Prayers at Government Meetings Reverberates Locally
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision today allowing explicitly religious prayers at local government meetings had two direct connections to Palm Coast and Bunnell. So the ruling had particular resonance locally—happily for some, not so happily for others.
Patron, Angered By Food, Arrested For Punching Chicken Pantry Owner; Woman Arrested Over Rogue Gunshot
Spencer Veney, 52, of Palm Coast, was arrested after getting upset over the food at the Chicken Pantry and allegedly punching out the owner. Ashley Ross, 27, of Bunnell, was arrested for firing a .22-caliber gun in public the following evening. Both incidents drew large crowds.
Wings Over Flagler Leader and Bunnell Director Arrested on Drunk Driving Charges Over the Weekend
Bill Mills, a lead organizer, with WNZF, of Wings Over Flagler since the event’s inception four years ago and its rejuvenation this past weekend, was arrested just before midnight on Friday night on the Flagler Beach Bridge. Mick Cuthbertson, Bunnell’s community development director, was arrested early Sunday morning after going against traffic on U.S. 1 and crashing into a car.
On Again: Carver Center Auction Opens Bids for Safaris, Bowling, Pizza in a Commissioner’s Home (BYOB) and More
The popular Carver Center Online Auction is back for the fourth year, with some 67 items to bid on through the rest of the month as Bunnell’s Carver Center foundation hopes to yet again raise at least $5,000. It has done so quite successfully in previous years.
No Thanks: Bunnell Votes 4-1 to Return Old Courthouse to the County, Citing Costs and Liabilities
The stunning reversal culminates months of doubt and disappointment about the building on city officials’ part as they discovered a structure in more serious disrepair than the county had let on and tallied far more expensive bills ahead than the city could afford, if it were to keep the building.
Bunnell Cop Michael Stavris Is Arrested on Charges of Computer Porn Involving Underage Boys
Michael Stavris, an officer with the Bunnell Police Department, was jailed Tuesday evening on two charges of computer porn and a charge of criminal use of someone else’s personal information following a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation into several instances where Stavris is accused of soliciting naked images from underage boys.
Now Leery of Old Courthouse, Bunnell Fears Money Pit and Talks of Giving It Back
With two commissioners ready to give back the old courthouse to the county, Bunnell opted Monday to get more solid bids on what it would cost the city to turn the problematic building into its city hall, but the city administration drew a bleak picture of finances that cannot bear new burdens regardless.
Marco Rubio Flirts With Immigration Reform Then Capitulates to the Lunatic Fringe
Rubio placed a dismal seventh at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in a straw poll of likely GOP presidential hopefuls, where his kind of immigration talk doesn’t sit well with the GOP fringe, political or lunatic, writes Andrew Skerritt.
Bunnell City Election: John Rogers and Bonita Robinson Win, As Does Status Quo
John Rogers won re-election to the Bunnell City Commission Tuesday, taking the most votes in a four-way race, and Bonita Robinson won the seat formerly held by Jenny Crain-Brady. Rogers and Robinson defeated Daisy Henry, the former commissioner trying to make a come-back, and Randall Morris, who had been a no-show in most ways through the election period.
Ahead of Bunnell’s March 4 Election, Three Commission Candidates Battle With
More Blanks Than Bullets
Few of the candidates’ answers at the only candidate forum before the election grappled with actual issues, ideas or solutions, hewing instead to generally positive statements about wanting to do their best or speaking in generalities that would not distinguish them either from each other or from any well-meaning resident of the city they seek to represent.
On Old Haw Creek Road, a Confrontation So Hostile That a Cop Asks For It To Be Videotaped
Stuart Denison, who’d been arrested three times in the last few months on domestic battery charges, allegedly threatened to kill his girlfriend and the cops who arrested him Sunday; separately, Michael Testa was arrested for the ninth time.
Bunnell Names Tom Foster, Veteran of Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Its New Police Chief
Tom Foster, 57, retired as a captain from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in March 2012 after a year as head of the street crime section of the special operations division, which oversaw gang enforcement, juvenile arrests and “problem-oriented policing.”
In Bunnell, Crain-Brady’s Election Fiasco Becomes Fodder For Criticism of City Manager’s Leadership
Bunnell City Commissioner Jenny Crain-Brady Monday evening took responsibility for failing to qualify for the March election but was then joined by Mayor Catherine Robinson in an explicit and often unfair or unsupported attack on City Manager Larry Williams’ leadership and accountability.
Crain-Brady’s Disqualification In Bunnell Is Final, But Errors Were Far From Hers Alone
Bunnell City Commissioner Jenny Crain-Brady disqualified herseolf from the March 4 election when she failed to meet a fee deadline last week, but the error unraveled a series of errors and misjudgments that run through Bunnell’s election process, and go as far as documentation released by the Supervisor of Elections.
Jenny Crain-Brady, Not Paying a Fee, Fails to Qualify for Bunnell Commission Election; 4 Others Do
In an unexpected and significant reversal of fortune for an incumbent candidate for the Bunnell City Commission election set for March 4, Jenny Crain-Brady has not qualified for the seat she had gathered petitions to run for. Brady failed to pay the $96 state assessment fee required of all candidates, whether they have the necessary number of petitions or not.
Weeks After Bunnell Commissioner’s Residency Is Questioned, Lawmakers Float Tighter Rules
A pair of state lawmakers announced a proposal Thursday that would tighten the definition of residency for elected officials, but the measures don’t specify what the punishment might be or who would be responsible for enforcing the standards.
Commissioner’s Latest Move to Replace Bunnell Police With Sheriff May Be Stillborn
For the third time in five years, Bunnell City Commissioner Elbert Tucker wants the city to consider letting the Flagler County Sheriff’s office provide policing services to Bunnell, but this latest effort is facing stiff resistance even before being officially floated before commissioners.
Ex-Sheriff Veteran Lynn Catoggio a Finalist for Bunnell Police Chief, Burke and Clair Miss Cut
In addition to Lynne Catoggio making the short-list of four names for Bunnell Police Chief were Ronald Chapman and Thomas Foster of Orange County and FHP’s Harry Coates. Acting Chief Randy Burke, ex-Sheriff’s Captain Steve Clair and ex-Sheriff candidate John Pollinger did not make the cut from a list of 27.
A Flagler Farewell to 2013: The Local Year in Review
A tornado, plane crashes and mishaps, Flagler County going bonkers for clunkers, a spate of murders in Palm Coast, Flagler Beach’s firehouse follies, Bunnell’s reality show: 2013 is ending not a moment too soon. But first, a review.
Palm Coast Man Charged With Raping 8-Year-Old Girl; Bunnell Man Charged With Statutory Rape
Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Gregory Selts of Palm Coast and Dante Mobley of Bunnell in unrelated cases between Dec. 19 and 22 involving the rape of children—in Selts’s case, a girl who claims she was raped when in first grade in Palm Coast, and in Mobley’s, the case of an alleged statutory rape of a 14-year-old in Bunnell.