Ex-Bunnell cop Michael Stavris had fabricated a Facebook page under his girlfriend’s daughter’s name, solicited boys’ naked pictures and said he wanted to break up his daughter’s relationship because she was dating a black boy.
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European Village Resident Ralph Wolff, 68, Critical After 4-Story Fall
Wolff had been locked out of his apartment and was attempting to hop from balcony to balcony to make it hope. A chair may have broken his fall.
School Board Readies to Approve Lowest Tax in at Least 22 Years, But Without Cheers
The new tax rate equates to a 4.2 percent decrease from the current rate for homeowners and businesses, which will make a noticeable difference on tax bills.
Bunnell’s Tucker Upsets Colleagues With Surprise Bid to Merge Fire Department With County
Previously Bunnell Commissioner Elbert Tucker wanted to dissolve the city’s police department to save money. Now he wants to dissolve the volunteer fire department and shift savings to add a police officer. The commission is not enthusiastic.
Dena Minning Grayson Hopes to Keep Alan’s Central Florida Congressional Seat In Family
The marriage in late May between Alan Grayson and Dena Minning reshuffled a Democratic primary for a Central Florida congressional seat being vacated by Grayson, one of the party’s most progressive provocateurs.
Anita Moeder, Palm Coast City Council Candidate: The Live Interview
Anita Moeder is a candidate for Palm Coast City Council, District 3. She faces two other candidates: Nick Klufas and Pam Richardson in the non-partisan election on Aug. 30, in which all registered voters may cast a ballot.
Goodbye News-Journal
Rick de Yampert, the former arts writer for the Daytona Beach News-Journal, explains why he cancelled his newspaper subscription for the first time in 43 years.
Clinton, In Tampa, Punches Back Against “Fear and Resentment” as Florida Showdown Looms
Characterizing Trump’s acceptance speech Thursday night as dominated by “fear and resentment,” Clinton painted her opponent as a divisive and angry threat to the nation’s future.
Chris Yates, Flagler County Sheriff Candidate: The Live Interview
Chris Yates is one of six Republican candidates for Flagler County Sheriff in the Aug. 30 primary. Two Republicans are contesting the primary in what has been the most heavily and expensively contested race for a local office this year.
Bunnell’s Dalton Edwards Charged With 2 Counts of DUI Manslaughter in Deaths of 2 Women in Flagler Estates Crash
Katie Stecker, 19, and Victoria Sutton, 20, were killed Jan. 9 in a car crash in Flagler Estates allegedly caused by a drunk Dalton Edwards, who blew through a stop sign and collided with another vehicle. He is being held on on $367,518 bond bond.
At City Rep’s Theater Workshop for Teens, Homer’s Odyssey Navigates Scylla and Charybdis of Bad Habits
CRT’s “Odyssey,” staged this weekend at City Marketplace in Palm Coast, stars eight performers ages 15 to 21 in the culmination of the six-week-long workshop that sought to break the performers from the bad habits of middle and high school theater.
Frank Meeker, County Commission Workhorse and Tenacious Optimist, Is Dead at 61
Meeker had been in and out of the hospital battling cancer the last few weeks, and was in the hospital this week as his condition worsened. He was moved to hospice overnight and died around 6 a.m.
2nd Trial Day Curdles for Pehota as 3-Hour Tape Shows More Resolve Than Remorse in Husband’s Killing
The defense rested without calling a single witness in Anna Pehota’s murder trial today, and what dementia issues may have played a role in her husband’s killing could not be introduced before the jury. Closing arguments are Friday morning.
Ted Cruz’s Center-Stage Snub of Trump Ripples Through Florida Delegation
Cruz’s address Wednesday night was greeted with a loud round of boos as it became clear to delegates that Cruz would not offer a direct endorsement. Other Republican candidates who lost to Trump, including U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, have backed the nominee during convention speeches.
Mark Whisenant, Flagler County Sheriff Candidate: The Live Interview
Mark Whisenant is one of six Republican candidates for Flagler County Sheriff in the Aug. 30 primary. Two Republicans are contesting the primary in what has been the most heavily and expensively contested race for a local office this year.
“A Hair Between Sanity and Insanity”: Pehota’s Anguished Account of Killing Husband Marks 1st Trial Day
A video interview of Pehota describing the killing of her husband and the circumstances surrounding it underscored the first day of her trial. She faces a second-degree murder charge. Nothing happened today to shake an aura of sympathy–even empathy–around Pehota.
Bunnell’s Michael Davis, 22, Arrested on Rape Charge Involving 15-Year-Old Boy
Michael Anthony Davis, a 22-year-old resident of Peach Street in Bunnell, was arrested Tuesday on a charge of raping a 15-year-old boy, a first degree felony.
