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Featured

County Crafting New Airport Rules Regulating Surrounding Land, But Noise and Touch-and-Go Foes Shouldn’t Get Excited

February 11, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 33 Comments

A jet on a runway at Flagler County airport. The county is crafting a new ordinance regulating airport overlays. (© FlaglerLive)

The Flagler County Commission is moving toward adopting a long-required ordinance regulating the county airport’s flight-zones approaches. The ordinance applies to land use around the airport, restricting or prohibiting certain structures or vegetation, to minimize risks to and enhance the safe operation of planes. Some residents surrounding the airport who have been objecting to the seemingly perpetual touch-and-go flights of a flight school at the airport, and complaining about the noise, will be disappointed. The ordinance does nothing to address flights or airport use.

Spat with DeSantis Resolved, Legislature Begins Third Special Session on Immigration Today

February 11, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

Senate President Ben Albritton, left, Speaker Daniel Perez, left, and Gov. Ron DeSantis, center. (Photos by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix)

Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican leaders of the Legislature announced Monday evening their agreement on the state’s immigration enforcement response under the Trump administration after a month-long public dispute.

In Murder Trial’s Openings, Stephen Monroe’s Attorney Argues Self-Defense in Shooting that Killed Noah Smith, 16

February 10, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 3 Comments

Stephen Monroe, right, and his attorney, Terence Lenanmon, as jury selection was set to begin. (© FlaglerLive)

Self-defense: That’s what Terence Lenamon, Stephen Monroe’s attorney, argued to a jury this afternoon in Monroe’s trial on a first-degree murder charge, after the prosecution argued that Monroe and his friends had been looking for a fight for two days and had ample opportunity to drive back to Palm Coast to avoid a deadly shooting. Instead, they exchanged fire with another man on a Bunnell street, killing Noah Smith, 16, a by-stander in January 2022.

County Acknowledges Poor Pitch to Cities for Beach Aid Even as Cryptic Talk of ‘Plan’ Continues

February 10, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 12 Comments

flagler county beach management plan

County commissioners were critical of the vagueness request by their own county for help from local cities in financing a beach-protection plan at a joint local-government meeting last week. The county left the cities with no reason to contribute. But the county administrator repeatedly and cryptically referred to a plan that has not been made public and not been discussed with county commissioners.

CJ Nelson Jr. Pleads Out in Manslaughter Shooting Death of 18-Month-Old Child

February 10, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 6 Comments

CJ Nelson in court last Wednesday. (© FlaglerLive)

CJ Nelson Jr., the 23-year-old Palm Coast resident facing a manslaughter charge in the shooting death of 18-month-old Ja’Liyah Allen on Ranwood Lane in September 2023, pleaded to the charge on Wednesday and will be sentenced on April 3. He faces up to 30 years in prison, but is unlikely to get that maximum.

Tallahassee Goes Looney Tunes Over Immigration

February 9, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 10 Comments

florida legislature immigration follies

Ron DeSantis is spittle-spouting, white boot-stamping, holding-his breath-till-he’s-blue, screaming-till-he’s-sick mad. He’s toddler mad, Elmer Fudd mad: like, vewy, vewy angwy. The Florida Legislature has defied him; dissed him; insulted him on immigration. Whatever his future, these days DeSantis is becoming shrill, declaring he’ll veto the Legislature’s bill, flying around the state (at taxpayer expense, naturally), telling Floridians to get up in their lawmakers’ faces and demand complete capitulation: “You have your marching orders.”

A History of Birthright Citizenship at the Supreme Court

February 9, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

Birthright citizenship, a constitutional guarantee, is flickering. (© FlaglerLive)

Birthright citizenship was explicitly added to the Constitution in 1868 when the 14th Amendment was adopted following the Civil War. The United States is one of roughly 30 countries, including neighboring Canada and Mexico, that offer automatic citizenship to everyone born there. There is a “strong likelihood” that the challengers of a presidential executive order ending birthright citizenship “will succeed on the merits of their claims that the Executive Order violates the Fourteenth Amendment” to the Constitution.

