Unless the legislation fails or changes substantially, many consumers across the country could see the amount they pay every year for premiums increase by thousands of dollars, making coverage effectively unaffordable.
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La Différence
France’s Answer To Trumpism: Non, Merci
Emmanuel Macron’s election as President of France Sunday repudiates angry, anti-democratic tribalism represented by Marine Le Pen and Donald Trump. But it’s only a qualified win.
Medical Pot Deal Collapses Over Dispensaries, Leaving Framework in Strict Regulators’ Hands
Implementation of the voter-approved amendment now rests in the hands of state health officials, who have been harshly criticized by legislators, patients, vendors and judges.
Flagler Beach, a.k.a. Ocean City, Gets 9 New Lifeguard Towers, All On Strength of Volunteers
The nine lifeguard towers, on a design from towers in Ocean City, Md., are expected to more than double the life of the structures. Commissioner Rick Belhumeur led the all-volunteer effort.
Flagler Sheriff Says Arrests Are Forthcoming in Murder of Charles Singer, But Not Just Yet
Individuals at the Pine Tree Lane property, where Charles Singer was found shot and buried in April, were brought in for questioning, but nothing beyond that so far.
Holland Park Redemption: Palm Coast’s Storied Playground Readies to Re-Open
A year behind schedule, the reopening of Holland Park, now scheduled for June, will also mark the transformation of an eyesore into a crown jewel, as a visit to the park today suggests.
Accused Cop-Shooter Phillip Haire Claims Someone Else Is Trying to Kill Him and His Family
Palm Coast’s Phillip Haire, accused of shooting at a sheriff’s deputy Monday, said he was not the shooter and was safer staying in jail as someone is out there trying to kill him and shoot up his house.
Gov. Scott Declares Emergency In Response To Prescription Drugs and Heroin Deaths
In the four-county district that includes Flagler, only two heroin-deaths deaths were recorded in 2015, eight deaths were attributed to fentanyl, and 43 to prescription drugs overall.
House Approves Medical Pot Measure That Would Allow Unlimited Number of Retailers
The measure would allow patients to use vaporizers or edibles, but would ban smoking of marijuana products, something critics complain violates the spirit of the constitutional amendment.
London Drive Shootist Phillip Haire Turns Himself In, Faces Attempted Murder Charges
Phillip Haire, 19, is accused of twice driving by his own house on Palm Coast’s London Drive Monday afternoon and firing a gun at a sheriff’s deputy and his own parents.
It’s James Tager: School Board Picks Volusia District Veteran for Superintendent in Rare Unanimous Vote
The unanimous vote for the Volusia County principal and former deputy superintendent is a rare sign of agreement for a school board that has had difficulties finding common ground in the last months.
Palm Coast Would Turn Over Its Cell Towers To Contractor Even as New Law Revamps Landscape
Even as a new state law just has just revamped the whole wireless landscape, the Palm Coast council is about to sign a contract grounded in previous-generation realities about cell coverage.
James Tager Clear Favorite for Superintendent as Stilted Process Nears Vote Tonight
Flagler County School Board members left little doubt in a 50-minute discussion this morning that Volusia County’s James Tager is by far their first choice. But the process has been starkly constrained.
Man Shoots at Deputy in Palm Coast’s L-Section And Flees After Carjacking
A man shot at a Flagler County Sheriff’s deputy in Palm Coast’s L-Section late this afternoon, then fled in his own car, crashed it, and carjacked someone else before fleeing, a sheriff’s spokesman said.
For Flagler County, A Powerful Note of Atonement For Injustices Toward Many Amid Celebration of a Century
Flagler County marked its centennial on Saturday and Monday with celebrations that included words of a proclamation acknowledging half a century of injustices toward minorities in the county.
As Details Emerge, Mother Describes Father’s Execution-Style Shooting of Son During an Argument
The victim’s mother described her husband Bobby Gore, 74, walking out to the porch, pointing his gun at her son Lucas Gore’s head, and firing two shots, killing him. Mother and son had been arguing.
Father Charged With 1st Degree Murder After Allegedly Shooting Son Dead In Flagler Beach
Bobby Gore is in police custody Sunday morning following the midnight shooting of his son in a domestic dispute at 1002 South Daytona Avenue in Flagler Beach.
