Judging an art show was a first for Sheriff Fleming, though the first responders of 9/11 have particular significance for him: as a police chief in New Jersey, he’d worked with nine of the Port Authority cops who died that day.
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Hometown Democracy and Class-Size Amendments Spark Up Civic Association Forum
The Flagler Palm Coast Civic Association’s forum featured contrasting views on ballot proposals that would affect class sizes, development laws, and two local taxes.
In 1st of 2 Rounds, County Adopts 14% Tax Rate Increase Against Scattered Criticism
The rate, $5.5905 per $1,000 in assessed value is up from $4.8894 per $1,000; for a $138 million budget that includes 287 county employees, down 64 positions in three years.
With 4 Out-of-Towners, Flagler Beach Resumes Interviews to Fill Manager’s Chair
Last week was the hometown favorites’ time. This week, five of the eight candidates for manager are being interviewed.
County Cuts Supervisor of Elections’ Budget 4.9%, But Keeps It Well Above 2009 Level
The $656,000 budget is 6.7 percent above where it was in 2009, and 43 percent higher than what it was in 2004. Commissioner Milissa Holland dissented from the vote approving Supervisor Weeks’ budget.
Obama Condemns Gainesville Koran-Burning as FBI Warns of Possible Retaliation in Florida
As protesters burn Gainesville Pastor Terry Jones in effigy and the FBI warns of possible retaliations in Florida, Obama joins condemnations of the planned Koran-burning.
Bunnell Rebuffs Sheriff’s Offer to Provide Law Enforcement at 26% Less Than City’s Costs
The Flagler County Sheriff’s proposal to cut Bunnell’s police costs by $260,000 by taking over proved less convincing than commissioners’ emotional attachment to a troubled police department.
In Knotty Deal, County Agrees to 980-Acre Buy from Ginn Co. for at Least $3.25 Million
The county will pay $2.25 million now, $1 million more in 24 months, and potentially $1.25 million more over an undetermined amount of time should the land yield lucrative wetlands credits.
Tourist Tax Increase Clears Key Hurdle With 4-1 County Commission Vote
The Flagler County Commission must now hold a public hearing on the increase of the tax from 3 to 4 percent, but the 4-1 vote suggests the measure is headed for approval.
School Board Approves $166 Million Budget; Tea Party’s Response Is Mostly Decaffeinated
The school board’s final budget adoption hearing was better attended than most ion previous years; questions and comments didn’t necessarily have much to do with the budget.
Gen. Patraeus Warns: If Gainesville “Church” Burns Korans, U.S. Troops Will Be Targeted
A Gainesville “church”‘s plan to burn Korans on to commemorate 9/11 “could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort,” Petraeus said. The Koran-burning preacher is unmoved.
Memo To Enterprise Flagler: Why Your Tax Plan Is Fumbling (and What To Do About It)
From its message to its messenger, Enterprise Flagler’s tax-and-build plan is facing obstacles and unanswered questions of its own making. It may be too late to reverse opposition, but not too late to do the right thing.
Shakespeare, Hitchcock, and Mexico: This Week in Orlando
Alfred Hitchcock, comedian? Absolutely, with “The 39 Steps” at the Shakespeare Theater; “Pride and Protest” at the GLBT History Museum; pianist Santiago Rodriguez at the Shakespeare theater on Sept. 19, and more.
McHenry’s Bar Patrons Foil a Robbery After a Parking Lot Assault Over an Iphone
22-year-old Nicholas Stolinas of Marco Island is in jail on $29,000 bond after an alleged assault and robbery in the McHenry’s Bar parking lot.
Launching 6th Season, Flagler Youth Orchestra Calls on All Students 3rd Grade and Up
The Flagler Youth Orchestra begins its sixth season, with an open house at the Indian Trails Middle School cafeteria at 5 p.m. on Wednesday. Students 3rd grade and up are welcome.
Crime Reports: Aug. 30-Sept. 5, 2010
Yet another case of credit-card skimming, this time in Flagler Beach; Driving intoxicated and with a bag of pot on Belle Terre, a burglary on Bunker Hill, a burglary at a job site on Eric Drive, and more.
