Noah Smith, a 16-year-old student at Flagler Palm Coast High School and a Bunnell resident, was gunned down in a drive-by shooting late Wednesday night in Bunnell. Smith died later at the hospital.
Cops/Courts
Flagler Emergency Management Chief Jonathan Lord Wins State Award for ‘Dedicated, Unselfish’ Service
Flagler County Emergency Management Director Jonathan Lord will be presented the Florida Emergency Preparedness Association (FEPA) “Gary Arnold Award” at its annual meeting in February. This award is provided to an individual for dedicated, unselfish and enthusiastic service to improving the emergency management community in Florida.
Cops and Firefighters Discover Power of GIS in Search and Rescue Drill at Princess Place Preserve
Flagler County Fire Rescue personnel joined with Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies, Flagler County Emergency Management and the county’s IT and GIS teams this morning and into the middle of the afternoon at Princess Place Preserve for the first joint exercise in more than half a decade. Some 75 participants were involved.
District Court Rejects Vitaly Tsabak’s Latest Appeal of 20-Year Sentence in F-Section Arson and Burglary
Vitaly Tsabak was 28 and the bearer of a lengthy prison record, felony convictions and prison stints when he was arrested on charges of first-degree arson, burglary, grand theft and possession of burglary tools in November 2016 after setting fire to a duplex on Fenimore Lane.
Flagler Access Center for Mental Health and Substance Disorders Opens as Glimmer of Help in Crisis
Flagler Access will provide guidance and services to people with mental health or substance disorders through a partnership involving SMA Healthcare and Flagler Health+, and mostly state funds, operating from the building that used to house the Bunnell Branch Library and Sally’s Safe Haven on State Road 100 and U.S. 1.
Senate Panel Backs Change That Would Make Drug Overdose Prosecutions Easier
A bill that seeks to change the burden of proof in first-degree murder cases involving drug overdose deaths began moving through the Senate on Monday as the 2022 legislative session is set to kick off. The measure (SB 190), sponsored by Sen. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, was approved in a 7-3 vote by the Judiciary Committee.
Prosecution Drops Felony Fraud Case Against Terry McManus of Flagler Beach’s Ocean Palms Golf Club
Terry McManus, whose company runs the Flagler Beach city-owned Ocean Palms Golf Course, was convicted on a DUI charge and sentenced to four years in prison last fall. He was scheduled to go on trial on a felony fraud charge this morning. The prosecution dropped it in exchange for his plea to a misdemeanor charge. He claimed the state did not have the evidence to convict him on the fraud charge.
Palm Coast Man Who ‘Tortured’ His Child Draws Character Letter from NFL’s Emmitt Smith, and 20 Years in Prison
Deviaun Toler, the 30-year-old former Palm Coast resident a jury found guilty of burning his infant son’s arm with boiling water, leaving him black and blue with marks from whippings and breaking his skull in brutal beatings over “weeks of abuse,” as the prosecutor described it, was sentenced to 20years in prison today, followed by 10 years on probation.
Jimaya Baker, Ringleader in Armed Robberies and Shooting that Left a Man Paralyzed, Is Sentenced to 15 Years
Jimaya Baker, 20, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, the maximum prosecutors asked for, in her role as ringleader of two armed robberies in Palm Coast, in 2018 and 2019, one of them leaving an 18-year-old man half paralyzed and an invalid for the rest of his life. She was one of six co-conspirators in the two robberies. All have pleaded to prison time.
Flagler County Firefighters Jon Moscowitz and Jimmy Melady Deliver Baby on New Year’s (Not Theirs)
Flagler County Fire Rescue Lieutenant Jon Moscowitz and Firefighter/Paramedic Jimmy Melady started 2022 on a joyous, unplanned note this weekend, when they responded to mom-to-be Traci Kuehn’s call on New Year’s Day.