Progressive Voices Rise to Resist Locally as Flagler Beach “Rally By the Sea” Rebukes Trumpism
Saturday’s rally of progressive-liberal organizations in Flagler Beach, organized by a group barely a few months old, suggests the local Republican sweep is not as total as it appears, or Trumpism the only movement in town.
‘Click It or Ticket’ Laws Are Becoming The Norm. But Do They Work?
Not everyone is convinced the tougher laws reduce fatalities. And some opponents say the laws are another example of government interference and can lead to racial profiling.
“John & Jen” and Generational Shock in Musical Closing City Repetory Theatre’s Season
“John & Jen” features the same two actors portraying family members over two generations crossing America’s tumultuous 60s and beyond, and testing family ties. At Palm Coast’s City Rep Theatre.
Palm Coast Girl, 12, Uses New Law to Secretly Record Alleged Assailant, 42, Over Sex Assault
The 12-year-old Palm Coast girl put to use a 2015 law to record Aaron Whitley, 42, apologizing and pleading with her not to reveal an alleged sexual assault he’d committed on her.
Flagler Beach Unanimously Approves Marina Settlement That May End 7-Year Suit
It’s now up to Howard Sklar to sign off on the settlement agreement. His attorney said the marina, idle for almost two decades, could be operating soon, welcoming boats, building and repairing them.
Right v. Usurpation: State Defends Shifting Death Cases From State Attorney In Seminal Case of Authority
Central Florida State Attorney Aramis Ayala sued Rick Scott after he reassigned 23 death penalty cases, setting the stage for courts to clarify which authority of duly elected officials prevails.
Flagler Beach Pier Repair to Last a Bit Longer and Cost More as Engineers Test Loads
The Flagler Beach Pier was set to fully open May 1, but the opening date has been pushed back to the end of May, and engineering work, which won;t affect the date, will add up to $45,000 in costs.
Senate Budget Details Yet to Emerge as House Pushes Potential $2.2 Billion Tax Cut
Lawmakers pushed back against the idea that a deal that many believed had been sealed Tuesday had fallen apart, while House leaders placed tax cuts ahead of more money for per-student allocations.
Short of Stellar, FPC and Matanzas Earn Bronze and Silver in U.S. News’ High School Rankings
Matanzas came in at 160 in the state and 2,297 in the nation, getting silver, FPC came in at 183 in the state and did not get a national ranking, though its IB program’s achievements were not calculated as in previous years’ rankings.
Flagler County Will Declare a Burn Ban Effective Monday and For Foreseeable Future
Flagler County is joining at least 21 other Florida counties with an open-ended burn-ban declaration, mostly as a precautionary measure as upwards of 100 fires burn statewide and the local drought index continues to rise.
Senate President Joe Negron’s Shabby Response to Repeat Offender Frank Artiles
Even now Artiles doesn’t get it, and seemingly neither does Negron–they don’t understand how ugly racially charged language is to all people of good will, but especially when it comes from a state senator.
Along A1A, Protective Plants Replace Rock Art as Volunteers Pilot Adopt-A-Dunes Program
Flagler Beach City Commissioner Joy McGrew is leading an all-volunteer effort to dug up plants from properties of willing owners along A1A and replanting them on dunes as protection against people using them as walkovers.
As Flagler Considers Countywide Burn Ban, Fire Units On Stand-By to Help Elsewhere
Twenty-one counties have a burn ban in effect, though for now that has not been declared in Flagler, where firefighters are on stand-by to assist battling forest fires in Southwest Florida if necessary.
Embattled State Attorney Ayala Gets Big-Name Backers In Fight With Scott Over Death Penalty
Ex-prosecutors, former state Supreme Court justices, civil-rights organizations and families of homicide victims from across the country have filed briefs supporting Ayala in her legal battle with Gov. Rick Scott.
4 Hurt in Head-On Crash Between SUV and School, Bus at Royal Palms and Rymfire
Four people were hurt including two children in a crash involving a school bus and an SUV at the intersection of Royal Palms Parkway and Rymfire Drive in Palm Coast this morning just before sunup.
Trump, You Bombed Syria Because You Care. Now Get Rid of the Muslim Ban in Any Form.
Both versions of that order, now held up in the courts, would have indefinitely banned all migration from Syria — and suspended refugee resettlement from everywhere.