Labor Day Fire Demolishes Home by 3rd Hole of Palm Harbor Golf Course
Palm Coast Fire Department unites responded to the single-family home fire around 3 p.m. Monday (Sept. 6). The home belongs to Deborah and Will Morningsun.
Mainland High School Coach John Maronto’s Prostitution Arrest: Hold Your Sanctimony
Mainland High School football coach John Maronto, 68, was arrested in a prostitution sting Sept. 4. Hold your sanctimony: wasteful police stings aside, he did nothing wrong.
A Wedding Made in Deli: How Aquarius Conquered Cancer
He’s 60. She’s 65. They’ve each been married twice before. She was just diagnosed with terminal cancer. They’re getting married at Strathmore’s Deli, with Mayor Netts officiating.
Ron Vath Mystery Theater: Flagler Beach Commissioner Takes a Job With FEMA
Ron Vath had applied for the job in April. The job may be permanent, but the postings may not be. He is due back sometime in early fall.
24 Roses in Red, White and Black for Ray Boylan, Mentor Beyond Call and Color
Ray Boylan, who died on Aug. 26 at age 76, was a hero of the Flagler school district’s African American Mentor Program, and its only white mentor. His widow Gail was honored Saturday.
Campana’s First:
FPC Bulldogs 30, Matanzas Pirates 13
First game of the season, full house, the Bulldogs and the Pirates were in something of a dogfight at first before the Bulldogs asserted themselves in spite of the Pirates’ grit.
Mosque Madness and the Shame of New York
As a model of understanding, New York City was once an American redemption. Relatively, anyway. Not anymore, as a majority of New Yorkers are joining the mob-like reaction against an Islamic center near Ground Zero.
August Unemployment Up to 9.6% as 54,000 More Jobs Are Lost; 15 Million Unemployed
Private sector job growth of 67,000 was not enough to overcome a loss of 114,000 in the government sector as more Census workers lost work.
Ox-Bow Development: Councilman Meeker Sees Palm Coasters as Business-Hunting Posse
Frank Meeker would award $1,000 per job over three years for local residents who convince businesses elsewhere to “uproot” themselves and move to Palm Coast. City staff is studying the idea.
Softball League: Flagler Beach Interviews 3 Hometown Candidates for Manager, Gently
Easy questions, general answers: that sums up the day’s interviews of three familiar faces in Flagler Beach. Commissioner Ron Vath was absent. The show drew a maximum of 20 people.
Stetson Professor Monique Forte’s Death Attributed to Cocaine Abuse
Stetson Professor Monique Forte, beloved as a friend and mentor, had been battling mounting stress in her work and personal life.
North By Northwest: State Rejects Palm Coast’s Sprawling Growth Horizon
While the state approved of Palm Coast’s plans to develop the Bulow Creek area, it rejected the city’s planned expansion to its west and northwest, calling it unneeded and fraught with sprawl.
Variations on Root Canals: Credit Card Fraud from a Dentist Near You
Beware, consumers: those credit cards with fabulous terms you’re getting at your dentist’s office may hide seriously rotten business.
It’s Raining Taxes, Cont’d: Behind Scenes, County Manager Floats Sales Tax Increase
One proposal would increase the half-cent sales tax by a super-majority vote of the county commission, bypassing voters.
3 Local Candidates for Manager on Flagler Beach’s Interviewing Schedule Thursday
See all eight candidates’ resumes, as well as the interviewing schedule of four candidates on Thursday: James P. Gallagher, Caryn Miller, Michael Evans and Bruce Campbell.
In 5-2 Ruling, Florida Supreme Court Rejects Ballot Measure Banning Federal Health Reform
Citing “misleading and ambiguous language,” the court rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have banned mandated federal health insurance in Florida.
Where’s Ron Vath? Without Explanation, Flagler Beach Commissioner Is Out Indefinitely
The 69-year-old commissioner has missed several meetings and is about to miss many more, including budget hearings and interviews with 12 candidates for city manager.