Flagler County’s Leadership Academy Graduates 13 ‘Emerging Leaders for Future Roles’

February 9, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 2 Comments

The Leadership Academy's newest graduates, bracketed by Dr Joe Saviak, left, and Tax Collector Shelly Edmonson. (Tax Collector)

Thirteen executives, managers, and professionals graduated from the Flagler County Local Government Leadership Academy at a special ceremony at the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Operations Center on Thursday. Students master the subjects, skills, and expertise needed to effectively lead and deliver exceptional service to the citizens of Flagler County. It is an intensive four-month executive education program which meets weekly for two-hour classes at the Tax Collector’s Office.

Trump Proposes a Crime Against Humanity in Gaza

February 8, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 50 Comments

trump gaza plan

Trump’s proposal to ethnic-cleanse Gaza of Palestinians, transfer them to Jordan, Egypt and other Arab countries, and apparently annex Gaza’s 141 square miles (about the size of Palm Coast and the barrier island combined) to the United States, or at least rezone it as the “Riviera of the Middle East,” would be a crime against humanity on the scale of Stalin’s internal deportations and land expropriations of the 1930s and 40s.

Proposal Would Raise Palm Coast Water Rates 36% and Sewer Rates 30.5% Over Span of 30 Months

February 7, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 53 Comments

Shitty costs ahead: Palm Coast's aging Waste Water Treatment Plant 1, above, is under a consent order, with plans to upgrade and expand it, but at a cost of $240 million. Rate-payers will have to shoulder a share of the cost. (© FlaglerLive)

A consultant is recommending that Palm Coast government raise water rates 36 percent and sewer rates 30.5 percent over a mere 30 months–from April this year to Oct. 1, 2027–if the city’s utility infrastructure is to keep up with demand, expand and upgrade existing facilities, and keep up with debt obligations. If enacted, it would be the steepest rate increase in the shortest time span in the city’s history, a reflection of the strains Palm Coast’s water and sewer infrastructure is operating under.

State Talks of Jetson-Like ‘Vertiports’ to Ease Congestion Along I-4

February 7, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

air commutes along I-4

As congestion increases on Florida highways, state Department of Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue wants lawmakers to envision a world getting closer to the promise of decades-old sci-fi shows. Perdue expressed support Wednesday for advanced air mobility, which would involve establishing vertiports in urban areas that could serve as hubs for short aerial commutes by battery-powered aircraft that have characteristics of airplanes and helicopters.

‘Impeccable’ 7th Grader Teddy Totten of Christ the King is Flagler County Spelling Bee Champion

February 6, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 5 Comments

Kyle and Andrea Totten with their son Teddy after he won the Flagler County Spelling Bee at the Buddy Taylor-Wadsworth cafeteria Wednesday evening. (© FlaglerLive)

A runner-up in the countywide competition two years ago, 13-year-old Teddy Totten, the son of Kyle and Andrea Totten (the Flagler County judge), won the annual Flagler County Spelling Bee after 12 rounds, conquering words like spritzed, gargoyles, respiratory, impeccable, sorbet and appraisal. Victoria Rivera of Bunnell Elementary is the first runner-up.

Stephen Monroe, Last of 4 Defendants in Murder of Noah Smith, Goes on Trial Monday After Declining Deal

February 6, 2025 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

Stephen Monroe, in the striped shirt, looks at himself--right, in the image on the screen--and others holding weapons in an image he had posted to his Instagram account around the time of the killing of Noah Smith. The prosecution showed the image in court today and convinced the judge to admit it as evidence, over the defense's objection. (© FlaglerLive)

Stephen Monroe again declined a deal of 25 to 50 years in prison today for the murder of 16-year-old Noah Smith three years ago in Bunnell. Monroe faces life in prison if convicted. His trial starts Monday. Monroe is the last of four defendants in the gunfight that resulted in Smith’s death as he stood on the stoop of his house in Bunnell and was struck by a bullet not intended for him. He was on probation for robbery at the time of his arrest.

