Installation of Mobi-Mats and “Dodge the Dunes” signs at nine beach access points in unincorporated Flagler County are scheduled for completion by the end of the week.
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County Eyes Slightly Higher Property Tax Rate; It Would Be Offset Some By Lower School Rate
The average homeowner would see a $50 increase in county taxes next year, but also a small decrease in school taxes, which would keep overall tax bills increasing at a little more than the rate of inflation.
In Straw Poll at Chamber’s Candidate Hobnob, a Mix of Incumbent and Insurgent Successes
Incumbents have clear leads in County Commission races, newcomers John Tipton and Jack Howell posted strong showings in Palm Coast races, and school board races have mixed messages.
Why Should FPL Customers Pay For Its Polluting, Lawbreaking Mistake? Court Will Decide.
FPL wants to bill customers across the state, including Flagler, $206 million in recovery costs for its own polluting mistake at its Turkey Point plant in South Florida.
At Italian-American Club, Waitress Says Man Touches Her Inappropriately, Scuffle and Injuries Follow
Joseph Leonetti, 64, faces a battery charge after being accused of inappropriately touching a 19-year-old waitress, and fighting with a member of the club’s board of directors.
Fearing Lawsuit, a Commissioner Questions Streaming Government Meetings
A deputy clerk in Bunnell and a city commissioners wanted to end streaming government meetings from fear of getting sued until the city attorney saw an overreaction.
Restricting Food Stamps Use at Farmers’ Markets Is One More Way To Hurt the Poor
The government just canceled its contract with the company that makes the card readers necessary to read food stamps cards at farmers markets.
Trump Targets Breastfeeding Abroad, Contradicting U.S. Laws in 50 States
In a favor to the baby-formula lobby, the Trump administration sought to defeat a World Health Organization resolution to “protect, promote and support breastfeeding,” shocking researchers.
Child Neglect Charges for 3 As Toddlers Are Found Among Roaches in B-Section House
The investigation was triggered when a 4-month-old child was brought to Florida Hospital Flagler with bone fractures and covered in bug bites.
Fire Severely Damages House on Palm Coast’s Walter Place, Making It Uninhabitable
A fire that started in a vehicle parked in the driveway consumed the garage and the attic of the house at 1 Walter Place in Palm Coast Saturday morning.
Truth Derangement Syndrome
Donald Trump once said he could shoot someone and not lose any votes. He’s right in the sense that he changed the rules of right and wrong, truth and lies, morality and immorality.
Mom Who Sought Charges Against Her Son Now Pleads Mercy As He Faces Trial For Attacking Cops and Police Dog
Matthew Nesbitt, 45, goes on trial Monday on six felony charges. Last November he led cops on a chase through Palm Coast’s Z Section before surrendering.
Flagler Unemployment Rises to 4.3% But Labor Force Keeps Expanding
Some 200 people were added to Flagler’s unemployment rolls but in a sign of continuing health the workforce is expanding and is 1,000 workers larger than a year ago.
No “Overconfidence” In 2018 Election as Florida Takes $19 Million in Security Upgrades
Florida’s top elections official told lawmakers that “time is of the essence” in using the federal money, with the Aug. 28 primary elections just over a month away.
Gloves Come Off on Both Sides as Flagler Beach Seeks To End Lease With Golf Course Management
The Flagler Beach Commission tonight will decide whether to end its lease with the company running its golf course, which itself is threatening litigation in the latest twist of a frayed relationship.
Flagler County Judge Moore-Stens Finally Gets Help, As Does Civil Bench
Senior judges will pick up civil and county court dockets, a big help for Flagler County Judge Melissa Moore-Stens, whose dockets is among the heaviest in the state.
In Rebuke to Landon Method, Palm Coast Mayor and Council Kill $100,000 Design for Unfunded Recreation Center
The council had never agreed to spending large sums imagining a rec center that may not be built for years, but City Manager Jim Landon made it look as if it was an immediate priority.
