• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
MENUMENU
MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • FlaglerLive Board of Directors
    • Comment Policy
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Values
    • Privacy Policy
  • Live Calendar
  • Submit Obituary
  • Submit an Event
  • Support FlaglerLive
  • Advertise on FlaglerLive (386) 503-3808
  • Search Results

FlaglerLive

No Bull, no Fluff, No Smudges

MENUMENU
  • Flagler
    • Flagler County Commission
    • Beverly Beach
    • Economic Development Council
    • Flagler History
    • Mondex/Daytona North
    • The Hammock
    • Tourist Development Council
  • Palm Coast
    • Palm Coast City Council
    • Palm Coast Crime
  • Bunnell
    • Bunnell City Commission
    • Bunnell Crime
  • Flagler Beach
    • Flagler Beach City Commission
    • Flagler Beach Crime
  • Cops/Courts
    • Circuit & County Court
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • Federal Courts
    • Flagler 911
    • Fire House
    • Flagler County Sheriff
    • Flagler Jail Bookings
    • Traffic Accidents
  • Rights & Liberties
    • Fourth Amendment
    • First Amendment
    • Privacy
    • Second Amendment
    • Seventh Amendment
    • Sixth Amendment
    • Sunshine Law
    • Third Amendment
    • Religion & Beliefs
    • Human Rights
    • Immigration
    • Labor Rights
    • 14th Amendment
    • Civil Rights
  • Schools
    • Adult Education
    • Belle Terre Elementary
    • Buddy Taylor Middle
    • Bunnell Elementary
    • Charter Schools
    • Daytona State College
    • Flagler County School Board
    • Flagler Palm Coast High School
    • Higher Education
    • Imagine School
    • Indian Trails Middle
    • Matanzas High School
    • Old Kings Elementary
    • Rymfire Elementary
    • Stetson University
    • Wadsworth Elementary
    • University of Florida/Florida State
  • Economy
    • Jobs & Unemployment
    • Business & Economy
    • Development & Sprawl
    • Leisure & Tourism
    • Local Business
    • Local Media
    • Real Estate & Development
    • Taxes
  • Commentary
    • The Conversation
    • Pierre Tristam
    • Diane Roberts
    • Guest Columns
    • Byblos
    • Editor's Blog
  • Culture
    • African American Cultural Society
    • Arts in Palm Coast & Flagler
    • Books
    • City Repertory Theatre
    • Flagler Auditorium
    • Flagler Playhouse
    • Flagler Youth Orchestra
    • Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra
    • Palm Coast Arts Foundation
    • Special Events
  • Elections 2024
    • Amendments and Referendums
    • Presidential Election
    • Campaign Finance
    • City Elections
    • Congressional
    • Constitutionals
    • Courts
    • Governor
    • Polls
    • Voting Rights
  • Florida
    • Federal Politics
    • Florida History
    • Florida Legislature
    • Florida Legislature
    • Ron DeSantis
  • Health & Society
    • Flagler County Health Department
    • Ask the Doctor Column
    • Health Care
    • Health Care Business
    • Covid-19
    • Children and Families
    • Medicaid and Medicare
    • Mental Health
    • Poverty
    • Violence
  • All Else
    • Daily Briefing
    • Americana
    • Obituaries
    • News Briefs
    • Weather and Climate
    • Wildlife

Carousel

County Attorney Al Hadeed, Now a Flagler Sheriff’s Deputy, Is Regaled Into Retirement

August 1, 2025 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

Maureen and Al Hadeed during a moving moment at Al's retirement party Thursday in Bunnell. (© FlaglerLive)

The sheriff’s naming of County Attorney Al Hadeed an honorary sheriff’s deputy was among the surprises at Hadeed’s retirement party Thursday evening at the Government Services Building. There were numerous local tributes, a proclamation, the dedication of a bench in Hadeed’s name at Princess Place Preserve, recognitions wrapped in gifts and held-back tears and choked-up memories and overhead screens projecting a lifetime of pictures.