Flagler Student Is Jailed After Setting Off A “Bottle Bomb” at a Bus Stop
18-year-old Giuseppe Verdone Jr. set off the “bottle bomb” at Bird of Paradise and Biscayne Drive while waiting for a bus to Pathways, the district’s school for problem students.
For First Time in Memory, Flagler School Enrollment Stalls; No Budget Cuts Foreseen Yet
The 240 additional students the Flagler school district expected this fall haven’t materialized, resulting in a projected loss of $1.62 million in state funding.
Should You Be Worried About Hurricane Earl? No (For Now)
Hurricane Earl is on track to pass some 350 to 400 miles away from Flagler County Thursday and Friday, though the storm will produce high waves and rip currents.
Enterprise Flagler’s Tax and Build Plan Revealed: How They’ll Seek Your Vote
The 4,200-word plan is presented here uncut, providing readers with a first, comprehensive look at how Enterprise Flagler will sell its tax plan to subsidize private industrial incentives at public expense.
Smoke, But No Fire, In a New Section Of the County Jail
The smoke was detected at 2:46 p.m. Monday afternoon. It was attributed to an electrical short in a ground-fault indicator unit. No one was hurt or evacuated.
Stetson Scores $610,000 Federal Stimulus Grant to Renovate Labs
Stetson’s grant will renovate its main science building’s labs. The grant is part of $3 billion awarded the National Science Foundation in stimulus dollars in 2009.
Culture Worth the (Orlando) Magic: The Week’s Calendar Collage
Eat royally, save money and support the arts: Orlando’s September magical dining experience; the art of collage gains new respectability, and soars to the Magic’s heights; Stephen Sondheim’s Mad Cow, and more.
Burned Just 4 Months Ago, County Cooks Yet Another Risky Deal With Ginn on Public Dime
The $4.75 million acquisition of 980 acres around Pellicer Creek is almost 10 times the land’s appraised value. Part of the buy rests on a creative but risky, long-term scheme.
Two Cop Copters Search for 2 Armed Burglars Around Pine Grove; Only One Is Caught
An 18-year-old Daytona Beach man was arrested following a burglary and an air chase in Palm Coast’s Pine Grove section. The second suspect is still at large.
Weekly Crime Reports: August 23-29, 2010
A robbery at the Palm Harbor Parkway Kangaroo, a driver passed out drunk at the wheel of his car on Old Kings Road, a mess of electronics robbed from a Shady Oaks Drive home, and more.
Neo-Supremacy Chic: Glenn Beck
And Sarah Palin’s Tea-Scalding of MLK
Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin’s biggest “tea party” rally on the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s most famous speech signals the arrival of a neo-supremacist political movement in god’s clothing.
Back to School Jam: The Video
Watch the six-minute video of the Aug. 7 Back to School Jam, where some 2,600 backpacks and school supplies were given away.
Pregnant Mothers, Start Your Readers: Dolly’s Imagination Library Crosses Flagler Threshold
Dolly’s Imagination Library will ensure that every child born after Aug. 31 and living in Flagler will get a free book every month until kindergarten. The kick-off event is Sept. 1 at the Flagler County Library.
Rymfire Elem. on Brief Lock-Down As Cops Chase Burglary Suspect Near Ralph Carter Park
Jeremiah Harris, a 20-year-old resident of Bunnell, led deputies on a chase Friday morning following a suspected burglary in the R section.
Tanking GDP: When No One Wants to
Admit to Double-Dipping
The latest figures darken a picture already gloomy with collapsing home sales and persistently high unemployment. Deflation may be next.
Supreme Court Still Silent on Proposal to Exclude Floridians From Federal Health Reform
Amendment 9, bumped off the November ballot by a lower court for being misleading, would ban laws that would make health insurance a requirement from taking effect in Floria.
Sneak Preview of Enterprise Flagler’s Economic Tax “Game Plan”: More Details, More Questions
Enterprise Flagler’s “new game plan” seeks to win over voters for a new property tax in exchange for the promise of new industry and more jobs. The plan is more projections than details.