FSU Will Move Statue of Slaveholder and Seek to Scrub Segregationist’s Name From Law School Building
The statue of Francis Eppes, a grandson of Thomas Jefferson and a former mayor of Tallahassee, has been up only since 2002. FSU President John Thrasher will seek to have the name of segregationist B.K. Roberts removed from the law school building.
Growing Rift as Bunnell Commission Lowers Standards in Renewed Search for City Manager
The Bunnell commission will again advertise for a city manager after failing to agree on a candidate last month, and will now make a master’s degree optional for applicants.
Sheriff Staly on Operations Center: “I Will Not Tolerate Blaming Victims of This Building, My Employees”
Sheriff Rick Staly delivered a 2,000-word statement on the troubled Operations Center during Monday’s workshop on the matter. The full text is reproduced here.
Combative Statements and Threats of Litigation Belie Claim of Unity Meeting on Sheriff’s Operations Center
A Flagler County Commission workshop on results of air testing at the Sheriff’s Operations Center was tense and combating as sheriff’s employees questioned the county’s sincerity.
Behind Scott’s Executive Order Protecting Public Beach Access: New Law’s Confusing Signals
A new law that could potentially restrict public access to beaches prompted an executive order from Gov. Scott that echoes an ordinance Flagler passed last month.
Doubt and Mistrust From Sheriff’s Employees Against County’s ‘All Clear’ on Operations Center
Sheriff’s employees are neither ready nor willing to return to the potentially sick operations center: a report on the building’s air still doesn’t explain why 27 employees developed problems.
Martin Tucker, Rancher and Bulwark of Pioneering West Flagler Family, Dies at 70
Leslie Martin Tucker Jr., father of School Board Chairman Trevor Tucker, cousin of Bunnell Commissioner Elbert Tucker, rancher and owner of Sun Country Pest Control, died Wednesday.
Issuing Report, County Says Sheriff’s Building “Deemed Safe To Occupy,” But Sheriff Raises Questions
A much-anticipated report on the air quality of the evacuate Sheriff’s Operations Center concludes that the building has no mold problem but questions remain, not least from the sheriff.
Judge Reduces Supervision on Veteran Who Killed a Man Near Graham Swamp in 2006
Brian Wothers, now 36, shot and killed 26-year-old Jeffrey Maxwell in Palm Coast and was found not guilty by reason of insanity in a bench trial, but had been confined to a state hospital.
Nat Reed, Adviser to Governors and Presidents Who Left His Imprint on Flagler’s Environment, Dies
Nat Reed, who died at 84, co-founded 1,000 Friends of Florida. His stewardship led to Flagler’s progressive comprehensive plan and greenway and environmental successes.
At Palm Coast Data, A Surprise Bonus to Employees Highlights Reset of Invigorated Company
In the most intimate and detailed look at Palm Coast Data from the inside in 10 years, the company is less than half its former size but producing solid revenue, projecting optimism, and hiring.
SBA Signs On With Black Entrepreneur Group In Palm Coast To Help Right Loans Imbalance
Palm Coast’s emerging African American Entrepreneurs Association will use the agreement with the SBA to foster more capital and business education for minorities.
Flagler Government Will Crack Down On Mobile Campaign Billboards And Other Signs
Flagler County commissioners will approve new rules next Monday regulating or banning campaign-sign-blaring vehicles and campaign signs from county properties.
No Money for a Big Recreation Center, But Palm Coast Will Spend $100,000 Imagining One
The $100,000 would pay for a conceptual plan for the recreation center and potential aquatic center off Belle Terre Parkway, around the Palm Coast Tennis Center.
‘I Don’t Need Him To Tell Me How To Hire Our Next City Manager,’ Palm Coast Mayor Says of Landon
Though a search firm is ready to find Palm Coast’s next manager, council members were taken aback by an email from City Manager Jim Landon dictating delays.
County Commissioners Again Can’t Agree On How Much To Raise Next Year’s Taxes
For the third straight budget workshop, Flagler County Commissioners have been unable to agree on what property tax rate to set for next year and what to cut to get there.