Palm Coast Votes 3-2 Against $5,000 Hike For Jim Landon in Stinging Rebuke
Two council members said Palm Coast Manager Jim Landon had been overpaid, with his $169,000 salary now where it should be. The vote ends a long, in many ways improper and opaque process.
Bill McGuire, Palm Coast City Council’s Grandmaster, Resigns Effective Aug. 15
McGuire’s resignation was expected, and the council is hinting that it may be uninterested in filling his post for the remaining few weeks of his term before the election, even if the charter says the council “shall” fill it.
Jerry O’Gara, Flagler County Sheriff Candidate: The Live Interview
Jerry O’Gara is one of six Republican candidates for Flagler County Sheriff in the Aug. 30 primary. Two Democrats are contesting the primary in what has been the most heavily and expensively contested race for a local office this year.
Woman With History of Fabrication Claims Home Invasion-Armed Robbery in W-Section
Brittany Cartier, 21, a caretaker for an elderly homeowner on Watermill Place, claimed she and the homeowner were robbed at gunpoint of $5,000 in cash by two men late Monday. Cartier had fabricated a kidnapping three years ago.
In Jury Selection for Anna Pehota Trial, Pronounced Sympathies for the Killer
Anna Pehota, 76, facing a second-degree murder charge for shooting her husband in the Hammock last September, is benefiting from inherent sympathy going into her trial, which began with jury selection Monday and starts in earnest Wednesday.
Pyrrhic Vanishing: Democrats Unite, But What Happened To Medicare For All?
Most health policy analysts — including those who are sympathetic to the idea — say moving from the current U.S. public-private hybrid health system to one fully funded by the government in one step is basically impossible. And that’s making a huge assumption that it could get through Congress.
John Lamb, Flagler County Sheriff Candidate: The Live Interview
John Lamb is one of six Republican candidates for Flagler County Sheriff in the Aug. 30 primary. Two Democrats are contesting the primary in what has been the most heavily and expensively contested race for a local office this year.
In Bunnell, 100 Black Marchers Chant for “All Lives,” For Unity, But Also For Looking Inward
The Black Lives Matter-themed march Sunday evening around Bunnell was itself a display of the harmony it called for, though it clearly didn not get participation from the county’s whiter surroundings.
In Newest Poll, Clinton Leads Trump in Florida, Rubio Narrowly Ahead of Murphy
An NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist Poll released Friday showed Clinton leading Trump by a margin of 44 percent to 37 percent in a head-to-head matchup in Florida, one of the most closely watched states in the country.
For Peace and Solidarity, Tonight’s Black Lives March in Bunnell Should Be Postponed
Postponing tonight’s march would show in deeds what Black Lives Matter supporters say in words: that they, too, respect police and that they want to build bridges. It does not diminish their message. It nobly amplifies it.
“We Don’t Need Vigilantes”: P-Section Man Shoots at Teen Pokémon Go Hunters
Two P-Section residents, 16 and 19, were shot at early Saturday morning by a homeowner on Primrose Lane as they played Pokemon Go and the homeowner mistook them for trouble-makers after hearing a loud noise outside his home.
Black Lives Matter. Period.
Cops are owed all the appreciation and respect their profession commands. Blacks are owed their right to life. The two are not mutually exclusive, but certain differences matter, especially when they falsely paint cops as the victims and blacks as the aggressors.
At European Village and in Bunnell, Separate Events For Fallen Cops and Black Lives as Reactions Multiply
The march in Bunnell and the fund-raiser for the families of fallen police officers at European Village are the latest in a spate of local initiatives that have sought to respond to shootings, by or of police, in various ways.
Fershtay? Appeals Court Rules Florida May Not Halt Offering Kosher and Halal Meals to Prisoners
Florida prison officials argued they had a right to stop offering kosher meals if they got too expensive. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals said no in a unanimous decision.
Don Fleming, Flagler County Sheriff Candidate: The Live Interview
Donald Fleming is one of six Republican candidates for Flagler County Sheriff in the Aug. 30 primary. Two Democrats, including incumbent Jim Manfre, are contesting the primary in what has been the most heavily and expensively contested race for a local office this year.
Flagler Judge Gives Pot Plan a Lift, But Council And Whiff of Politics Again Delay Adoption
The proposal would reduce the penalty for first-time possession of pot to a $250 fine rather than a criminal charge, but it’ll be at least another month before the proposal gets out of a council, if then, and heads for approval (or rejection) by local governments.
Citing “Public Policy Interests,” Florida Refusing to Disclose Information on Drugs Used in Lethal Injections
Lawyers representing seven Arizona Death Row inmates want information about the drugs used in Florida’s lethal-injection procedure, but corrections officials are asking a judge to keep the documents secret.