Palm Coast Council’s Charles Gambaro Announces Congressional Run Against ‘Outrageous’ Randy Fine

August 1, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

Charles Gambaro, a brigadier general in the Army Reserve, speaking with Ed Fuller at last May's Memorial Day ceremony in Palm Coast, an event U.S. Rep. Randy Fine attended. (© FlaglerLive)

Palm Coast City Council member Charles Gambaro late Thursday announced he will challenge U.S. Rep. Randy Fine in the 2026 primary for the 6th Congressional District seat Fine won in a special election last April. With Council member Dave Sullivan’s plan not to run in the 2026 election, Gambaro’s decision creates the second open seat on the council–an opening that gives the embattled mayor a chance to make a play for a majority aligned with him.

U.S. Job Creation Stalls to Lowest 3-Month Total Since Covid, Bankruptcies Spike 27% in Florida’s Middle District

August 1, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 10 Comments

Job creation over the last three years. The trend is sharply down.. (© FlaglerLive)

The national economy added 73,000 jobs in July and 106,000 in the last three months combined, the poorest quarter in job creation since the massive job losses of April 2020 as Covid shut down much of the economy. The unemployment rate edged up to 4.2. It has hovered between 4 and 4.2 percent for the past 14 months. In a related trend, personal and business bankruptcy filings rose nationally 11.5 percent in the last 12 months, and 27 percent in the Middle District of Florida that includes Flagler County, from 18,471 last year to 23,442 in the last 12 months. A bankruptcy attorney says the trend is here to stay.

The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, August 1, 2025

August 1, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 6 Comments

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt by Taylor Jones, Politicalcartoons.com

First Friday Garden Walks at Washington Oaks Gardens State Park, First Friday in Flagler Beach, confusing ethics and aesthetics, Walker Percy and Consumer Reports.

Supreme Court Justices’ Political Leanings

July 31, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 2 Comments

Reporters used to treat the Supreme Court as a nonpolitical institution, but not anymore.

Politics has a much stronger presence in articles about the U.S. Supreme Court today than in years past, with a notable increase beginning in 2016. Across the five major newspapers, reporting about the court has gradually become more political over time. That isn’t surprising: America has been gradually polarizing since the 1980s as well, and the changes in news media coverage reflect that polarization.

Hires of Palm Coast Utility and Development Directors Termed Capstones of Mark Strobridge’s Brief Tenure

July 31, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 3 Comments

The civilian clothes will soon have to give way to the sheriff's uniform again for Mark Strobridge, who is concluding his tenure as assistant city manager on loan in Palm Coast.

Flagler County Sheriff’s Chief Mark Strobridge considers the long-needed appointments of directors to two of Palm Coast government’s most important departments–utilities and growth management–as the capstone to his unusual tenure as an assistant city manager on loan to Interim City Manager Lauren Johnston. The city on Wednesday announced the appointments of Brian Roche as director of the Utility Department, and John Zobler as Community Development Director, a position vacant since Jason DeLorenzo was named chief of staff in September 2022. DeLorenzo left the city earlier this month. 

Two Turtle Nests Halt Flagler Beach Pier Construction Until September as Workarounds Prove Impractical

July 31, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 18 Comments

turtle nests pier construction

The Flagler Beach pier demolition and reconstruction project is coming to a halt next Wednesday. Two new turtle nests burrowed in the path of the large trestle under construction are stopping work on the $16 million project. It will resume in about two months, after the turtles have hatched. The due date for the newest turtle nest is not before Sept. 10.

Committee’s 15-13 Vote Sends School Board’s Derek Barrs Nomination for Transportation Post to Full Senate

July 31, 2025 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

Flagler County School Board member Derek Barrs is a step closer to resigning the seat and leaving Flagler County to become the administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on Wednesday voted 15-13, strictly along party lines, to send the nomination to the full Senate, where Barrs is expected to be confirmed. 

