Smoke pot and be merry. Cops’ and politicians’ claims that pot is a gateway drug is baseless fear-mongering intended to stop the legalization of marijuana. But it’s time to dispense with the lie once and for all.
Cops/Courts
Palm Coast Man Who Shot Wife With AK-47 Continues to Fight His 25-Year Sentence
William Carson Merrill shot and killed his wife as he played with the assault rifle in their home four years ago. He is battling in court for a new trial, arguing that he tendered an involuntary plea to the manslaughter charge.
Same Accusations, Different Day: Palm Coast Man and Woman Jailed Again on Violent Assaults
A couple have four battery or aggravated battery charges between them in the last three years, three of those charges in the last three weeks.
Upset Over Daughter’s Nude Pictures, Mother Is Charged With Aggravated Child Abuse
Virginia Jennelle of Palm Coast allegedly gashed her daughter’s forehead with a broomstick and poured food all over her to make her unpresentable and keep her from running away.
Raise the Driving Age to 18
Neurologically, kids aren’t ready, argues Catherine Durkin Robinson. Isn’t it time we did what’s best before more die or kill others? Simply focusing on experience ignores what we know about the teenage brain and its predilection for risky behaviors.
County Commission Retreats From Joint Meeting With Palm Coast Council on EMS
After appearing ready to meet with Palm Coast, county commissioners now say that between election turn-over and the absence of a crisis, there’s no need to meet over ambulance issues.
Has Business Biased Florida’s Workers Comp Law Too Far Against Labor? Court Will Decide
Plaintiffs argue that lawmakers have taken too many rights and benefits from people who get injured on the job, while business groups say a 2003 law kept costs from “spiraling.”
Palm Coast Man Accused of Drunk Driving Arrested After 2 Crashes on Belle Terre Pkwy.
Ian Yahnke, 45, of Palm Coast, crashed a car at the Kangaroo station then at White View Parkway before his arrest, breathing .271 and .289 in a blood-alcohol level test at Florida Hospital Flagler.
Criminal Immunity: Prosecutors Are Rarely Punished for Mistakes and Misconduct
The Innocence Project alleges that prosecutors across the country are almost never punished when they withhold evidence or commit other forms of misconduct that land innocent people in prison.
A Bunnell Man Is Falsely Arrested Over Name Error, and Case Proceeds Despite Corrections
In a nightmare of the persistence of bureaucratic errors, Dakota Ward, 19, who’s never been in trouble, was confused with another man and falsely arrested on a battery charge last week. His case is still proceeding.