Jim Manfre, Flagler County Sheriff Candidate: The Live Interview
Jim Manfre is one of two Democratic candidates for Flagler County Sheriff in the Aug. 30 primary. Six Republicans are contesting the primary in what has been the most heavily and expensively contested race for a local office this year.
At Flagler NAACP Town Hall, Matters of Black Lives, “The Talk,” and the Gap Between Community and Policing
A town hall organized by Flagler’s NAACP branch, with several top officials from the sheriff’s office, took stock of the recent police killings of black men and the killing of five white police officers in Dallas by a black veteran sniper.
Challenge to Florida’s DUI Breath Test May Be Moot After U.S. Supreme Court Ruling
A majority of the U.S. Supreme Court said a law similar to Florida’s, in Minnesota, allowing breath tests for DUI, does not violate the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, which bars unreasonable searches and seizures.
Trump Regains Lead in Florida as Clinton’s Numbers Crash Over Email Server Findings
In a sharp reversal from three weeks ago, presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has regained the advantage over Hillary Clinton in Florida and Pennsylvania and remains tied in Ohio in the latest Quinnipiac University swing-state poll.
Home Invasion Assailant Killed by Tenant on Frank Place in Palm Coast, 2nd Suspect Surrenders
Victor J. Betty, 28, was killed in an attempted home invasion on Frank Place in Palm Coast early this morning, and Carl Devore of Palm Coast turned himself in later today as the wanted second suspect in the incident.
In Debt, Flagler Chamber of Commerce Seeking to Sell Building But Stay Put as Tenant
As debts have caught up with the organization, members of the Flagler Chamber of Commerce and Affiliates this afternoon learned that the chamber is seeking to sell the 10,000 square foot building it has owned, occupied and leased to other tenants since 2006.
An AR-15, a Shotgun, and Claims of Shots Fired: Confrontation in The Mondex
No one would end up arrested, but an investigation is continuing into claims that an assault weapon was brandished, shots fired and threats made.
Kimble Medley, Flagler County Supervisor of Elections Candidate: The Live Interview
Kimble Medley is one of three candidates for Flagler County Elections Supervisor in the Aug. 30 primary, in which all voters, regardless of party affiliation, may cast a ballot. The primary will decide the winner with no further vote in November.
Obama Renews Call for Public Option in Health Law to Compete With Private Insurers
Before the public option was dropped in 2010 many liberals hoped — and conservatives feared — that having the government provide insurance alongside private companies would be a step toward a full government-run system.
Proposal to De-Criminalize Pot Possession Again Teetering as Flagler Council Nears Verdict
The Flagler Public Safety Coordinating Council decides Wednesday whether to recommend the de-criminalization proposal, but the reactions from palm Coast, Bunnell and Flagler Beach have been discouraging.
Latest Florida Newspaper Layoffs Claim Lloyd Dunkelberger of Tallahassee and Recount Fame
Following the latest round of reporter layoffs, they will be replaced, if at all, by younger, cheaper bodies who have not necessarily been taught the difference between putting bylines on news releases and honest reporting, writes Florence Snyder.
Kaiti Lenhart, Flagler County Supervisor Of Elections Candidate: The Live Interview
Kaiti Lenhart is the incumbent candidate for Flagler County Elections Supervisor in the Aug. 30 primary, which in this race amounts to the general election: All voters, regardless of party affiliation, may cast a ballot in this race, which will decide the winner.
Chris Sousa, 21, Matanzas Graduate and Driven Entrepreneur, Struck and Killed by Car in Ormond Beach
Chris Sousa, a Palm Coast resident of Island Estates and a 2013 graduate of Matanzas High School, was killed early this morning as he walked when a vehicle struck him in Ormond Beach.
Corrine Brown, Representing Northeast Florida in Congress for 23 Years, Indicted Over Sham Charity
Longtime Democratic Congresswoman Corrine Brown was indicted Friday on charges that she and a top aide used a sham education charity to pay for personal expenses and luxurious events, allegations that pose the most serious challenge yet to her 23-year congressional career.
The Mostly Bogus Case Against Kimberle Weeks
Ex-Elections Supervisor Kimberle Weeks was the most combative, distasteful, deceptive and ethically suspect elected official in the county, but she did not break the law with most of the “secret” recordings she made, contrary to the laundry list of felony counts against her.
Flagler Schools Take a Beating as All But One See Grades Drop; District Maintains B
For the first time in the 15-year history of school and district grades, Flagler County schools did not earn a single A in 2016. Officials are cautioning parents and students not to put too much stock in the results, which reflect a new but also tougher way to grade schools.