The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, July 31, 2025

July 31, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 17 Comments

Another Trump Distraction by Bill Day, FloridaPolitics.com

Palm Coast Concert Series featuring Landfall, 6 to 8 p.m. at the Stage at Town Center, Model Yacht Club Races at the Pond in Palm Coast’s Central Park, reading the perplexing and sublime Andre Gide.

Ring of Fire: What the Strongest Earthquakes Ever Recorded Have in Common

July 30, 2025 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

Kamchatka Krai earthquake location. USGS

The Pacific region is highly prone to powerful earthquakes and resulting tsunamis because it’s located in the so-called Ring of Fire, a region of heightened seismic and volcanic activity. All ten most powerful earthquakes recorded in modern history were located on the Ring of Fire.Here’s why the underlying structure of our planet makes this part of the world so volatile.

As Mayor Norris Misrepresents Ethics Complaint Dismissal, Council Focuses on Charter and Governor Action

July 30, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 15 Comments

Mike Norris with a copy of the ethics complaint against him as he addressed his town hall crowd about it on Monday, saying it had been dismissed. (© FlaglerLive)

The Florida Commission on Ethics tossed out a complaint filed by four Palm Coast City Council members against Mayor Mike Norris, citing “legal insufficiency.” Norris had said as much in a social media posting last Friday and at a town hall meeting Monday, misinterpreting the order as a victory. To the council members, the ethics commission’s decision is one more reason to revise the city charter to add disciplinary clauses that would enable a council majority–or a supermajority–to deal with a rogue or derelict member. 

Flagler Turtle Patrol and County Fire Rescue Save 5 Hatchlings on A1A

July 30, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 3 Comments

Rescue in progress. (Flagler County)

Five leatherback sea turtle hatchlings are in the care of Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience following their harrowing journey across State Road A1A near Beverly Beach and became trapped in two storm drains at the Oceanside Condominiums.

16 Years in Prison for Justin Maddox, 32, in Overdose Death of Jeremy Kocorowski, 40

July 30, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 5 Comments

Justin Maddox first degree murder

Indicted on a capital murder charge for his role in the drug-overdose death of 40-year-old Jeremy Kocorowski of Bunnell in March 2024, Justin Maddox, 32, of Palm Coast, was sentenced today to 16 years in prison in a plea deal that reduced the charge to manslaughter. “Addiction is a disease,” the victim’s mother told the court in a statement she read after the sentencing. “But exploiting someone who’s struggling is not.  it is predatory. It is lethal. And in this case, it was murder.”

On Flagler County School Board, Competing Views Underscore District Tensions Behind Vouchers and ‘Choice’

July 30, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 12 Comments

School Board Chair Will Furry in an orientation session with Janie Ruddy, after her election to the board but before she was seated, last October. The two are at polar opposites when it comes to vouchers. (© FlaglerLive)

At the end of a 15-minute hearing on Tuesday to approve Flagler County schools’ tentative property tax and budget for the coming fiscal year–a budget that includes the siphoning of $17 million to subsidize private school “vouchers” for almost 2,000 students, with the district’s dollars–School Board member Janie Ruddy delivered a brief speech decrying the erosion of public dollars for public schools, and addressing its consequences. Will Furry followed with a rejoinder, illustrating district tensions at the heart of the voucher and “choice” program. Both statements follow in full.

The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, July 30, 2025

July 30, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 9 Comments

Netanyahu Accepts No Criticism for Gaza Starvation by Christopher Weyant, CagleCartoons.com

Flagler Cares hosts its quarterly Help Night, Separation Chat, Christopher Weyant on Netanyahu, John Oliver on the Big Beautiful Bill, the decline and fall of X, Jeff Sharlet on the F word.

Citing Costs, Flagler Beach Commissioners Reject Design of New ‘Beachwalk’ on and Around Pier for 2nd Time in 4 Weeks

July 29, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 19 Comments

A rendering of Flagler Beach's Beachwalk project, which failed to win city commissioners' approval for the second time in five weeks.