Abolish ICE
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is supposed to keep Americans safe. Instead, it’s terrorizing refugees, families, and small children.
In Big Win For Flagler Beach, U.S. Army Corps Awards $17.5 Million, Reviving Dunes Project
The unexpected infusion of $17.5 million into Flagler’s beach-rebuilding projects revives a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plan that appeared dead in 2017.
Just Released From Jail For Car Theft, Man Leads Deputies on Chase at Wheel of Another Stolen Car
Rico Ransom, 21, was released from jail a few months ago in a grand theft auto conviction. Thursday evening he led deputies through a chase west of US1.
The Other Victims: First Responders To Traumas and Disasters Often Suffer In Solitude
Some firefighters, emergency medical providers, law enforcement officers and others say the scale, sadness and sometimes sheer gruesomeness of their experiences haunt them, leading to tearfulness and depression, job burnout, substance abuse, relationship problems, even suicide.
Thieves Blow Hole In Wall at Palm Coast Parkway Dollar General and Steal $4,700
The Dollar genera’s safe was broken open and the thief or thieves took fireworks along with cash in the overnight theft off Palm Coast Parkway.
Floats of Pink, Red, White and Blue Reap Rotary’s Trophies For Fabulous 4th Parade
The Flagler Beach Rotary-sponsored parade’s big winner was Florida Pirate Alliance, which took Best of Parade, with more than a dozen more winners and honorees.
No Smokable Medical Marijuana Allowed Before Legal Challenge Plays Out, Court Orders
The ruling by a three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal came in a lawsuit initiated by Orlando trial attorney John Morgan and others who maintain that a Florida law barring patients from smoking their treatment runs afoul of a 2016 constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana.
Flagler Will Build $7.5 Million Bike and Foot Trail East of Old Kings Rd., and Bridge Over SR 100
The 1.6-mile, 12-foot-wide walking and biking trail through the forested greenery east of Old Kings Road will connect Graham Swamp and Lehigh Trail.
Bunnell to Prospective Manager: “Not A Penny More” Than $80,000, and Thursday Deadline
It was not the friendliest of negotiations with Martin Murphy, the New York planner whose demands had rubbed some commissioners the wrong way.
Agonizing Over Tax Increase, Indecisive County Commission Defers To Administrator
County taxes are going up no matter what, but most county commissioners, some of them in election season, have been unable to give the county administrator more than vague direction on the budget.
Bunnell’s Manager Candidate Wants $10,000 More Than City Is Offering, Plus Extra Benefits
Martin Murphy, who’s negotiating to be Bunnell’s next city manager, wants $90,000 rather than $80,000, plus 33 days of leave time instead of 28, and health benefits starting immediately rather than in three months.
Unlocked And Loaded: Families Confront Dementia And Guns
The epidemic of gun violence that kills 96 people a day is focused on mental illness. But a little-known problem is what to do about firearms in homes of aging Americans with dementia.
Zero Tolerance: Here’s What It’s Like to Work at a Shelter for Immigrant Kids
A window into a system pushed into overdrive, straining to serve traumatized kids amid the uncertainty of America’s immigration system.
Flagler Beach Commissioner Eric Cooley Arrested on Domestic Violence Charge
Flagler Beach City Commissioner Eric Cooley was arrested on a domestic violence charge Friday evening at the 7-Eleven store he owns on South Oceanshore Boulevard.
Woman Faces Felony Charge In Case of Palm Coast Teen Missing 8 Months
The arrest of Kindra Dixon is the latest twist in the disappearance and recovery eight months later of Palm Coast teen Samantha Posella.
‘No Breach’ Says CEO of Exactis, Palm Coast Company at Heart of Reported Massive Data Leak of Personal Information
Palm Coast-based Exactis CEO Steve Hardigree spoke with FlaglerLive of the data breach that exposed 340 million records, saying nothing actually leaked.
DeSantis and Putnam Battle To Out-Trump Each Other In Televised Debate
Adam Putnam and Ron DeSantis focused more on national topics than challenges facing the next Florida governor in their debate broadcast on Fox.