Eroding Management Plan, Cities Bluntly Tell Flagler County: Not One Extra Dime for Beach Protection

February 6, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 35 Comments

The joint meeting. (© FlaglerLive)

Palm Coast, Beverly Beach and Bunnell officials told Flagler County in blunt, at times almost belligerent terms Wednesday evening that their constituents will not accept any new tax or fee to pay for beach management, whether it’s renourishing beaches or maintaining them. The tone of the discussion during a joint meeting of local governments Wednesday left county officials reeling.

Senate Proposal Expands Opportunities for Children with Autism and Their Families

February 6, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

State Sen. Benjamin Albritton (Screenshot, Florida Channel)

The bill (SB 112) filed by Sen. Gayle Harrell, expands a health care grant program established by the Legislature last year to include free screening, referrals, and related services for autism. It also creates two education-related grant programs: one for specialized summer programs for children with autism and the other to support charter schools exclusively serving them.

Mom Tearfully Pleads with Son Risking Life in Prison: ‘Take the Plea’ (15 Years, Out in 9). He Refuses.

February 5, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

Derrius Bauer catching a glimpse of his mother in the gallery as he made his way to the podium today. Defendants are ordered always to look in front of them in court, and are barred from looking at the gallery. (© FlaglerLive)

It was an unusual, if not an unheard-of scene in Circuit Court this morning, before Judge Dawn Nichols. Derrius Bauer’s mother stood at the podium in front of the judge, sobbing, begging her son, who was sitting a few feet from her, to take the plea the state was offering him. Bauer is insisting on going to trial on a charge of first-degree murder. He is alleged to have conspired with Marcus Chamblin in the murder of Deon Jenkins at a Palm Coast Circle K in October 2019.

Sen. Rick Scott Aide Tours Palm Coast’s Troubled Wastewater Plant, Raising Hopes for Help with $240 Million Upgrade

February 5, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 19 Comments

Danny Ashburn, Palm Coast's utility manager for the wastewater division, describes to Barry Cotton, Sen. Rick Scott’s Central Florida District Director, and City Council member Charles Gambaro, where Wastewater Treatment Plant 1's expansion would be built. To the right are Interim City Manager Lauren Johnston and Chief of Staff Jason DeLorenzo. (© FlaglerLive)

The first-ever visit by an aide to Sen. Rick Scott–or by any senator or his aides–to Palm Coast’s troubled Waste Water Treatment Plant #1 today left City Council member Charles Gambaro, who arranged the visit, thinking “it’s a 50-50 chance” that the city may get financial help to lessen a projected $240 million bill to upgrade and expand the sewer plant.

Rallying Behind Pontieri, a 5-0 Council Defies Developer’s Threat to Sue Over Limiting Seminole Woods’ Cascades to 416 Houses

February 5, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 16 Comments

City Council member Theresa Pontieri marshaled opposition to negotiating or settling with the developer of the Cascades in Seminole Woods, who is threatening a lawsuit over a 416-house limit. (© FlaglerLive)

Defying the threat of a lawsuit by a developer, the Palm Coast City Council late Tuesday evening voted 5-0 to stand by its decision last year to limit the Cascades development in Seminole Woods to 416 single-family houses. The council had in 2023 approved a limit of 850 dwellings, then reversed course in the face of staunch opposition. The additional housing units would have been apartments–always a volatile subject in Palm Coast, where prejudices against apartment complexes persist despite a shortage. But a city infrastructure under strain also factored into opposition to the higher density. 

Ag Commissioner on Heat-Related Farm Deaths: Blame Humans, Not Climate

February 4, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 5 Comments

Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson told Florida House members on Feb. 4, 2025, that heat safety regulations would hamper the farming industry (Screenshot from Florida Channel)

Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson told state lawmakers Tuesday morning that human error was to blame for heat-related deaths on farms, which he described as few and far between. Florida’s sweltering heat became one of the hottest topics for lawmakers last year as the Republican-led Legislature passed a law prohibiting local governments from enacting their own heat-safety protections for employees.