The design of a new “Beachwalk” and “Promenade” beneath and around the Flagler Beach pier drew raves from city commissioners. But what started as a $1.5 million project has ballooned to at least $2.8 million, with several design elements that were not part of the original concept as commissioners understood it, including a covered portion of the 4,200-square-foot promenade. Commissioners have tabled the project and asked for a third redesign.

The Smokescreen of Food Air Drops in Gaza

July 29, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 7 Comments

A Gaza girl in search of food. (Wikimedia Commons)

A third of Gazans have gone without food for several days and 90,000 women and children now require urgent care for acute malnutrition. Local health authorities have reported 147 deaths from starvation so far, 80% of whom are children. Air-dropping food supplies is considered a last resort due to the undignified and unsafe manner in which the aid is delivered. The UN has already reported civilians being injured when packages have fallen on tents. Air-dropped pallets of food are also inefficient compared with what can be delivered by road.

Justices Will Publicly Reprimand Broward Judge Stefanie Moon

July 29, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

Judge Stephanie Moon. (Facebook)

As part of discipline that also included a 10-day suspension, Broward County Circuit Judge Stefanie Moon will go before the Florida Supreme Court on Sept. 9 for a public reprimand, the court said Tuesday.

DeSantis Signs 11th Death Warrant of Year: Curtis Windom, 1992 Murderer of 3

July 29, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 7 Comments

Curtis Windom.

Continuing to quickly order executions, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed a death warrant for a man convicted of killing three people in 1992 in Orange County. Curtis Windom, 59, is scheduled to be executed Aug. 28 at Florida State Prison. Windom would be the 11th inmate executed this year in the state — a record-breaking pace.

Janie Ruddy Rips Vouchers, Will Furry Defends Them as School Board Sees Erosion of Nearly 2,000 Students to Hand-Out

July 29, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 12 Comments

Starving the schools: the trend continues. (© FlaglerLive)

The Flagler County School Board in a 15-minute meeting this evening approved the tentative school property tax for the next fiscal year, a small decline from last year that continues a 20-year trend of cutting the school tax rate every year but in the three years of the Great Recession. Board member Janie Ruddy pointedly noted the discordance between falling tax rates and local needs, and between the expansion of vouchers–public funding for private education–at the public schools’ expense. Will Furry, who chairs the board, countered with a defense of vouchers.

At Mike Norris ‘Mayoral Town Hall,’ an Impressive Crowd Starring Cast of Familiar Faces, Fictions and Grievances

July 29, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 23 Comments

Mike Norris was relaxed and relatively self-controlled if unfocused at his two-hour mayoral town hall Monday evening at the VFW hall in Palm Coast. (© FlaglerLive)

Palm Coast Mayor Norris’s self-vaunted, well-attended and uneventful “Mayoral Town Hall” at the VFW hall on Old Kings Road Monday evening was almost identical to a grousing public comment segment at a City Council meeting, but stretched to two hours, and with a larger audience primed by pizza, beer and wine on the mayor’s personal generosity. The two-hour event drew 154 people, based on a head count just before the halfway mark.

The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, July 29, 2025

July 29, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 9 Comments

Tulsi Gabbard's Fraudulent Report by Bob Englehart, PoliticalCartoons.com

Food Truck Tuesday this evening in Palm Coast’s Town Center at Central Park, Random Acts of Insanity Standup Comedy at Cinematique, the Yankees’ Ryan McMahon meets Bruce Dern of “The Cowboys.”

As Israel Starves Gaza

July 28, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

A 4-year-old Palestinian girl, lost her life due to malnutrition and lack of treatment due to the war on Gaza. (Wikimedia Commons

Already around 60,000 Gazans have been killed and growing numbers are now dying from hunger and malnutrition. More than 90% of the private homes in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed. Israeli officials continue to speak of moving Gazans into what has been termed a “humanitarian city” but what former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert described as a “concentration camp”. In the same interview Olmert called decision to move Gazans into the camp as “ethnic cleansing”. All the while, the world’s leaders look on. Most are apparently content to condemn – but little action has been taken.

