Legal pot is attracting new and possibly naïve users — creating risks that some don’t bargain for. Second, the public health system’s desire to protect people may be well-intentioned, but regulation and efforts to track the health effects have a ways to go.
Cops/Courts
Replacing Salisbury Steak With Sardines, Florida Prisons’ Kosher Option Raises Hackles
Inmates contend that the peanut butter, sardines and cabbage served up daily by the Florida Department of Corrections are designed to discourage them from signing up for the kosher meals or to punish inmates if they do, and that the chow is far from what a federal judge had in mind last year when she ordered the state to start serving kosher meals to inmates.
Grand Jury Declines to Indict Ex-Flagler Beach Cop Bobby MacDonald Over Wife’s Gunshot Wound, But Case May Remain Open for Years
A Flagler County grand jury found no probable cause to go forward with an indictment against Robert “Bobby” MacDonald, who brought his wife Kathy bleeding from the head, from a gunshot wound, to an ambulance in July 2012 in western Flagler County.
Two Conjugal Quarrels Lead to Violence and Arrests on Child Abuse Charges for Man and Woman
Two separate incidents on Thursday and Saturday involving two unrelated couples led to the arrests of a Flagler Beach man and a Palm Coast woman when each was alleged to escalate a domestic spat into violent acts involving children.
Third Florida Wrong-Way Crash in Two Months Kills 2 and Injures 14 as 91 Year Old Man Errs
Ernest Lee Holmes, 91, drove his Buick south in the northbound lanes of I-75 near midnight Friday, crashing with one car head-on, killing oral surgeon Peter Linek of Ormond Beach, and triggering three more crashes including a Greyhound bus carrying 42 passengers and a car carrying four children.
Senate Approves Proposed Constitutional Amendment Giving Scott Court-Packing Power
The proposal, passed by the Senate in a 26-14 vote, would give the next governor the ability to pack the courts and is intended to give incumbent Gov. Rick Scott, who is seeking re-election, the ability to reshape the Florida Supreme Court.
Man Wanted for Home Invasion Arrested in Palm Coast After Chase and Wreck of FHP Car
A high-speed chase for Aaaron Butler of Jacksonville man that started somewhere on I-95 south of Palm Coast ended at Palm Coast Parkway and Club House Drive earlier this afternoon with Butler’s arrest–and the wreck of a Florida Highway Patrol cruiser.
As Baker Acting of Children Soars, Flagler School Board Grapples With Perceptions of “Outrage”
Baker Acts involving children in schools has reached 32 so far this year, three times more than last year, prompting one school board member to call herself “outraged” at the police-led manner in which most such Baker Acts are carried out, even with teens and younger children.
Internet Café Crackdown: Gambling Task Force Serves Search Warrants in 5 Counties as Businesses Skirt Ban
The Legislature essentially banned such businesses last year, but some continue to operate under different guises. At one point at least seven of the gambling parlors had been operating in Palm Coast, but none in Flagler Beach or the unincorporated part of Flagler County.
Federal Appeals Court Declares Scott Administration’s 2012 Voter Purge Illegal
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments from Rick Scott’s administration that the effort to remove suspected non-citizens from the voting rolls did not violate a federal law barring wide-ranging efforts to cleanse those rolls within 90 days of an election.