35-Year-Old Palm Coast Man Loses Stand Your Ground Motion Over Bizarre Confrontation with Cyclist, 67

February 4, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 10 Comments

An image shown in court of the location of the confrontation between Eric Cooks, who was driving, and Peter Poznerowicz, who was on his bicycle. Poznerowicz was biking east, or toward the camera, and was stopped by Cooks's car as Cooks veered into the entrance closest to the camera, then looped back out to the second entrance, stopping in front of Poznerowicz. The incident took place in October 2023. (© FlaglerLive)

Eric Cooks, a 26-year-old resident of Palm Coast’s P Section and a supervisor at SMA Healthcare’s crisis-stabilization unit, where Baker Acts are triaged, lost a Stand Your Ground motion in circuit court Monday, clearing the way for his prosecution on a felony count of battering a man older than 65. The case touches on several elements that blur the line between good samaritanship and road rage, between the meanings of self-defense and provocation, and with an overlay of race and age disparities.

Judge Refuses to Release 14-Year-Old Girl Accused of Hateful Death Threats as Her Lawyer Claims She’s in Danger

February 3, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

Josh Davis, the attorney representing L.H., stands in Judge Melissa Distler's courtroom this afternoon, arguing for the release of his client. The judge, who appeared from Tallahassee by zoom, declined to grant the release and set a pre-trial conference to follow up on claims that the girl may be in danger. (© FlaglerLive)

County Judge Melissa Distler today rejected a request by the attorney representing L.H. to release her to her parents, for lack of proof that she is in danger in a youth detention jail in Daytona Beach. The girl, 14, was arrested last week in palm Coast for making death threats laced in homophobic slurs, and for violating her probation. Her attorney argued that the attention the case has drawn, including the posting of her picture, name and address, has led to death threats against her family in Seminole Woods, and threats against the girl in detention.

Deadline Looming, Palm Coast Council Prepares Response to Lawsuit Threat by Developer of Cascades in Seminole Woods

February 3, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

The byrndog property--the future Cascades development--facing northeast of Seminole Woods Boulevard. (Byrndog)

The Palm Coast City Council is almost certain to discuss, for the first time, the threat of a lawsuit by the developer of Cascades, a 375-acre planned development in Seminole Woods, who was denied more than half the 850 housing units he was seeking when the council approved the development in November 2023. Public anger at the higher density caused the council to reverse course from an initial approval. The developer last November filed what’s called a Bert-Harris claim. If it goes to court, the developer will seek $12.2 million in damages from the city. The council will decide Tuesday how to respond.

DeSantis Will Seek an Increase in Homestead Exemption and Pay Increase for FHP Troopers

February 1, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 15 Comments

A future homestead. (© FlaglerLive)

With home prices continuing to be a big flashpoint for Floridians, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday that he plans to work on an overhaul of property taxes, including an increase in the state’s homestead exemption, which shields part of the value of homes. DeSantis floated the idea when he noted that he is plans to release his budget recommendations over the weekend.

In Rare Vote Against Business, Bunnell Sides with Residents and Rejects Rezoning That’d Have Allowed Concrete Plant

January 31, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 14 Comments

Hard Rock's plant in Elkton. The company is seeking to open a similar plant in Bunnell, at the end of Hibiscus Avenue. (Google)

In a rare rejection of a land-use change that would have opened the way for a new company and new jobs in the city, the Bunnell City Commission voted 3-2 to turn down the rezoning of 1.4 acres at the end of Hibiscus Avenue from residential to light industrial. The vote closed the way for Hard Rock Materials Inc., a concrete manufacturing company, to build a batch plant there and on a much larger parcel attached to it. A batch plant mixes cement to produce concrete for delivery. It can be noisy, affect air quality and significantly increase traffic on Hibiscus Avenue with concrete trucks.

