A van transporting some 75 vehicle batteries and traveling north on I-95, just north of State Road 100 in Palm Coast, lost control from a tire blow-out and overturned into the southbound lanes, spilling batteries, acid and candy. The driver was evacuated to Halifax with traumatic injuries.
Cops/Courts
Blaze at Woodstone Lane House With Troubled History Termed “Absolutely” Suspicious
A fire that broke out late Tuesday night at 20 Woodstone Lane in Palm Coast is the latest in a series of incidents that have involved homeowners Harold and Karen Pizzetta since September.
Three Men Stabbed at Hammock Community Center Party; No One Is Talking
The Halloween party took place at the Hammock Community Center on Malacompra Road Friday night and broke up after a big fight early Saturday morning, but the victims would not speak, and most witnesses had scattered before cops were able to investigate. The investigation is ongoing.
Another Feather in Bird’s Cap as Fire Flight Rescues 2 Mud Muckers Lost Overnight
Wayne Oley, 30, and Brigett Madorma, 24, lost their ATV in the wilds of Mud Muckers’s 19,000 acres Sunday night, and were lost after that, until Fire Flight spotted them Monday morning, shivering from a cold night but otherwise fine.
William Merrill, Who Shot and Killed His Wife With an AK-47, Is Sentenced to 25 Years
William Carson Merrill, who shot his wife with an AK-47 in their Palm Coast home in February as she gave their daughter a bath and he played with the assault rifle, faced a maximum of 30 years for manslaughter–almost what Judge Raul Zambrano handed down in a full courtroom Monday afternoon.
County Line Bar in The Mondex Burns in Mysterious Morning Fire; No Injuries
The County Line Bar in Daytona North, or the Mondex, went up in flames Monday morning just after 11 a.m. for unknown reasons. The fire was still burning at noon.
Atack vs Moore-Stens: An Attorney’s Evaluation Of the County Judge Race, and a Response
In the Flagler County Court Judge election, Paul Guntharp, a Palm Coast attorney, evaluates the candidacies of Craig Atack and Melissa Moore-Stens, and Atack replies.
Palm Coast Man Arrested Over Facebook Bomb Threat at Buddy Taylor Middle School
Benjamin Perrine, a 44-year-old resident of 1 Plumtree Place in Palm Coast, was upset about his lost dog and neighbors calling in noise complaints. A bomb-sniffing unit went through Buddy Taylor this morning as a precaution. No bombs were found, and school was not interrupted.
Fourth Car-vs-Bike Wreck in 5 Days as Motor Scooter Is Struck on U.S. 1 South
James Ternullo, 51, of Green Cove Springs was riding on a slow-speed motor scooter when he was struck on U.S. 1 South Wednesday morning by a Honda whose drivers hadn’t seen the scooter. Ternullo was taken to Halifax hospital’s trauma unit and U.S. 1’s north lanes were briefly shut down in the area of the wreck.
3 Cop Agencies and Flagler’s Fire Flight Chase And Nab 2 Wanted for Palm Coast Burglaries
Two burglars caught on a surveillance video released last week appear to have been caught following a cop chase that began on Palm Coast Parkway just after noon and ended at County Road 206 and U.S. 1 in st. Johns County, with several police agencies and Flagler County Fire Flight converging on the suspects.
Cyclist Struck on Belle Terre, Hammock Club Van Full of Golfers in 3-Vehicle Smash on A1A
Flagler County Fire Rescue paramedics were almost overwhelmed Monday morning in an explosion of emergencies during the 8 o’clock hour as a cyclist was struck by a car on Belle Terre Parkway, a shuttle full of golfers on State Road A1A triggered a three-vehicle wreck, and an individual on Empire Lane ended his life by gunshot, in his garage.
Bike-vs-Car Wreck on A1A in Flagler Beach Is 2nd Trauma Airlift in 24 Hours
In another wreck involving a car cutting off the right-of-way of a motorcyclist, a motorcyclist ran into a Ford sedan on South A1A at the Ocean View condominiums after noon on Sunday, closing the highway for an hour. The rider was evacuated by air to Halifax hospital.