Flagler Sheriff’s Employees Donate $24,030 to the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranches

July 28, 2025 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

Sheriff Staly previously served six years on the Board of Directors for the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranches, including as Chairman of the Board.

Flagler County Sheriff’s Office employees donated $24,030 to the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranches (FSYR), making FCSO employee’s total donations to the FSYR approximately $204,000 since 2017. Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly presented the latest employee donation check to FSYR President Maria Knapp today during the Florida Sheriffs Association semi-annual meeting.

Federal Judge Wants To Know ‘Who’s Running the Show’ at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’

July 28, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 9 Comments

A cage at the Everglades migrant lock-up the state calls Alligator Alcatraz. (White House)

A U.S. district judge on Monday pushed state and federal officials to provide a copy of an intergovernmental agreement showing “who’s running the show” at an Everglades immigrant-detention center, calling the situation “urgent” as at least 100 detainees have been deported amid legal wrangling over the remote facility.

Mayor Norris Files for Rehearing in Lawsuit He Lost Over Gambaro Appointment and Distorts Ethics Decision

July 28, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 16 Comments

Attorney Anthony Sabatini, center, is representing Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris. (© FlaglerLive)

Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris through his attorney filed a motion for rehearing of his lawsuit against the city and Council member Charles Gambaro, who Norris still claims was illegally appointed despite a court order to the contrary. Separately, Norris, in a truculent social media posting replete with errors and mischaracterizations late Friday, claimed that the Florida Commission on Ethics “has officially dismissed” the complaint the City Council filed against him, and did so “due to insufficient legal standing.” 

100 Cats Rescued from R-Section Home in Palm Coast Will Have Their Own Adoption Event

July 28, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 10 Comments

About half the cats in a collage by the Flagler County Sheriff's Office.

In a powerful show of compassion and teamwork, almost 100 cats were rescued this week from a single home in Palm Coast, thanks to a coordinated effort by city employees, local organizations, and dedicated animal lovers.

A Perplexed Flagler Beach Hears Vague County ‘Options’ to Pay for Beach Protection After Sales Tax Plan Collapse

July 28, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 22 Comments

A rebuilt beach at the south end of Flagler Beach. (© FlaglerLive)

Kim Carney, the county commissioner who played a significant role in defeating the proposed sales tax increase to finance a comprehensive beach-protection plan, went to the Flagler Beach City Commission Thursday with five options from which the city could choose to protect its own beach. Four of the options would require Flagler Beach to impose a new tax or fee on its residents. The fifth would have the city supporting a 2026 referendum to raise the sales tax–the very option the County Commission could have approved, and that Carney opposed. 

The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, July 28, 2025

July 28, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 11 Comments

Netanyahu Fish Bloodbath Gaza War Coffin Ceasefire by Emad Hajjaj, Alaraby Aljadeed newspaper , London

The Bunnell City Commission meets, learning all about Earth Overshoot Day, or how natural resources are eroding faster than they can be restored, an echo of the same from 10,000 years ago.

Is There Any Hope for the Internet?

July 27, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 5 Comments

Hate and mental illness fester online because love and healing seem to be incompatible with profits.

As the internet has become more integrated in our daily lives, few would describe it as a place of love, compassion and cooperation. Study after study describe how social media platforms promote alienation and disconnection – in part because many algorithms reward behaviors like trolling, cyberbullying and outrage. Is the internet’s place in human history cemented as a harbinger of despair? Or is there still hope for an internet that supports collective flourishing?

Administration Releasing Billions in Federal Education Funding

July 27, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 1 Comment

The dismantling of LBJ's legacy will be delayed. The Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building in Washington, D.C., in a file photo from November 2024. (Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)

To Flagler County Schools’ relief, the Trump administration said Friday it’ll soon release billions in Education Department funding that has been frozen for weeks, delaying disbursements to K-12 schools throughout the country. The funding — which goes toward migrant education, English-language learning and other programs — was supposed to go out before July 1, but the administration informed schools just one day before that it was instead holding onto $6.8 billion while staff conducted a review. Members of both parties in Congress objected to the move.