Daytona Solisti String Quartet Will Feature Mozart, Irish Tunes and Guest Guitar Soloist Miles McConnell

January 31, 2025 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

Guitarist Miles McConnell will perform classical works and Irish tunes at Daytona Solisti’s Feb. 16 concert, “Chamber Music Masterpieces.” (Miles McConnell)

A work Mozart wrote for a king, but which the cash-strapped composer sold “for a song” to a music publisher, will be featured during “Chamber Music Masterpieces,” a concert by the Daytona Solisti String Quartet. The concert, the second in Daytona Solisti’s Winter Festival celebrating the group’s 20th anniversary, also will include a Mozart serenade featured in the 1984 Oscar-winning biopic “Amadeus,” and Orlando-based guitarist Miles McConnell will perform classical works and Irish tunes.

Hillsborough Commissioner Donna Cameron Cepeda Wants Lawmakers To End Sunshine Law for All County Commissioners

January 30, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 15 Comments

Hillsborough County Commissioner Donna Cameron Cepeda would cut cold the Sunshine Law for commissioners. (X)

Among the list of legislative proposals that the Hillsborough County Commission is asking their state lawmakers to enact this year is a request from one commissioner to eliminate the Sunshine Law for county commissioners across Florida. Donna Cameron Cepeda, a Republican first elected in 2022, claims it’s not about reducing transparency but giving county commissioners more room to talk about sensitive subjects out of view of the public.

Flagler County Historical Society Prepares Inaugural Bunnell History Day as Accelerant for City’s Renaissance

January 30, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 7 Comments

View showing the Pure Oil Co. gas station on US 1 at Moody Drive in Bunnell, Florida.

With a $5,000 state grant and local sponsorships, the Flagler County Historical Society is organizing Bunnell History Day, with the inaugural all-day event scheduled for June 7. Society members outlined the plan to the Bunnell City Commission as an effort to use history to focus attention on the city’s identity and enduring impact on the county.

26-Year-Old Palm Coast Woman Charged with Molesting 13-Year-Old Boy During Family Christmas

January 30, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 7 Comments

Angel Marie Sexton.

Angel Marie Sexton, a 26-year-old resident of Royal Oak Drive in Palm Coast, was charged with molesting a 13-year-old boy whose family was visiting Sexton’s family over Christmas in Palm Coast. The child’s mother uncovered the alleged assault when she found romantic texts between Sexton and the boy on a family phone the boy had taken for himself. The older woman, according to the texts, was telling the boy that he could be emancipated at 16 and that she would leave her husband and marry him when he was 18.

DeSantis Ramps Up Feud with Legislature, Pledging to Veto Bill Targeting Undocumented Immigrants

January 29, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 12 Comments

ron desantis secrecy

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday pledged to veto an immigration bill passed during a special legislative session Tuesday, triggering a potential showdown with Republican House and Senate leaders in a tug-of-war over efforts to carry out President Donald Trump’s agenda. The governor’s latest criticism ramped up what has become a brutal — and public — feud between the Republican legislative leaders and DeSantis, who repeatedly called the bill “weak” and “pathetic” and lobbed personal attacks at his foes.

How Judge Nichols Talked 2 Defendants Off Ledge of Risking Life in Prison at Trial and Accepting Plea Deals Instead

January 29, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 3 Comments

Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols two weeks ago, reading the verdict form from a jury that had just convicted a man on all charges, resulting in his mandatory life in prison sentence. "I don't think any judge enjoys sentencing a 22 year old to life in prison," Nichols told a defendant today, trying to convince him to take a plea and not risk life in prison. (© FlaglerLive)

Stephanie Raimundo, 48, and Jeba Johnson, 22, were both facing life in prison on stacks of charges if convicted at the trials they wanted: Raimundo for trafficking drugs and for manslaughter in the death by overdose of 22-year-old Calvin Stull, Johnson for armed burglary and other acts of violence. In a remarkable 75-minute hearing for both before Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols this afternoon at the Flagler County courthouse, the judge talked both of them out of going to trial and accepting plea deals that will result in less than 13 years for Raimundo, once gain time is counted, and 25 years for Johnson.