Flagler Roads Claim First Biketoberfest Trauma Victim as Car Cuts Off Rider on Old Dixie
A 47-year-old man on a Harley Davidson was evacuated by air with severe injuries to the legs after a 20-year-old woman driving a car cut him off, making a turn into a driveway on Old Dixie Highway South just after 11 Saturday morning, closing that stretch of the two-lane road near the White Eagle Lounge for a little over an hour.
State Ethics Commission Finds Sheriff Fleming in Violation Over Hammock Gift Membership
The Florida Commission on Ethics today found probable cause that Flagler County Sheriff Don Fleming violated the state code of ethics when he accepted a free, gift membership to the Hammock Beach Resort since 2005, a finding that may seriously damage Fleming’s chances of re-election in less than three weeks.
Michael Stevens of Palm Coast held on $1 Million Bond in Money Laundering Scheme
Michael Stevens of 8 Calusa Court was arrested at his home Wednesday on a warrant charging him with money laundering in connection with a Flagler County- based business known as Dark Hawk Enterprises, LLC.
Brazen Burglars on Palm Coast’s Covington Lane Caught on Video, But Still at Large
Flagler County Sheriff’s detectives are looking for public help in the look-out for a black Ford Expedition and two young occupants caught on a surveillance video system at a house at 105 Covington Lane in Palm Coast around the time of a brazen daytime burglary there on Oct. 5.
A 17-Year-Old Matanzas High School Senior Is Charged With Arson; No Injuries
Josh Lowe, a 17-year-old senior and a member of the Matanzas High School football team, was charged with felony arson today at the school when he was connected with a fire that started in a bathroom in the middle of the afternoon.
Justin Rushing of Bunnell Accused of Sexually Abusing a Younger Sister Over Several Years
Justin rushing, a 22-year-old resident of North Old Dixie Highway in Bunnell, is being held at the Flagler County jail, without bond, on a half dozen charges of lewd and lascivious conduct and child molesting in a case involving a younger sister. The alleged incidents took place over several years, according to Rushing’s arrest report, and involved the girl when she was between 12 and 16, and in other instances, younger than 12.
A 75-Year-Old Man Is Tasered After a Car Crash, Break-Ins at Waterfront Park: Flagler 911
A 75-year-old man crashes his car at Plantation Bay only to get into an argument with another man and get Tasered before his arrest; Several cars are vandalized and burglarized at Waterfront Park, and one at Belle Terre Elementary just as the school day began, plus too many fights and battery arrests to mention.
Two Flagler Jail Inmates Earn Food Handling Certifications, Readying Them for Jobs
After spending some time in the Flagler County jail, two inmates will be ready to work in an area restaurant thanks to a new educational program at the Flagler County jail. The jail is run by Director Becky Quintieri.
Purity, Schmurity: GOP’s Ray Stevens Picks Democrat Jim Manfre, Jolting Sheriff’s Race
Ray Stevens spent much of his primary battle discrediting John Pollinger’s GOP credentials. General election rules are different, he says, explaining his endorsement of Jim Manfre, and drawing charges of opportunism from Pollinger and Fleming. Yet the endorsement potentially upends the race in Manfre’s favor.
Pleasure Trails: 3 Men Arrested in Onanism Sting at Graham Swamp and Malacompra
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office’s wanker patrol was out Tuesday, netting three arrests in five hours at two popular county parks–Graham Swamp on Old Kings Road, and Malacompera Park in the Hammock. Sheriff Fleming’s response: “Not in Flagler County.”
Flagler Tax Collector Suzanne Johnston Criticizes State’s License Plate Rule Changes
Citing a likely drop in customer service and an eventual increase in costs, Flagler County Tax Collector Suzanne Johnston joined tax collectors across the state to criticize parts of Florida’s plans to redesign the state’s license plates and end local residents’ ability to get their plates locally and immediately.
Three Florida Supreme Court Justices Fire Back at Attempted Conservative Putsch
Justices R. Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince pushed back against a campaign to push them off the bench that has spread from a conservative grass-roots uprising to a denouncing of the three by the Republican Party of Florida. The justices spoke to an audience at the FSU College of Law comprised mostly of students.