Trump Voters Wanted Relief From Medical Bills. For Millions, the Bills Are About To Get Bigger.

July 27, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 9 Comments

trump health costs

President Donald Trump rode to reelection last fall on voter concerns about prices. But as his administration pares back federal rules and programs designed to protect patients from the high cost of health care, Trump risks pushing more Americans into debt, further straining family budgets already stressed by medical bills. Millions of people are expected to lose health insurance in the coming years as a result of the tax cut legislation Trump signed this month, leaving them with fewer protections from large bills if they get sick or suffer an accident.

The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, July 27, 2025

July 27, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 16 Comments

Government Handouts by Adam Zyglis, The Buffalo News

Palm Coast Farmers’ Market at European Village, Gamble Jam at Gamble Rogers State Recreation Area, Richard Beck’s new book on the war on terror at home.

The Nostalgia of Comfort Smells from Fresh-Cut Grass to Hamburgers

July 26, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

The foods and scents we associate with our childhoods can provide a meaningful source of comfort and connection.

Triggered by sensory stimuli such as music, scents and foods, nostalgia has the power to mentally transport us back in time. This might be to important occasions, to moments of triumph and – importantly – moments revolving around close family and friends and other important people in our lives. As it turns out, this experience is good for us.

Sen. Rick Scott Trolls New York’s Mamdani with Florida-Baiting Campaign

July 26, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 5 Comments

Rick Scott issues a manifesto. (© FlaglerLive)

With New York City on the brink of electing a democratic socialist Mayor, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott wants New Yorkers escaping to Florida. The Naples Republican launched an ad campaign in the Big Apple encouraging just that, as first reported by the New York Post. The messaging will include a banner flown over New York City that reads: “Hate Socialism? Us too! Move 2 FL.”

Flagler County Cancels ‘Boots on the Ground’ Line Dancing Event at 11th Hour as Sheriff Blasts Permitting Flop

July 26, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 39 Comments

A road sign on County Road 13 just ahead of the Fairgrounds this afternoon, on the cancelled "Boots on the Ground" event. The actual wording does not look chancy to drivers: that's only the shutter's doing. (© FlaglerLive)

Flagler County government ordered the permit for a “Boots on the Ground Line Dance Competition” revoked on Friday, cancelling the event 24 hours before it was scheduled to start. The county did so after the organizer of the event “engaged in serial misrepresentation of the event, continually contradicted by his social media promotion,” according to the email by the deputy county administrator.

The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, July 26, 2025

July 26, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

From Clay Jones.

Peps Art Walk at  Beachfront Grille in Flagler Beach, Coffee With Commissioner Scott Spradley, John Updike’s sexism and the trappings of ugliness, Bach and Francis Parkman on the Oregon Trail.

Risk and Resonance of Comparing ICE to the Gestapo

July 25, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 13 Comments

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers gather for a briefing before an enforcement operation on Jan. 27, 2025, in Silver Spring, Md.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz recently sparked controversy by comparing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to Nazi Germany’s notorious secret police, the Gestapo. Among other responsibilities, the Gestapo was tasked with investigating political crimes and monitoring opposition activity. It later enforced racial laws in Germany and across occupied Europe.

100 Migrants Deported from ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ So Far as Flights Ramp Up from Everglades Lock-Up

July 25, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

A Florida Highway Patrol officer looks on as protesters gather to demand the closure of the immigrant detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz" at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Florida, on July 22, 2025.

About 100 undocumented immigrants have been deported from an airstrip adjoining the detention center dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” and “the cadence” of outgoing flights is increasing, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday. Speaking to reporters outside the detention complex in the Everglades, DeSantis and other state officials staunchly defended Florida’s efforts to aid President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts amid litigation over the controversial site.

