“As soon as [police] are seen as somebody who might turn you in if you called for assistance, they’re no longer trusted and they can no longer do their primary job,” the South Miami mayor says.
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Flagler School District Is Finally A-Rated Again, Ending 7-Year Drought With Broad Improvements
The drought ends seven straight years of Bs, after a four-year streak of As before that. Twenty-four of Florida’s 67 districts are A-rated, 54 are either A or B rated.
Michael Kolendo, 74, Dies in Medically Related Crash Near His Home in Palm Coast’s F Section
Michael Kolendo, 74, was dead for possibly more than an hour Wednesday evening in Palm Coast’s F Section when someone on Farmsworth Drive noticed Kolendo’s white car as if parked in a swale, still running, with Kolendo at the wheel.
Appeals Court Rules Florida Marijuana Law’s Restrictions Violate Amendment Legalizing Medical Pot
Florida’s law requiring pot operators to grow, process and distribute cannabis and related products created an “oligopoly” and runs afoul of a constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana in the Sunshine State, an appellate court ruled Tuesday.
County Sends Ultimatum to Clerk of Court, Asking For Additional Space at Courthouse For Sheriff By July 31
The ultimatum was prompted by by County Commissioner Dave Sullivan, who pushed the administration to follow through on a county commission vote almost two months old to secure more space for the sheriff at the courthouse.
Dennis McDonald Now Owes County $70,000 Over Frivolous Case, But Says He Won’t Pay
An administrative law judge is recommending that Dennis McDonald, the former candidate for local office, pay $11,000 to cover the county’s costs in an appeal McDonald had filed against having to pay an earlier judgment of $59,000. So the combined amount he owes is now $70,000.
Benefits of a $15 Minimum Wage: The Non-Partisan Evidence
The report from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office finds that a $15 minimum wage would increase the wages of millions of low wage workers, increase the average incomes of low and lower-middle-income families, reduce poverty, shift money from corporate profits to the wages of low-wage workers, and reduce inequality.
A Shooting Injures a 21-Year-Old Palm Coast Marine, But Stories, Including His Own, Conflict
Late the night of July 5, 21-year-old Carter Reding Goodman, of Ocean Oaks Lane in Palm Coast, was shot, possibly in the Hammock. He and his friends gave different stories about where and how, and physical evidence told yet another story.
Palm Coast Proposal Would Raise Property Taxes 9%; Sheriff’s Request for 6 New Deputies Not in the Budget
Though Palm Coast government is proposing to keep its property tax rate flat, a valuation increase of 9 percent will equate to a tax increase, though homesteaded property owners won’t feel it.
Court Rules Brevard County Commission’s Prayer at Meetings Discriminatory Against Non-Believers
“Brevard County has selected invocation speakers in a way that favors certain monotheistic religions and categorically excludes from consideration other religions solely based on their belief systems,” a federal appeals court ruled.
Bunnell Commission Ends Homeless Shelter Operations After 11 Years; Church Pledges Legal Fight
The Bunnell City Commission voted this evening to end the operations of the Sheltering Tree, the county’s only cold-weather homeless shelter, at a church in Bunnell. The church and Sheltering Tree organizers say they will pursue legal avenues.
Permits Cancelled For Palm Coast Wawa, But City Insists “All Indications” Store Still a Go. Just Not Yet.
The permitting process for a planned Wawa at the corner of State Road 100 and Bulldog Drive was cancelled last week, ostensibly so the developer could switch contractors, when plans would be resubmitted.
Flagler Property Values Rise Nearly 9%, Higher in Cities, Providing Windfall For Local Budgets
Property values are a driver of local government budgets. Generally, as values increase, local property tax revenue rises, assuming governments don’t proportionately reduce their tax rates.
Florida Is The Latest Republican-Led State To Adopt Clean Needle Exchanges
The timing of the statewide legalization of needle exchanges comes as Florida grapples with a huge heroin and fentanyl problem. When people share dirty needles to inject drugs, it puts them at high risk for spreading bloodborne infections like HIV and hepatitis C. For years, Florida has had America’s highest rates of HIV.
Our Immigrant Prisons Are An Atrocity
As reports surface about immigrant children sleeping on concrete floors and people being forced to drink water from toilets, one fact has become unmistakably clear: It’s well past time to demand an end to Trump’s cruel and inhumane treatment of immigrants.
Some People Wouldn’t Count: How Citizenship Question Could Reshape State Politics
Some districts could get more in-state political power if Florida decides to use voting-age citizens as the basis for drawing districts, rather than total population, including children and immigrants who aren’t citizens.
A Little Over a Dozen Arrests, One Notable Fight, 2 Brush Fires and 30,000 People: A Heat-Soaked July 4 in Flagler
Flagler Beach witnessed one serious fight that led to two arrests, and two brush fires, while Palm Coast had a minor party-related disturbance and Bunnell seemed to verge on the brink of a serious commotion until an arrest defused the situation.
