All hard-copy mail delivery to the Flagler County jail’s 225-some inmates has been replaced by scans of mail. It is part of a sweeping change in the handling of inmate mail across the state at least 14 other states as prisons and jails cut down on incoming materials. The switch has drawn sharp criticism from prisoner advocates and strong support by those implementing it, as in Flagler.
Cops/Courts
In Putnam, a 38-Year-Old Man Is Sentenced to Die, Again, and a 21 Year Old Will Serve Life in Prison
Timothy Wayne Fletcher, 38, was sentenced to die at the state’s hand for the murder of his stepgrandmother Helen Googe in 2009. Anthony Foxx will serve life in prison without parole with the stabbing death of his Ayana Belton, who was 16.
A Defendant Says he’s Going to Prison for Doing What His Domestic Violence Classes Told Him to Do
Leon Marcus Criswell was sentenced to 17 months in state prison in a domestic battery case, but he says his case was aggravated because he did just what his counselors in domestic violence classes taught him to do: he sped away from what he saw as trouble before it got physical.
Divided Appeals Court Rejects Protection for Transgender Bathroom Use in St. Johns School Case
After a five-year legal battle, and reversing a lower court ruling, a sharply divided federal appeals court upheld a St. Johns County School Board policy that prevented a transgender male student from using boys’ bathrooms at a high school.
Man Dies in Single-Vehicle Crash on I-95, North of Palm Coast Parkway
A 29-year-old man died in a single-vehicle crash when his SUV veered into the wood-line on I-95, a mile north of Palm Coast Parkway, Sunday morning.
Collin Calvert, 21, Charged with Mobil Station Armed Robbery in Palm Coast, Plus 8 Volusia Charges
Collin Ray Calvert, a 21-year-old resident of Tropical Drive in Ormond Beach, was charged on Friday with first degree armed robbery in connection with a Dec. 19 incident at the Mobil gas station on Pine Lakes Parkway in Palm Coast. He also faces grand theft, armed burglary and other charges in Volusia County, where he is jailed.
Smiles Nite Club’s David Ghiloni Gets Sheriff’s Lifesaving Award for Jumping Gunman
David Ghiloni along with other bar patrons intervened when a gunman was holding a gun to a woman’s head at Smiles Nite Club in November.
A Driver Is Killed on I-95 as Car Goes Under Semi Near Matanzas Woods Parkway
A woman was killed this morning when she drove her car under a semi truck in the northbound lanes of I-95 just south of Matanzas Woods Parkway.
Should There Be Armed Civilians in Schools? Flagler District Will Survey Employees and Residents
With numerous questions still unanswered–and some unanswerable questions–the Flagler County School Board is moving forward with gauging interest from school employees and residents in arming civilians in schools as a presumed addition to the security provided by the Sheriff’s Office’s school resource deputies.
Student Removed From Buddy Taylor Middle Last Year Is Arrested for Joking About Shooting Up the School
A 14-year-old student who last year was either expelled or withdrawn from in-school attendance at Buddy Taylor Middle School over disciplinary issues was arrested today and charged with a second-degree felony for allegedly threatening to shoot up the school. An investigation found he’d had no means to carry out the act, and that he’d been joking about it in chats.