Bunnell Rubber-Stamping Development Agreement for 8,000-Home Haw Creek Reserve, Residents Complain

January 29, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 14 Comments

The Bunnell City Commission has not publicly analyzed the development agreement controlling the 8,000-home Reserve at Haw Creek. Residents want the commission to do that work. (© FlaglerLive)

The Bunnell City Commission devoted just 60 minutes to a workshop its own planning board had requested to review the 65-page development agreement with the Reserve at Haw Creek, the 8,000-home development west and south of the city that will change the complexion of Bunnell. Residents complained that 60 minutes wasn’t enough, and raised numerous issues that have been raised over the past few months, to a non-reactive commission. But the commission subsequently agreed to set a future workshop.

Selling Palm Harbor Golf Course Draws Strong Opposition as Council Meanders Over Purpose of City ‘Amenities’

January 28, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 27 Comments

For nearly a decade Palm Coast government has considered its Palm Harbor golf course as a city amenity that does not necessarily have to make money. Several council members now disagree. (© FlaglerLive)

The Palm Coast City Council found little support for any suggestion of selling the city-owned Palm Harbor golf course even as council members agreed it could not keep bleeding losses. At the same time, council members differed over the meaning of city amenities like parks and the golf course, which a different council agreed several years ago are not intended to, or expected to, make money. Council member Charles Gambaro wants a fuller analysis of all amenities profit and loss statements, raising questions about the meaning and purpose of city functions.

Unhappy with Choices, Palm Coast Reopens City Manager Search for ‘Unicorn’ Even as It Culls Second-Best Shortlist

January 28, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 6 Comments

A detail from "The Unicorn in Captivity," a wool, silk, silver and gilded-silver wrapped thread from the south Netherland area, around 1495 to 1505, on display at the Cloisters in New York. Palm Coast is looking for its unicorn. (© FlaglerLive)

It’s not exactly what the short-listed candidates want to hear: you’re OK, but we’d rather not settle for you. We’re still looking. That was, putting it kindly, the message the Palm Coast City Council sent the six candidates it short-listed, out of a shallow pool of 37, as it seeks to hire a permanent city manager. The more precise message is that a majority of council members aren’t happy with the candidate pool it got, and that it’s re-opening the search for at least a month. 

Sharply Rebuking DeSantis, Lawmakers Opt for Special Session on Their Own Terms, and Override Budget Veto

January 27, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, said Monday the House will "not be moved by threats." (Colin Hackley/NSF)

The House and Senate started and quickly ended a special legislative session that DeSantis called — and then immediately opened their own special session and released proposed immigration legislation. The moves came after DeSantis angered House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, and Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, by calling a special session that they said was premature.

Aiden Barnett, 20, Arrested on Aggravated Child Abuse Charge Days After Telling Judge He’s a ‘Changed Man’

January 27, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 12 Comments

Aiden Barnett.

Three weeks ago 20-year-old Aiden Barnett of Palm Coast’s B-Section wrote a judge that he was a “a completely changed person” since he fled from a cop at 115 miles per hour. On probation, he was asking for a waiver on his anger-management class and community service hours. On Friday, he was arrested on a first-degree felony charge of aggravated child abuse after allegedly punching a 17-year-old girl so hard that she had a concussion and was hospitalized.

Palm Harbor Golf Course Lost $3.4 Million in Operating Costs Alone, Far More in Capital Since Palm Coast Took Ownership

January 27, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 41 Comments

The Palm Harbor golf course has been in the bunker since its earliest days. (© FlaglerLive)

Since it opened in 2009 as a city-owned facility, and with one meager exception in 2022, Palm Coast’s Palm Harbor golf course has been a drain on city coffers. The course has run combined losses of $3.44 million in the last 16 years, or an average of $215,000 a year. The figure increases sharply when depreciation and capital losses are included. Taxpayers have been subsidizing the golf course all those years. Palm Coast City Council members are tiring of the losses.