Flagler Beach Fire Takes 1st Place in 5th Annual Flagler County Fire/EMS Competition
Twelve teams competed in 24-hour, round-the clock scenarios this weekend in an event hosted by Flagler County Fire Rescue. The Flagler Beach Fire Department won the basic life support division. Boca Raton Fire Rescue won the advanced life support division.
Holland-Hutson Money Race Still Lopsided; Manfre Doubles Take, Closing Fleming Gap
The last two weeks of September saw Travis Hutson add almost as much money to his treasure chest–$13,000–as Milissa Holland raised in the entire election cycle ($15,502). Sheriff Candidate Jim Manfre has raised $19,000 to incumbent Don Fleming’s $24,000.
A Palm Coast Man Is Jailed for Sexually Battering His Wife in the Presence of a Child
Caldwell was charged with domestic battery by strangulation, sexual battery, and domestic assault. He remained at the Flagler County jail, Monday afternoon on $52,000 bond.
Reported Abduction Trails Up I-95 Before Getaway Near Flagler Border
Ormond Beach Police were called this morning by a man who reported that he was abducted early today in Boynton Beach, Fla., and forced to drive some 220 miles north on I-95, to Ormond Beach, where the man executed a getaway. Police are looking for a suspect in the area.
Should You Keep Paying FPL and PEF For Nukes Plants that May Never Be Built?
The up-front nuclear costs for plant construction have become highly controversial, at least in part because there is no guarantee that FPL and Progress will build the planned reactors and because projected costs have risen to over $40 billion for four reactors. The Supreme Court will decide the matter.
Man Accused of Child Abuse as a Cop Witnesses Him Striking His 14-Year-Old Daughter
James Hartley, Palm Coast resident of Whetstone Lane, is a 44-year-old, 240-pound man who, on Wednesday, was arrested and charged with child abuse and battery after a Flagler County Sheriff’s deputy saw him striking his 14-year-old daughter, who then collapsed on the floor of her home.
Anti-Terror “Fusion Centers” Like Central Florida’s Slammed as Ineffective and Intrusive
A two-year Senate investigation finds that Department of Homeland Security efforts to engage state and local intelligence “fusion centers”–six of which are set up in Florida, including one in central Florida–has not yielded significant useful information to support federal counterterrorism intelligence efforts.
Fights and Arrests at the Jail, at Salsas Mexican Restaurant and at the Country Store: Flagler 911
A busy couple of weeks of violent fights and arrests at the Flagler County jail, a road-rage arrest at the Country Store in the Mondex, four arrests outside Salsas Mexican Restaurant, a father gets his allegedly thieving son arrested, and a lot more from Flagler’s crime scenes.
Video Released in Sharps Liquor Armed Robbery, Clearly Showing Both Suspects
Police are looking for two black men in their early 30s after the afternoon robbery of Sharps Liquor at Flagler Plaza on State Road 100, less than a year after the same store was the target of an armed robbery. The video released Wednesday shows both suspects.
For Florida Justices, Two Lesbian Mothers, One Child, and a Question of Parenthood
The case pits two former lesbian partners, one of whom provided an egg that was fertilized and implanted in the other woman, who later gave birth. After the relationship ended, the woman who gave birth blocked her former partner from having parental rights.
Jose Godinez-Samperio, Undocumented Immigrant and Lawyer, Falters at Florida Court
A skeptical Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday said it may be powerless to let Jose Godinez-Samperio, an undocumented immigrant, practice law in the state despite recent moves by the Obama administration to allow immigrants brought to the country as children pathway to permanent status in the United States.
Merrill Pleads No Contest in Wife’s Shooting; Canaday Sentenced to 30 Years for Child’s Rape
William Carson Merrill accidentally shot and killed his wife with an AK-47 in the couple’s Palm Coast home on Feb. 21. He’ll be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison on Oct. 29. Michael Eric Canaday, formerly of Palm Coast, was sentenced to 30 years for rape and molestation.
Snubbing Voters, Lame-Duck County Enacts 20-Year Sales Tax While Slashing Cities’ Shares
Many questions remained unanswered about the use of the money and the size of the proposed jail it’s supposed to pay for as the Flagler County Commission voted 4-1 to enact a sales tax it feared the public would not have approved at the ballot box this November.