Home Surveillance Video Helps Lead to Arrest of Austin Brammer, 35, After Palm Coast Burglary

July 25, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 7 Comments

Austin Brammer

The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a repeat offender after he was caught on camera committing a residential burglary of a Palm Coast residence. On July 24, deputies responded to a report of a residential burglary on Colleen Court after the victim told dispatchers that she had home surveillance video showing an unknown male breaking into her home. According to the victim, the suspect, later identified as Austin Brammer, 35, of Palm Coast, stole a box of watches.

4 Council Members Ask DeSantis to Suspend Mayor for ‘Malfeasance, Misfeasance, Neglect of Duty, and Incompetence’

July 25, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 25 Comments

Mike Norris in court on July 3, among supporters, before Circuit Judge Chris France's ruling against Norris's lawsuit. (© FlaglerLive)

Twice charging Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris with “malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, and incompetence,” the rest of the Palm Coast City Council today issued a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis, asking him to suspend Norris from office and appoint an acting mayor in his place. 

Flagler Beach Will Consider Moving Its Elections to Even Years to Save Money, and Alter Commissioners’ Terms

July 25, 2025 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

A scene from last March's election in Flagler Beach.

Flagler Beach will consider moving its elections from March every year to November, coinciding with general and presidential election cycles. Commissioners’ three-year terms would have to revert to two years, as had been the case two decades ago, or go to four-year terms. The change, suggested as a discussion point by City Clerk Penny Overstreet Thursday evening, would potentially save the city $18,000 per election. 

School Board’s Lauren Ramirez Prevails in Conflict-of-Interest Dispute at Ethics Commission, With Help from a Familiar Face

July 25, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 10 Comments

Theresa Pontieri, the Palm Coast City Council member, represented Flagler County School Board member Lauren Ramirez (slightly to the right) in Pontieri's capacity as an attorney today before the Florida Ethics Commission in Tallahassee. (© FlaglerLive via Florida Channel)

Flagler County School Board member Lauren Ramirez’s challenge of proposed restrictions on her private business not only prevailed today before the Florida Ethics Commission, which unanimously took her side, but spurred a request by the commission that the Florida Legislature rewrite the relevant portions of law to prevent similar conflict-of-interest restrictions in the future. Ramirez all but won her challenge behind arguments to the Ethics Commission by her attorney, Theresa Pontieri, the Palm Coast City Council vice mayor. 

The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, July 25, 2025

July 25, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 7 Comments

What Trump Was Right About by Pat Byrnes, PoliticalCartoons.com

The Florida Ethics Commission meets, Palm Coast Council member Ty Miller on Free For All, Acoustic Jam Circle at the Community Center In The Hammock, Ian Frazier, Casanova, Yussuf and the Great Plains.

The Marco Rubio Deep Fake Is Just the Beginning

July 24, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 3 Comments

Several people received voice messages that claimed to be from – and sounded like – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The FBI warned in a May 15 alert about an “ongoing malicious text and voice messaging campaign” in which “malicious actors have impersonated senior US officials.” The alert noted that the campaign includes “vishing” attacks. Vishing is a portmanteau of the words voice and phishing, and refers to using voice deepfakes to trick victims into giving information or money, or compromising their computer systems.

ICE Arrests in Florida of Migrants Without Criminal Records Surged 450% in June

July 24, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 13 Comments

Immigration officials questioned and detained contractors working on apartment buildings in Tallahassee on May 29, 2025. (Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix)

Since the start of the second Trump administration, ICE has carried out more than 10,818 arrests in Florida, up from 3,496 in the same period last year. But in June, the largest share of arrests, 36%, were of people the federal government labeled as having no criminal history in the country, a 457% increase from June 2024.

DeSantis Wants Redistricting to Help Save GOP’s House Majority

July 24, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

more gerrymandering ahead

With President Trump fearful that congressional Republicans could lose their slim majority in the House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm election, he has urged the state of Texas to redraw their congressional map to add as many as five GOP seats to Congress, and that he’d like other states to follow suit. Gov. Ron DeSantis says that Florida can be one of those states.