Imagine What Will be Left of Florida After Our Leaders Are Done With It

January 26, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 43 Comments

florida legislature leaders diane roberts

This is the country we’re now living in: dictatorial, unrepresentative, and deeply unkind. What will be left of Florida in four years? What will be left of America?

Sheriff Grady Judd Opposes Trump Pardons of Jan. 6 Insurrectionists and Tells Deputies: I Have Your Back

January 26, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 36 Comments

Grady Judd, one of the most well-known sheriffs in Florida is letting his officers know that he has their backs against people recently pardoned by President Donald Trump. And furthermore, he thinks the President messed up by getting them released from lockdown.

American Trilogy: OJ Simpson, Louis Farrakhan, Donald Trump

January 25, 2025 | Pierre Tristam | 22 Comments

On Oct. 3, 1995, after a trial that had lasted as long as a presidential election campaign, a jury found O.J. Simpson not guilty of murdering Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Blacks cheered. Whites were horrified and angered that Blacks cheered. Blacks cheered even louder at whites being horrified. All they saw was white derangement syndrome. Sound familiar?

Should Public Money Fund Religious Charter Schools? Supreme Court Will Decide Constitutionality.

January 25, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 9 Comments

An online Catholic charter school in Oklahoma is challenging the state's prohibition on spending public money on religions schools. (© FlaglerLive)

In Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond and St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond, the Oklahoma Supreme Court agreed with the state’s attorney general, Gentner Drummond, that the charter school board violated state law, the Oklahoma Constitution, and the U.S. Constitution when it allowed St. Isidore, a Catholic online school, to become a charter school.

Flagler Beach Pier Construction Delayed to Spring as City Commission Approves $14.1 Million Construction Contract

January 24, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 3 Comments

The Flagler Beach Pier in 1929, when it was a year old and 600 feet long. (Florida Memory)

After a relatively brief discussion that belies nearly nine years of anguish, delays, debates, financing and design of a new pier, the Flagler Beach City Commission Thursday evening unanimously approved a $14.1 million contract with Beckley, W.Va.-based Vecellio and Grogan to build a 714-ft. concrete pier in place of the existing, 97-year-old wooden relic, which has been closed to public or any use since the fall of 2022. Construction was previously set to start last December. It may not start until late spring, and it’ll be a challenge to complete it by July 4, 2026.

Flagler Unemployment Falls Slightly to 3.8% but Labor Force Continues to Decline; Home Sales Rebound a Little

January 24, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 14 Comments

flagler florida unemployment

Flagler County’s unemployment rate edged back below 4 percent for the first time in six months, at 3.8 percent, as a couple hundred people gained jobs and the number of unemployed residents fell by 300. But Flagler County’s labor force again shrank, as it has most months for more than a year, to 50,849. The labor force is at its lowest level since February 2023, when it was 50,773 and rising.

Behind Daniel Fish Losing Head Football Coach Job at FPC: Major Fumbles in Classroom, and 2nd Reprimand in 14 Months

January 23, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 14 Comments

coach Daniel Fish fired

Following an internal investigation that ended in December, Daniel Fish, who was fired last week as head football coach at Flagler Palm Coast High School, was the subject of a letter of reprimand for a series of grave failures in his teaching and administrative duties. It was the second disciplinary write-up for Fish in 14 months. He had been the subject of a “letter of caution” in October 2023 following a violent incident that had started among student-athletes in the football team’s unsupervised locker room. He retains his teaching job.

Old Dixie Motel Owners Have 5 Months To Secure Building Permits or Face Demolition by County’s Order

January 23, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 22 Comments

Special Magistrate Sean McDermott. (© FlaglerLive)

A special magistrate gave the owners of the neglected Old Dixie hotel five months to secure four permits from Flagler County or face demolition of the property. The decision by the magistrate, Sean McDermott, amounts to a further life extension for the hotel property, yet again frustrating the county’s attempts since last March to demolish a building it considers to be a nuisance and a danger to public health.

