Candice Cole’s coolness under pressure, accused murderer Joseph Bova has another date to test his competence for trial, Entrepreneur Night is at Captain’s BBQ, Palm Coast discusses FiberNet.
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Senate Approves Vast Deregulation of Hospital Expansions and Opens Way For Canadian Drugs
Under longstanding law, hospitals have needed to seek certificates of need from the state Agency for Health Care Administration to build facilities or to add certain services.THat would be eliminated.
Prosecution Drops Further Charges Against Michael Bowling as He Appeals 20-Year Sentence
Michael Bowling was sentenced to 20 years in prison for molesting a 15-year-old, and faced even more serious charges involving his own step-daughter. The state opted to drop those charges.
Palm Coast Songwriters Festival’s Reprise Brings a Dozen Musicians and Their Stories For 3 Days at 2 Venues
The Palm Coast Songwriters Festival’s innumerable live acts and workshops runs Friday through Sunday at the Daytona State College Palm Coast Amphitheater, and the Palm Coast Arts Foundation stage.
Ex-Palm Coast Boys and Girls Club Counselor Accused of Molesting Girl There in 2011-12
Dante Mobley’s alleged victim in this case was 8-9 years old. A sex offender, he was released from prison last year after serving five years on a statutory rape charge involving a 14-year-old girl. The present case pre-dates his incarceration.
‘Right To Survive’ Initiative: This City Might Give Homeless People the Right to Camp Anywhere
Denver’s ballot Initiative 300, a first-of-its-kind “Right to Survive,” would allow the homeless to camp anywhere on public lands without risk of arrest, If approved supporters aim to copy it elsewhere.
Monday Briefing: Flagler Youth Orchestra Takes A Bow, Bunnell’s State, Tobacco 21
The Flagler Youth Orchestra’s 350-some students in five ensembles present their final concert of the season at the Auditorium, a Bunnell State of the City recap, raising tobacco’s legal limit to 21.
At Memorial For Curtis Gray, A March Against Violence, Appeals For Conflict Resolution, and ‘Dedication’
Palm Coast’s mayor, school administrators and coaches spoke to hundreds of students and others gathered Sunday in Central Park in memory of Curtis Gray, the Flagler Palm Coast High students shot dead on April 13.
Time is Running Out to Save Right Whales
The North Atlantic right whale is the most endangered whale in U.S. Atlantic waters, and entanglement in crab and lobster roping gear remains the biggest threat to the species’ survival.
Free Community Emergency Response Team Training Begins May 14
Learn basic disaster response skills – such as fire safety and light search and rescue – at the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training program, which begins on May 14.
Irish Company Studio Media Buys Palm Coast Data and Signals 10-Year Local Commitment
Studio Media Group, an Irish company, today acquired Palm Coast Data from Pennsylvania-based Amrep Corp., the third time in 17 years that one of Palm Coast’s largest private employers is changing hands.
Florida Senate Creates New Program Using Public Money To Fund Private School Tuition
Florida senators on Thursday passed legislation that would allow more students to use taxpayer-funded scholarships to pay for private-school tuition, a major step toward expanding school choice in the state.
All FPC Students Directed to Stadium After School Officials Find Bomb Threat In Bathroom
All Flagler Palm Coast High School students–all 2,600 of them–were diverted to the school’s stadium this morning after a bomb threat was discovered in a school bathroom around 7 a.m.
Weekend Briefing: Curtis Gray Memorial, Community Art, Chorus, Cats, Best Little Whorehouse, Torch Run, Housing Fair
A funeral and celebration of life of Curtis Gray Saturday and Sunday, the NAACP’s Freedom Fund Banquet, Community Cats spring yard sale, ACLU honors Kaiti Lenhart, “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” at the Playhouse and much more.
A Courtroom for a Classroom, Built By Students, Gavels Matanzas High’s Law Flagship
Matanzas High School inaugurated its new courtroom, built by its own students for the school’s law and justice flagship, as the centerpiece of a program intended to develop future lawyers, paralegals and others interested in the law.
Joe Mullins Walks Back $2 Million Deal to Keep Sheriff’s Ops in Bunnell, But Calls for End to Bunnell Police Department
County Commissioner Joe Mullins says he still supports a sheriff’s district office for Bunnell–but also wants the Bunnell Police Department merged with the sheriff’s office, because the city has only a “ceremonial” department.
House Passes Controversial Felons’ Voting-Rights Bill, Setting Up Financial Hurdles Before Restoration
The House’s party-line, 71-45 vote drew a rebuke from backers of the amendment, who called the bill “a failure to live up to the bipartisan commitment” demonstrated by the 61 percent of voters who approved Amendment 4.