Amendment 5 and the Battle to Remake, And Subdue, the Florida Supreme Court
Amendment 5 would subject all Supreme Court nominations to confirmation by the Florida Senate and lower the bar for the Legislature to overturn court rules and would give lawmakers access to the records of judicial investigations.
Beata Kinecka, 39, of Palm Coast, Is Killed, 6 Are Injured in a 4-SUV Wreck on Belle Terre
Beata Kinecka, 39, of Palm Coast, was killed, and six other local residents in three separate cars, including a 16-month-old baby, were injured in a wreck that involved both northbound and southbound lanes of Belle Terre Parkway just north of the White View Parkway intersection late Friday evening.
Flagler Sheriff Tallies DUI Catch as Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Blood-Test Case
Flagler County deputies arrested 11 drunk drivers and many others on charges unrelated to DUI. On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to decide whether forcing a DUI suspect to submit to a blood test is constitutional.
Paul Novak of Palm Coast Charged With Murdering His Wife in New York in 2008
Paul Novak, a resident of Lewiston Court in Palm Coast since 2009, faces a second-degree murder charge and an arson charge in the death of his wife Catherine Novak, who was found dead in her charred home in New York’s Hudson Valley in December 2008.
Customer Wins “Stand Your Ground” Ruling After Confrontation With FPL Bill-Collectors
An appeals court Thursday agreed with the dismissal of criminal charges against a Miami-Dade County man who relied on the state’s “stand your ground” law after a confrontation with two Florida Power & Light workers on his property.
A 26-Year-Old Palm Coast Man Is Arrested On 3 Counts of Lewd Sex With 14 Year Old
Javon Hall, a 27-year-old resident of Whispering Pine Drive in Palm Coast, is in jail on $100,000 bond following his arrest on three charges that he had sex with a 14-year-old Palm Coast girl. The victim termed some 30 encounters consensual, which is no defense for Hall under the law.
Using Straw Man, Palm Coast Ridicules County’s Opposition to Red-Light Cameras
Rather than address questions raised by County Commission Chairman Barbara Revels, the Palm Coast Council invented a claim that the county wanted to enable law-breaking, unsafe drivers, and dismissed Revels’s request to reconsider installing spy cameras on State Road 100.
Horseman, Termed Drunk, Takes Bunnell Police on Long Chase Through the City
Charles Cowart, 29, was arrested and charged with charged with disorderly conduct and cruelty to animals, among other charges, after the chase forced a train to stop and brought various parts of Bunnell to a brief, gaping standstill.
Tyler Scott Van Balvern, 21, Victim of Fourth Motorcycle Fatality in 7 Weeks On Flagler Roads
The body of Tyler Scott Van Balvern, 21, the latest motorcyclist killed since Aug. 1 on Flagler roads was discovered Sunday in a ditch roughly across from the Black Cloud Saloon. The motrcycle was located almost 40 feet inside the woodline.
Capsized Speedboat, High on Marijuana Bricks, Washes up on Flagler Shore
The 25-foot speedboat bearing a stash of marijuana, which washed up on shore Sunday and Monday, was beached near the Flagler By the Sea campsite in Beverly Beach. Such speedboats have become a means of choice for smugglers of drugs or human traffickers in recent years.
In Flagler’s Elections, Some Coffers Are Depleted, Some Rich in Out-Of-County Donors
The biggest contrast s in the Frank Meeker-Abby Romaine race for the Flagler County Commission, with almost 80 percent of Meeker’s money coming from out of the county, and 100 percent of Romaine’s coming from within it.
State Attorney Files Attempted Murder Charges on Phillip Neal Following Bunnell Brawl
Philip Neal, a 28-year-old resident of Bunnell who’s been booked into the Flagler County jail 18 times in four years, and served 16 months in state prison, is accused of firing several rounds from a .38-caliber gun at Deron Carter the night of Aug. 25 in Bunnell.
Carjacking Followed by Bank Robbery in Ormond Beach; One Suspect in Custody
A Gray Kia Sportage was carjacked in Holly Hill at 11 Friday morning, then spotted outside a Bank of America on Nova Road that was being robbed. The, Glenn A. Neal, crashed the car during a police chase, was was taken to the hospital, injured.