“Humming along” is how Flagler County Property Appraiser Jay Gardner describes the year’s property values: powered by nearly $1 billion in new construction alone, $631 million of it in Palm Coast, taxable property values in Flagler County rose around 12 percent this year, and 13 percent in Palm Coast, about the same as last year. The estimates being finalized this week play a central role in local governments’ budgeting and taxing decisions.
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Developer of Proposed 204-Boat Storage Facility in Hammock on Collision Course with County and Residents
Flagler County government, the Hammock Community Association and Hammock Barbour, the proposed development of a 204-boat storage facility and restaurant on A1A in the Hammock, are heading for another likely collision in court. A nearly four-hour mediation session that started this morning and stretched into afternoon, involving the three parties, failed.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, May 30, 2024
Drug court convenes, when Esquire Magazine memorialized 1991 from Darryl Strawberry to Imelda Marcos to… Donald Trump, and how “the truest of all men was the Man of Sorrows.”
Obscure Provision Could Keep Biden Off the Ohio Ballot in November
President Joe Biden might not appear on the November 2024 presidential ballot in Ohio because the Democratic National Convention that will formally nominate Biden won’t open until nearly two weeks after Ohio’s Aug. 7 certification deadline.
No Tuition Increases at DSC for 14th Year, But Some Fees Will Increase
As part of its regularly scheduled June 20 meeting, the Daytona State College District Board of Trustees will discuss three proposed direct cost pass through fee adjustments that would take place in Fall 2024.
Florida High School Athletic Association Replaces Word ‘Gender’ With ‘Sex’ in Snub at Anti-Discrimination Guidelines
The State Board of Education on Wednesday approved changes in the Florida High School Athletic Association’s bylaws that include replacing mentions of the word “gender” with the word “sex,” amid a larger dispute between federal and state officials. The changes came as Florida and other Republican-led states are challenging a Biden administration rule that would help carry out Title IX, a decades-old law that bars discrimination in education programs based on sex.
Old Dixie Motel Owners Tell Skeptical Judge They Have No Intention of Abiding by Repair Contract with County
Flagler County government and the attorney representing the always-mysterious owners of the derelict Old Dixie Motel argued in front of Circuit Judge Chris France today about a three-year-old contract requiring safety and construction benchmarks. The county considers the contract valid. The owners do not. The county considers the contract valid. The owners do not. The judge will issue a ruling in the near future, though if his questions were any indication today, France is skeptical of the motel owners’ position.
Judge Rules Luke Ingram, 21, Legally Insane at Time of Brutal Killing of His Grandfather; Family’s Pain Unravels
Circuit Judge Terence Perkins in a short bench trial this morning found Luke Ingram not guilty by reason of insanity in the brutal killing, mutilation and raping of his grandfather Darwin Graham, 85, on Clermont Court in Palm Coast in November 2022. The short trial was also an occasion for family members to fill in, publicly for the first time, the distinguished life that Darwin Ingram had lived, and include for the court record some of the atrocities Luke Ingram committed that morning.
Scott DuPont Booted Off Ballot as Judge Rose Marie Preddy Prevails in Challenge Over Eligibility to Run
Circuit Judge Rose Marie Preddy, who sits in Putnam County, will not face an opponent in her bid to retain her seat as a judge today threw out Scott DuPont–a former judge–off the August ballot. DuPont, a former judge in the circuit, was removed from the bench by the Supreme Court in 2018, then suspended from the Bar for several months. That suspension meant he could not be eligible for a judgeship until 2026.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, May 29, 2024
Luke Ingram’s lawyers will argue before Circuit Judge Terence Perkins their intent to rely on the insanity defense in the killing of his grandfather, Flagler County government argues a motion for partial summary judgment in the Old Dixie Motel case.