Stop the Grift: Florida’s School Vouchers Are Scamming Taxpayers and Sabotaging Democracy

July 24, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 31 Comments

Florida's voucher scheme is undermining the fabric of America's public education, essential to the democratic fabric, while eroding accountability for taxpayer dollars. (© FlaglerLive)

Our public schools are America’s great equalizer, the engine room of our democracy, where kids of different incomes, races, abilities, and beliefs learn side by side. That’s not “just education.” That’s democracy in motion, argues Colleen Conklin, the former School Board member. And that’s precisely why the current voucher experiment—built on selective enrollment, hidden finances, and zero public oversight—is the opposite: it fractures the common schoolhouse, privatizes accountability, and poses a real threat to the democratic fabric that public education holds together.

3rd Arrest in 7 Years on Domestic Violence Charges for William Krivanek, 43, Who Was on Probation

July 24, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

William Karl Krivanek

William Karl Krivanek, a 43-year-old resident of Comanche Court in Palm Coast, is at the Flagler County jail on $200,000 bond following his arrest on four felony charges stemming from a domestic violence incident, including a count of aggravated assault causing bodily harm. Krivanek was on probation for a charge of felony battery. He went by the alias “Bedlam.” 

School Board Fails Math as It Adds Deputy Despite Increased Costs in Lean Times and No Increased Safety

July 24, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

One of the Flagler County Sheriff's School Resource Deputy patrol cars. (© FlaglerLive)

Just hours after the Flagler County School Board bemoaned sharply leaner times as enrollment drops, state dollars drop with it and federal dollars are being withheld, the board voted to  add one more school resource deputy to its ranks even though the deputy will not improve school safety and the cost-benefit data is not in favor of adding one. 

  • Page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 469
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents
Flagler County Sheriff's Expo 2025

Recent Comments

  • Nick mullen on Two Turtle Nests Halt Flagler Beach Pier Construction Until September as Workarounds Prove Impractical
  • FlaglerLive on U.S. Job Creation Stalls to Lowest 3-Month Total Since Covid, Bankruptcies Spike 27% in Florida’s Middle District
  • Here's my educated opinion on Palm Coast Council’s Charles Gambaro Announces Congressional Run Against ‘Outrageous’ Randy Fine
  • MM on Palm Coast Council’s Charles Gambaro Announces Congressional Run Against ‘Outrageous’ Randy Fine
  • Ray W, on U.S. Job Creation Stalls to Lowest 3-Month Total Since Covid, Bankruptcies Spike 27% in Florida’s Middle District
  • Just say'n on U.S. Job Creation Stalls to Lowest 3-Month Total Since Covid, Bankruptcies Spike 27% in Florida’s Middle District
  • Going to fail on Two Turtle Nests Halt Flagler Beach Pier Construction Until September as Workarounds Prove Impractical
  • Some twisted leadership on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, August 1, 2025
  • Dennis C Rathsam on Palm Coast Council’s Charles Gambaro Announces Congressional Run Against ‘Outrageous’ Randy Fine
  • Gary Kunnas on Palm Coast Council’s Charles Gambaro Announces Congressional Run Against ‘Outrageous’ Randy Fine
  • Susan on U.S. Job Creation Stalls to Lowest 3-Month Total Since Covid, Bankruptcies Spike 27% in Florida’s Middle District
  • Susan on U.S. Job Creation Stalls to Lowest 3-Month Total Since Covid, Bankruptcies Spike 27% in Florida’s Middle District
  • Susan on U.S. Job Creation Stalls to Lowest 3-Month Total Since Covid, Bankruptcies Spike 27% in Florida’s Middle District
  • Kennan on Sen. Rick Scott Trolls New York’s Mamdani with Florida-Baiting Campaign
  • James on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, August 1, 2025
  • Skibum on U.S. Job Creation Stalls to Lowest 3-Month Total Since Covid, Bankruptcies Spike 27% in Florida’s Middle District

Log in