Thursday Briefing: Murals in Flagler Beach, Common Ground Does Media in Flagler, Happy Hubble Birthday
The Flagler Beach City Commission takes up a revised ordinance that would allow more expressive murals and some commercial content, the Flagler Chamber hosts a media panel at a Common Ground breakfast.
Agreeing to New Contract for Deputies in Schools, Board and Sheriff Discuss 128 Baker Acts in 2 Years
The school board’s share includes almost $100,000 for nine school crossing guards. It does not include about $110,000 that Palm Coast contributes for the school resource deputy program.
House Would Toughen Driving and Texting Law But Opposes Hands-Free Only Use of Devices
Police could pull over motorists texting and driving, under a House measure, but the House opposes a Senate proposal that would allow only hands-free use of cell phones while driving.
Special Needs School Bus Headed to Belle Terre Elementary With 9 Aboard in Minor Collision
A special needs Flagler County school bus was involved in a minor collision at Rymfire Drive and Rickenbacker Drive in Palm Coast just after 9 this morning. No one was injured.
Wednesday Briefing: Free Clinic’s $5,200 Gift, Matanzas Law and Justice, Stetson Jazz Ensemble
The school district inaugurates the law and justice flagship program at Matanzas High School, Compassionate Friends meet, a multi-day hearing about whether former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum violated ethics laws begins.
Bunnell Condemns County’s Decision to Move Sheriff’s Building to Palm Coast, Threatening Lawsuit and Kindling Feud
The Bunnell City Commission approved an angry resolution against the county, instigating a feud that county officials say is misconstruing the county’s and sheriff’s intentions and missing the bigger picture.
Video Shows Shooting Outside Bunnell Circle K as Detectives Still Seek ID of Gunman
A weapon was recovered that may be tied to the shooting outside a Circle K store in Bunnell Sunday night–a shooting and the fight that preceded it captured by the store’s surveillance video.
Moments Before Trial, Jerald Medders Pleads to 15 Years in Prison On Charges of Raping 16 Year Old
Jerald Medders, the 53-year-old Palm Coast resident, faced a minimum of 30 years in prison and up to life if convicted by a jury, which had already been seated for the week-long trial, when Medders changed his mind and pleaded.
Tuesday Briefing: Medders Trial, Felons’ Rights, Spring Band Concert, School Safety
The Senate Rules Committee takes up a controversial proposal to limit felons’ right to vote based on financial obligations, Matanzas has its spring band concert, Jerry Medders’ trial day two.
In Jerald Medders Trial, Alleged Sex Crimes Are Triggers to Several Jurors’ Previous Traumas
Several potential jurors were excused Monday during jury selection in the trial of Jerald Medders, 53, who is accused of unlawful sex with a minor, as the jurors spoke of their own traumas.
Suicide Prevention Set To Become Part of Minimum Standard of Care At Addiction Centers
Rising opioids use and rising suicide rates: Suicide prevention advocates have been pushing the addiction treatment community to address the substantial overlap by adopting new standards of care. That starts in June.
18-Year-Old Man Shot at Bunnell’s Circle K During an Argument, Suspect Sought
An 18-year-old man was shot in the back outside the Bunnell Circle K on State Road 100 shortly after 8 p.m. Sunday. The man survived. Authorities are looking for a suspect seen in surveillance video.
Monday Briefing: Gerald Medders On Trial, Stamp and Coin, A1A Update, Minimum Wage, Vietnam Memorial
Gerald Medders, 53, of Palm Coast, arrested in March 2016, goes on trial on four counts of illegal sex with a minor, the Stamp and Coin Club meets, an A1A construction update, Stanley Karnow on the Vietnam Memorial.
Abolish the Electoral College
Abolishing the Electoral College would level the playing field. It would ensure that people, not parties or mechanisms, determine who leads the country. Is that so bad? If you’re a Republican, yes.
It’ll Be Harder For Citizens To Get Their Initiatives On the Ballot If House Has Its Way
Petition-gatherers to be registered with the state, ballots would have to include information about contributions raised by amendment sponsors, whether out-of-state petition circulators were used and whether amendments could lead to tax increases.
Before Kevin McCarthy’s Suicide, a Life of Creative Advocacy and Contradictions Running in Overdrive
Until his last year, Kevin McCarthy had a stellar 17-year career with Flagler schools, coming out of the shadow of his father Bob McCarthy, Flagler’s longest-serving sheriff. But he had unspoken struggles.
Listen Up Soon-To-Be High School Graduates: Your Chance For a $10,000 Presidential Excellence Scholarship
Daytona State College is offering a new scholarship opportunity for high schools students. Starting this fall, the college will award five Presidential Excellence Scholarships totaling $10,000 each to qualified 2019 high school graduates. The application deadline is April 30, 2019.
