With two new supporters of TNR on the council, Palm Coast is slowly moving toward adoption of a trap and release system that still preserves the city’s authority to declare some cats nuisances, and have them removed from public spaces or exterminated.
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As Compliance Replaces Controversy, Sheriff Cautions of 2 DUI Checkpoints in Palm Coast
The checkpoints, which must follow strict guidelines, will be located at Palm Coast Pkwy NW and Frontage Road as well as State Road 100, East of Old Kings Road.
What White People Don’t See
Whether it’s police dealing with suspects or Sony executives referring to President Obama, what they see first isn’t the human being, but the color, and usually in the basest terms, argues Steve Robinson.
Florida Clerks Told To Deny Licenses Even When Federal Court Order Granting Gay Marriage Kicks in
Lawyers for the Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers have advised county officials statewide not to issue marriage licenses “until a binding order is issued by a court of proper jurisdiction” and warned the clerks that they could be subject to criminal prosecution if they allow gay couples to wed.
Firing a “Sponge Grenade,” Flagler Deputies Defuse a Would-Be Suicide-By-Gun After Hours of Negotiations
Flagler deputies after hours of negotiations near the Palm Harbor overpass in Palm Coast Wednesday morning stopped a man from killing himself with a .38 by firing so-called “less-lethal” munition.
Shirley Nethery, 77, Dies After Mistakenly Driving Her Car Down a Hammock Boat Ramp
Shirley Nethery, a 77-year-old resident and former president of Surfside Estates in Beverley Beach, died Tuesday evening after driving her car down a boat ramp and into the the Intracoastal Waterway.
White Elephant No More: County Approves 5-Year Lease of Costly Ginn Hangar in Deal With New Company
Delta Engineering of New Catle, Del., expanding in Flagler with 10 to 30 high-paying jobs, will fill the old Ginn building that had left the county with a $2 million liability when Ginn went bankrupt.
In Unusual Vote, Flagler Commission Acknowledges Ethics and Elections Complaints Against All Its Members
County and Canvassing Board Attorney Al Hadeed, who was also served with complaints, asked for the vote to assert three points that framed the complaints within the official duties commissioners were performing at the time the issues arose.
Ethics Commission Rejects Settlement With Sheriff Manfre, Reopening Case on All Charges
Manfre’s practices and claims of innocence until cautioned otherwise came under withering criticism by several members of the commission, who voted 7-2 to further investigate all charges originally brought against him.
Divided Flagler Commission Awards Administrator Coffey 5% Raise This Year, With More All But Promised
The Flagler County Commission didn’t go for the 10 percent raise Coffey (or, it is claimed, his staff) was asking for, but he still got a nearly $6,000 raise in a 3-2 vote by the commission Monday evening.
In 4-1 Vote, County Seals Agreement to Build Tourist-Ready Cottages at Princess Preserve
An initial plan to build three cottages in partnership with a state conservation agency would expand to an additional 10 cottages at the River-to-Sea Preserve in the near future.
Weekend Domestic Violence: A Woman’s Teeth Knocked Out; Baseball Bat vs. Lexus
Michael J. Ditaranto and Ralph Moreno, both Palm Coast residents, were jailed following separate incidents that resulted in one woman being hospitalized and a car being smashed up.
With 800,000 Floridians in Health Insurance Limbo, Hopes Return for Medicaid Expansion
A coalition of businesses groups, local officials and healthcare industry representatives has rolled out a plan to insure nearly one million low-income Floridians who fall in the so-called Medicaid coverage gap.
Special Election for House: Renner Hauls In $76,500. His Three Opponents Combined: $355
Renner’s $76,500 dwarfed amounts not exceeding $180 raised by three other candidates in the District 24 race — Republicans Sheamus McNeeley and Ron Sanchez and Democrat Adam Morley. Republican Danielle Anderson filed a waiver, as she had not posted a report on the state Division of Elections website by week’s end.
Woman’s Report of Armed Robbery Leads to SWAT’s Raid of 2 Homes Before Suspect Is Caught Elsewhere
The alleged armed robbery of 23-year-old Nicole Rizzo on Bunnell’s South Chapel Street in early evening Friday led to the arrest of Charles Lenard “CJ” Phillips.
Yes, We’re Cops. And We’re Human Beings. But We Won’t Be Your Victims.
In an impassioned response to acute criticism leveled at police after events in Ferguson and Staten Island, Jonathan Dopp, a sheriff’s deputy in Flagler County, presents law enforcement’s unapologetic perspective.
Supervisor of Elections Weeks and Ex-Candidate File Load of Ethics and Elections Complaints on 4 Commissioners
Calling it a “witch hunt,” the four commissioners say the complaints rehash minor issues that were almost all resolved during the election season, and that the ploy mostly is an attempt to tarnish.
County Administrator Craig Coffey Seeking 10% Raise, to $161,000, Amid Other Personnel Costs
The county administrator’s salary would increase from $146,383 and would add an automatic 3 percent merit pay increase a year absent an affirmative decision by the county commission.
Palm Coast Inaugurates 3-Day Birds of a Feather Fest With “The Big Year”‘s Greg Miller Headlining
The inaugural and broad-spanned three-day Birds of a Feather Fest is scheduled for Feb. 6-8, 2015, offering a weekend of birding, workshops, presentations, kayak trips and family activities.
Wadsworth Dog Park Remains Open After Abandoned Puppy Found in Area Is Euthanized for Parvo Virus
A stray puppy that hung around Wadsworth Park in Flagler Beach was diagnosed with the virulent parvovirus virus and euthanized, but unlike last year, the county administration has no intention of closing the dog park at Wadsworth, in part because it’s not clear exactly where the stray dog was found.