Protesters Disheartened and Disbelieving at an Abortion-Rights Rally in St. Pete: ‘Florida Is Gone’

January 23, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 18 Comments

Bree Wallace with the Tampa Bay Abortion Fund in St. Petersburg, Florida on Jan 22. 2024 (Photo by Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix)

Two months after a proposal to repeal Florida’s six-week abortion law and enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution failed to gather the 60% required for passage, more than 100 people gathered Wednesday on four street corners in downtown St. Petersburg to advocate for the cause. But it was a dispirited and disbelieving protest.

Trump’s Attack on Birthright Citizenship

January 22, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 13 Comments

Children born on U.S. soil automatically have U.S. citizenship, regardless of who their parents are.

One of President Donald Trump’s first executive orders relating to immigration and immigrants is a direct attack on the long-standing constitutional principle of birthright citizenship. That’s the declaration in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution that anyone born on U.S. soil is a U.S. citizen, regardless of their parents’ nationalities or immigration status.

AdventHealth CEO Audrey Gregory Cautions Employers of Labor Crunch Ahead, and to Prize Workers Accordingly

January 22, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 6 Comments

Audrey Gregory in an earlier phase of her career, as a nurse, and with her family, in a slide she showed the audience at a Tiger Bay lunch talk today. (© FlaglerLive)

A labor crunch is tightening the job market all over America from IT to education to retail, but more especially in restaurants, hotels, construction and healthcare, AdventHealth East Region Executive Vice President and CEO Audrey Gregory told a sold-out audience at today’s Flagler Tiger Bay Club monthly lunch. The way to manage through it is primarily to nurture and value existing employees, to further their education at the company’s expense, to move them up, and to pay them better.

Vincent’s Clubhouse Spurs Opportunities for People with Disabilities, Bridging Needs Beyond School District

January 22, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

Vincent Cona, for whom Vincent's Clubhouse is named, embracing his mother and Vincent's Founder Erica Flores, with her husband, Hector Flores, left, at Tuesday's ribbon-cutting. (© FlaglerLive)

Vincent’s Clubhouse Enrichment Center at Palm Coast’s European Village is an evidence-based program focused on vocational and life skills training, personal development, hygiene, financial skills, marketplace skills, and literacy for adults and younger people. But it was not until late last year, after years of evolution and growth, that Vincent’s Clubhouse’s nomadic years ended with the opening of its permanent home, a 1,600-square-foot facility–what would otherwise be a shopfront–at European Village, with a faculty of five and 20 adult “members” enrolled.

Florida Lawmakers Are Looking for Money, Now that Biden’s Covid Aid Has Dried Up

January 22, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 5 Comments

Sen. Tom Leek, R-Ormond Beach, advised constituents to not expect as much money for local projects this year. (Colin Hackley/NSF)

Florida lawmakers have started filing what are expected to be hundreds of proposals seeking money for local projects and programs — but legislative leaders are cautioning not to expect as much spending as in the past few years. As of Tuesday morning, House members had filed 40 funding proposals, while one had been filed in the Senate, according to legislative websites. Lawmakers will consider the proposals as they negotiate a budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year during the legislative session that will start March 4.

Yacht Club Gives Up Palm Coast Boat Parade After 41 Years, Citing Costs and City’s Obstacles; Mayor Pledges Takeover

January 21, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 46 Comments

It's sunset for the Palm Coast Holiday Boat Parade, at least in the Palm Coast Yacht Club's hands, which have sponsored the parade for the last 41 years. Palm Coast government may take it over. (Robert Ulis)

The Palm Coast Yacht Club is giving up on the Holiday Boat Parade, a local fixture for 41 years. The Yacht Club cited burdensome costs and too many obstacles and expectations from the city, all of which have taken the fun out of running it, its organizer says. The Palm Coast City Council today signaled its willingness to take it over and run it as a special event. But it would have to be approved through the coming budget process. 

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