Costs Pile Up For Governor and Cabinet’s $400-a-Night Israel Junket, as Do Questions
When Florida Cabinet members jetted off to Israel in late May, some state employees who traveled at taxpayer expense stayed in a more than $400-a-night luxury hotel in Jerusalem, where a Cabinet meeting was held.
New Leadership Called ‘Capricious’ as 2 More High-Level Resignations Strike Palm Coast Government
Interim Communications Manager Jason Giraulo called the new city manager and council “capricious” and described his own managerial abilities as “castrated” in a resignation letter the new manager strongly disputed. Chief Building Official Ricky Lee also resigned.
After 3-Month Halt, Work Will Resume On U.S. 1 Roundabout at Old Dixie, With Road Closures
Work had stopped on the roundabout project at U.S. 1 and old Dixie Highway in mid-April and won’t resume until mid-July, with further road closures and detours. The $4.1 million project is the work of the state Department of Transportation.
In Big Breakthrough, County and City Will Jointly Accommodate Palm Coast Little League and Other Fields of Need
Palm Coast and county governments are drafting an agreement that would significantly relax the proprietary lock on each sides’ fields, instead prioretizing public need, with Palm Coast Little League the vanguard beneficiary.
A New Hospital For Flagler? Credibility Gap Yawns Between Commissioner Joe Mullins’s Pledges and County Administration’s Caution
The stories told by Mullins’s hyper-optimism and the county administration’s more cautious and deliberate approach illustrate a recurring gulf between the politician’s wishes and promises and what the government administration is in fact delivering (or not).
Flagler Students Mostly Improve in Math, English and Civics, Ranking District in Top Third of State, But Struggle in Science
Imagine School at Town center had a particularly strong showing in English and math, as did Old Kings Elementary. Buddy Taylor middle school had concerning numbers in math’s Florida Standards Assessments but stronger numbers in geometry and algebra.
Boos, Jeers and Defiance as Flagler Beach Voices Its Opposition to The Gardens Development on John Anderson
Some 300 to 400 people turned out at a Palm Coast meeting hosted Monday by the developers of a planned 3,966-unit project on John Anderson Highway, the crowd promising staunch opposition.
Florida Turns to the Public To Solicit Ideas on Fighting Toxic Algae Blooms
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is formally accepting information through July 15 on ways to prevent, combat or clean up harmful algal blooms in freshwater bodies and estuaries.
Felon Several Times Over Accused of Brutalizing and Seizing Woman at Bunnell’s Country Store
Henry Brock, 29, of Bunnell, is seen in surveillance video brutalizing a woman in the parking lot of the Country Store in west Flagler, then placing her in the car. He was caught later by deputies and a civilian.
Citing Impact on Education Funding, DeSantis Kills ‘Addiction’ Warning on Lottery Tickets
Noting potential impacts to money for education, Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a controversial bill that sought to require warnings about addiction and caution to play responsibly on the front of all lottery tickets.
Bomb Iran? Pass.
Saudi Arabia is dragging the United States toward war with Iran against all American interests when the true threat to the Middle East continues to be Saudi Arabia–and American blindness to that alliance’s consequences.
Barbara Petersen, Fierce Open Government Advocate for 25 Years, Is Stepping Down From First Amendment Foundation
Barbara Petersen’s retirement from the First Amendment Foundation, after 25 years, takes place as legislators have piled up 1,122 exemptions to Florida’s open government laws.
Group Files Federal Suit Challenging Florida Restrictions on Felons’ Voting Rights Moments After DeSantis Signs New Law
A partisan firestorm erupted in the waning days of this year’s legislative session after Republicans tacked onto the elections package provisions aimed at implementing the voter-approved constitutional amendment that restores the voting rights of felons who have completed their sentences.
The Gardens Project Off John Anderson Highway: The View From the Developers’ Perspective
The Gardens is an 825-acre, 3,966-unit mixed-use development proposed off John Anderson Highway by SunBelt Land Management as a successor to a Ginn proposal a decade ago. Ken Belshe, a member of the development group, describes the scope and intent of the project.
How Palm Coast’s Rugrat Group and The Ned Brought a ‘Do It Together’ Vibe to the Local Music Scene
Palm Coast’s Rugrat Music Group began small as The Ned, a band, and turned into “full-service music community for the independent artist” that lists 21 area music makers under the “Rugrat Family” roster who continue to influence the the local music scene.
County Prepares to Give One Company $680,000 Subsidy Over 10 Years, Dwarfing All Previous Incentive Packages Combined
A furniture distribution company would build the largest structure in Flagler, a 250,000 square foot building, off U.S. 1 and provide 50 jobs in exchange for the $680,000 in direct subsidies over the next 10 years, an amount extrapolated from a largely speculative guess of how much the company would be taxed.
Citing Trump’s ‘Contrived’ Reasoning, Supreme Court Blocks Citizenship Question on Census–For Now
The 5-4 decision, however, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing the majority opinion, leaves open the possibility that the Trump Administration could readdress the citizenship question, if it can justify it.