Free Housing Fair Rich in Financial, Mortgage and Other Tips, This Saturday April 27
The 2019 Housing Fair – hosted by Flagler County, the City of Palm Coast, Flagler County Association of Realtors, and the Mid-Florida Housing Partnership – will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 27 at the Flagler County Association of Realtors building, 4101 E. Moody Blvd., Bunnell.
Sheriff Provides State of Policing in Flagler in 2nd ‘Fighting Crime Together’ Meeting
Sheriff Rick Staly held a public meeting on “Addressing Crime Together” at the Hilton Garden Inn in Palm Coast on Thursday afternoon to discuss crime trends, past and future initiatives.
New Florida Supreme Court Flexes Rightward Muscle, Overturning Two January Decisions
Justices, in a pair of 6-1 opinions Thursday, overturned the two rulings. The only dissenter in both cases: Justice Jorge Labarga, who had sided with Pariente, Lewis and Quince in January.
FlaglerLive’s Rick de Yampert, a Palm Coast Artist, Brings Mr. Crow Art to Peabody Auditorium Exhibit
Palm Coast artist and FlaglerLive culture writer Rick de Yampert’s photographic digital art of crows will be featured in “Mr. Crow Saves the Universe,” an exhibition May 1-24 in the Rose Room at Peabody Auditorium in Daytona Beach.
Get Ready For a Few Possibly Severe Storms This Afternoon Into Evening
The Storm Prediction Center is projecting an “enhanced risk” of severe storms for the majority of northeast Florida today, with Flagler County in the squall line mostly between 3 and 6 p.m.
Easter Weekend Briefing: Stormy Friday, Easter Egg Hunts, Unemployment Numbers, St. John Passion
Easter egg hunts in Palm Coast, Bunnell and Flagler Beach, March unemployment numbers, Barnett Newman, an uneventful weekend across Flagler, a full new version of Bach’s St. John Passion.
An Unusual Re-Arrest of ‘Person of Interest’ in Curtis Gray Shooting on an Unrelated Charge
Teresa Salgado, wanted as a person of interest in the shooting death of Curtis Gray last Saturday, was arrested on an LSD possession charge from a January incident in which she had already been arrested and bonded out.
Don’t Call Him Interim Anymore: Flagler Stops Search and Settles on Jerry Cameron as Administrator
Jerry Cameron may be Flagler County’s administrator for two to three years as commissioners opted to end their search for a replacement for now, seeing in Cameron the sort of fixer they need to shepherd them through a series of crises.
Hands-Free Cell Use In Car May Become Requirement in Florida Under Senate Plan
The House measure matches the Senate proposal in shifting texting while driving from a “secondary” offense to a “primary” offense, but it doesn’t impose a hands-free requirement.
Thursday Briefing: Det. Fiona Ebrill, Officer of the Year, ‘Addressing Crime Together,’ Scholarship Awards Ceremony
The Sheriff’s Detective Fiona Ebrill is the 2019 Law Enforcement Officer of the Year, the school district’s scholarship awards at the Auditorium, the sheriff delivers a crime-fighting update.
Both County and Palm Coast Officials Question Whether Waste Pro Can Still Do The Job
County officials have been getting complaints about recycling and missed pick-ups, and Palm Coast got 300 complaints just last week, but Waste Pro said it was just one bad week and the company is on the mend.
Supreme Court Sides With DeSantis in Suspension of Okaloosa County School Superintendent
DeSantis stripped Jackson of her post less than a week after he was sworn into office, citing “scathing” grand-jury reports that alleged “dereliction of duty.”
At Walk-Ins Across 9 Flagler Schools, a Call to Lawmakers To Stop Undermining Public Education
Teacher and service employee unions organized the walk-ins at the schools to pressure lawmakers to improve per-student allocations and lessen the favored financial and other terms granted charter and voucher programs.
Rumored Threat of Retaliation For Curtis Gray Killing ‘Unfounded’ as Security Is Beefed Up at FPC
The unfounded rumor about possible retaliation related to the shooting death of 18-year-old FPC student Curtis Gray reflects continuing concern by law enforcement and the school district over further consequences from the shooting.
Wednesday Briefing: Walk-Ins at Eight Schools, Jason Altmire at Tiger Bay, Lukasik’s TDC, Parental Consent
Teacher and support personnel unions hold “walk-ins” at eight schools in early morning, the county’s tourism council meets for the first time with Amy Lukasik as interim director rather than Matt Dunn, lawmakers talk parental consent.
Teacher and Support Personnel Unions Set to Stage ‘Walk-Ins’ at 8 Flagler Schools Wednesday
The teacher and support personnel unions (FECA and FESPA) are part of a statewide walk-in effort designed to focus awareness on the erosion of public dollars for public schools.