Secret Hospital Inspections Revealing Errors and Mishaps and May Become Public at Last
The federal government has proposed requiring that accreditors release reports on the problems they find during hospital inspections. Right now, the reports are secret.
Sen. Artiles Resigns as Senate Investigates Racist Insults to Black Colleagues and Others
Sen. Frank Artiles called his presence a “distraction” days after apologizing for a public tirade that included racially charged and vulgar expletives directed at Sen. Audrey Gibson and others.
Badcock Furniture Will Fill Old Food Lion Space in Flagler Beach, Ending 8-Year Drought
Badcock Furniture will open in mid-summer in Flagler Square, as will a sweet shop, completing a remarkable revival of that commercial strip eight years after it had become a gaping hole for business.
Hitting New Post-Recession Low of 4.8%, Flagler’s Unemployment Now Matches Florida’s
The number of unemployed in Flagler county fell sharply in March, from 2,482 to 2,214, a drop of 268, an impressive 11 percent decline, with work activity especially pronounced in construction.
Lawmakers Set to Enact Long-Sought Solar Energy Tax Break, But Concerns Remain
The House and Senate are working on the proposals to carry out a renewable-energy constitutional amendment, known as Amendment 4, that voters approved during August’s primary election.
Flagler Schools Superintendent Interviews: James Tager
James Tager, the closest thing to a home-grown candidate for the Flagler County School Superintendent job, projected confidence, fluent knowledge of local and state issues and quite a bit of familiarity with Flagler schools.
Flagler Schools Superintendent Interviews: Gerald Wilson
In approach and demeanor, Gerald Wilson echoed Janet Valentine, the superintendent who preceded Jacob Oliva: not much excitability or charisma, but solid knowledge and deference to process.
Flagler Schools Superintendent Interviews: Jeff Umbaugh
Jeff Umbaugh was energetic, congenial, discursive, fast-talking, quick to take verbal tangents or make the occasional humorous aside, but mostly, he spoke in generalities and clichés.
Life in Prison for Palm Coast Man as Jury Finds Him Guilty of Molesting 11-Year-Old
A two-second feel over the clothes of an 11-year-old in a Palm Coast home by her guardian four years ago will result in a life sentence for James Taylor, a previously convicted sex offender.
Palm Coast Approves $425,000 Parasols at 4 City Parks, But Council Members Grumble
Council members Nick Klufas and Steve Nobile, who are seeking more oversight of the city administration, had serious misgivings about cost and a bidding process that left them with little choice.
Sen. Artiles Apologizes to Sen. Gibson After Cursing Her Out In Racist and Sexist Language
Florida Sen. Artiles unleashed racial and sexist slurs at Sen. Audrey Gibson, who at one time represented parts of Flagler County, in a tirade at the Governors Club near the Capitol Monday night.
Palm Coast’s Thames Envy Holds Weir-dest Ribbon-Cutting You’ve Ever Heard Of
There’s a ribbon-cutting for every imaginable non-event these days, and today Palm Coast cut the ribbon at a water-control structure called a “weir,” in the B-Section.
At Man’s Trial, Weighing the Line Between A Parent’s Touch and Outright Molestation
Defense attorneys for James A. Taylor, the man on trial for allegedly molesting his ex’s 11-year-old daughter in Palm Coast, effectively plundered his accuser’s and her sisters’ credibility in four hours of testimony today.
Rocky Superintendent Search Jarred Again as Phyllis Edwards Withdraws Candidacy
With the latest top candidate to drop out, the Flagler County School Board’s search for a new superintendent is turning into a poorly scripted season of Survivor.
In Big Victory for Flagler Government, Feared Vacation-Rental Bill Suddenly in Retreat in Legislature
Flagler County’s vacation-rental regulations currently in place would be preserved according to a new version of a Senate bill the county had been fighting before. And a House bill may be dead.
James Taylor Trial: A History of Violence and Rapes of Women and Children, But Jury Won’t Hear It
The single charge of molestation James A. Taylor faces as he went on trial in Flagler County today is deceptive: the sex offender has a history of brutality, rapes and assaults involving women and children, but it’s all off limits.
Governments Mull Way To Fight Prescription-Drug Crisis That Worked With Tobacco: Taxes
California, Alaska and the US Congress are considering taxing prescription drugs to raise money for treatment and discourage their use, but the amounts of the taxes would be relatively small.