Seminole Woods Teen, 15, Arrested After Grandfather Finds Stash of Stolen Weapons and Ammo In His Room
A 15-year-old resident of Palm Coast’s Seminole Woods faces a half dozen charges, among them illegal possession of firearms by a delinquent and grand theft of a firearm, after his grandfather found what amounted to a small arsenal in the teen’s bedroom, ans deputies found more weaponry in the car he was driving around Palm Coast Wednesday.
Death Penalty: Now It’s Florida’s Conservative Supreme Court’s Turn To Be Accused of ‘Judicial Activism’
Reversing the state’s retroactive consideration of certain death-penalty cases would amount to “the most egregious judicial activism in the history of Florida,” a lawyer for a Death Row inmate argued in a brief filed this week.
Toddler in ICU For Overdose Just Months Ago Has Thumb Severed By Mother’s Anger Monday
Megan Nicole Moss, 27, of Palm Coast, in September had left her 18-month-old son unsupervised long enough that he reached for a narcotic and overdosed. On Monday, she slammed a sliding glass door on his thumb, severing its tip.
Flagler County Officials Disavow Confederate Flag That Flew at Princess Place Preserve’s Caretaker Grounds
A Confederate flag hung at the grounds of the caretakers for Flagler County’s Princess Place Preserve even as county employees came and went on the public park’s lands–until a Palm Coast resident noticed it and complained.
Out of Patience, Sheriff Demands County Action on Space Needs: ‘This Situation Cannot Continue’
The sheriff’s letter to the county commission chairman echoes the same urgency and call for action that the sheriff used just over a year ago to compel the county to provide a healthier space for employees than the troubled Operations Center.
State and Utilities Gang Up Against Proposed Amendment Deregulating Electricity
The proposal, backed by Citizens for Energy Choices, calls for creating “competitive” electricity markets in which customers would have the right to choose electricity providers or to produce their own power.
In Proxy War Over Homeless Shelter, Bunnell Shuts Down Church’s Other Relief Works
The Bunnell commission voted 5-0 to deny First United Methodist Church on Pine Street so much as new showers or new bathrooms, in essence preventing the church from operating as an overnight relief center for volunteer emergency crews during natural emergencies.
5 Palm Coast Residents, 4 of them Felons, Arrested on Drug Charges in R-Section House
Friday morning, several Flagler County Sheriff’s detectives and deputies, including a SWAT Team detachment and members of the federal secret service, served a warrant at 11 Raemoor Drive. Five individuals were in the house and arrested.
Flagler County Crime Falls 20%, Steepest Drop in Decades and Almost 3 Times Larger Than Florida Average
Flagler County’s crime index in 2018 fell by 20.2 percent, by far the largest year-over-year drop in at least 18 years, and a decline almost three times the 7.4 percent drop in crime across Florida over the same period.
Meth In The Morning, Heroin At Night: Inside The Seesaw Struggle of Dual Addiction
Researchers who have tracked drug use for decades believe the new meth crisis got a kick-start from the opioid epidemic: Across the country, more and more opioid users say they now use meth as well, up from 19% in 2011 to 34% in 2017.
Calling It ‘Fiscally Responsible,’ Governor Signs $91 Billion Budget, Vetoing Just $131 Million
Gov. DeSantis praised lawmakers for exceeding his request for spending on environmental projects and for a boost in per-student funding in public schools, though as FlaglerLive previously reported, that funding increase is not necessarily what it seems.
Michael Wilson Acquitted of Attempted Murder of His Pregnant Wife, Jury Convicts on Lesser Charges
Michael Wilson was acquitted of the most serious charge against him–attempting to electrocute his wife–but convicted on a grand theft charge and a battery charge, exposing him to up top five years in prison.
Just Fired in Volusia, Tom Russell Overcomes Deep Skepticism to Win FPC Principal’s Job
Tom Russell, Fired last week after a four and a half year tenure as Volusia’s superintendent, becomes the eighth principal in 15 years at FPC, but pledges to be there for up to seven years, and finish his career there.
‘I Do Hear Voices,’ Man Accused of Plotting Wife’s Electrocution Says, But He’s Not Allowed to Tell the Jury
Wilson faces an attempted first-degree murder charge, for rigging his own home’s entry door in Palm Coast with a contraption intended to electrocute his wife around Christmas 2017. But he’s barred from speaking of his mental health or issues in front of the jury.
40-ft. Trawler Is Gutted in 2-Hour Fire By Moody Ramp Under Flagler Beach Bridge
A 40-ft. trawler that had begun its journey on the St. Johns River and was making its way south was gutted by fire this afternoon, burning for some two hours as firefighters fought the blaze under the Flagler Beach bridge at Moody Boat Launch. No one was injured.
Flagler Health Department Wants To Offer Free HPV Vaccine to Teen Students, But School Board Is Unconvinced
The HPV vaccine immunizes against the sexually transmitted disease and prevents nine cancers, and local immunization is very low, but two Flagler school board members are not eager to see it offered to 13 to 17 year olds.