Ferguson Events and FSU Shooting Trigger Florida’s Third-Busiest Gun Shopping Day Ever
The Nov. 28 purchases trailed only the sales for two days in December 2012, which came after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
Cash, Crack, Pot and Pills: Drug Sweep in Palm Coast and Bunnell Yields 16 Arrests
Most of the arrests were the result of under-cover drug buys conducted in November, leading to search and arrest warrants that SWAT teams and other cops served today. There were no arrests in Flagler Beach.
In Mass-Casualty Simulation, Flagler First Responders and Hospital Test Capabilities
The simulation entailed a plane crash at the county airport and more than two dozen injuries as fuel and debris struck Hijackers’ Restaurant. The exercise unfolded in front of Florida Hospital Flagler’s Emergency Room.
Florida’s Minimum Wage Going Up to $8.05 as Obama’s Push For $10.10 Remains Elusive
A Democratic bill in the Florida Legislature would seek the $10,10 threshold, but its chances of passing are slim to none. Business groups like the Florida Chamber of Commerce have argued against such proposals.
4 Years In, Judge Dennis Craig Is Reassigned To Volusia and Replaced By Michael Orfinger
Craig has been reassigned to the civil division in Daytona Beach. He will be replaced in Flagler by Michael Orfinger, who was elected to the bench after running unopposed last summer.
Salamander Losing Streak Continues as Planning Board Rejects 198-Room Hammock Hotel, 3-2
The vote, coming at the end of a nearly four and a half hour hearing, is the latest in a series of defeats for the developer, though the binding decision does not take place until the Flagler County Commission hears the proposal.
Palm Coast Council Weighing Suspending Red-Light Camera Program Entirely
The Palm Coast City Council is considering suspending–but not ending–its red-light camera program until courts rule more conclusively on the legality of the system.
Citing New Evidence, Flagler Detectives Reopen Case of Robert Picard’s Disappearance in 1997
Flagler County Sheriff’s detectives have reopened the 17-year-old case of Robert Patrick Picard, who went missing in western Flagler County in circumstances then-Sheriff Bob McCarthy called “suspicious.” The disappearance took place within days of the man’s trailer being burglarized by a man and three boys.
Flagler Opens 1st Secure Site For Supervised Children’s Visits in Sally’s Safe Haven
It took three years and $400,000 from a federal grant, but on Monday county officials dedicated the safe haven in the old Bunnell Post office location, ensuring that parents don’t have to travel to Volusia or St. Johns to execute court-ordered, supervised children’s visitations.
Taxpayers’ Bill for Rick Scott’s Losing Battle to Drug-Test Welfare Recipients: $307,000 and Rising
ACLU of Florida Executive Director Howard Simon, who blamed the governor and the Legislature for the cost to taxpayers, blasted Scott for refusing to back down as the governor mulls appealing the latest decision calling his ploy unconstitutional.
In Reversal, Accused European Village Attacker Daniel Noble Found Competent to Stand Trial
Daniel Noble appeared ready to shoot his Uzi-style assault weapon at a crowd at European Village in March before he was wrestled to the ground. After being deemed incompetent to stand trial three months ago, a judge ruled today that trial can proceed.
Eric Niemi Is Sentenced to Life in Prison, No Parole, for R-Section Murder of Leonard Lynn
Niemi killed Leonard Lynn, his 72-year-old landlord, in a savage beating last year. The sentencing hearing reflected Niemi’s own demeanor: stark, almost shorn of emotions, dispirited, more matter-of-fact than anguished.
How to Easily Navigate Big Changes in Fine Print of Obamacare Plans Before Deadline
Even if you’re getting the same plan — of the nearly 2,800 health plans offered in 2014, about 1,700 of them will exist in the same form next year — their benefits may not stay the same. Here’s an easy way to figure it all out.
Cops Get Away With Murder Because They Know They Can. It’s America In Black and White.
Resisting arrest is a cop’s license to kill: In retrospect there was little doubt that grand juries in Missouri and New York would let off the cops responsible for the killing of two unarmed black men.
Judge Rules Parents Can Join Lawsuit Over Florida’s School-Voucher Program
Parents and their lawyers said they should be allowed the full-party status because their children would lose access to what is known as the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program if the court finds it unconstitutional.
Between Nature Scapes, Salvo Project and the Flagler Youth Orchestra, a Daylong Convergence of Art, Music and Green
Salvo Art gallery and Nature Scapes will be host to a day-and-evening-long celebration of art, music and trees all of Saturday, with performances by the Flagler Youth Orchestra to go along with an art opening of small works at the gallery.
Satanic Temple Display Approved for State Capitol, With Festivus Beer Pole and Nativity
The Florida Department of Management Services this week approved the proposed holiday display from the Satanic Temple, which a year ago was rejected because the agency said its proposal was “grossly offensive.”
Job Creation Surges to 321,000 as Year’s Totals Approach Best Showing Since 1999
The national economy added 321,000 in October, the best showing since February 2012, when it added 332,000 jobs, and job-creation figures for September and October were revised upward, adding 44,000 jobs to the tally, for a total of 835,000 in the last three months. But the unemployment rate, calculated from a different survey, held at last month’s 5.8 percent.
“I Didn’t Want To But It Had To Be Done”: Details Emerge in Husband’s Alleged Shooting of His Wife
Jonathan Canales allegedly told his wife Tiffany Norman, just before shooting her in their Mondex home on Nov. 15, that he could kill her “and nobody would even know about it.”
Sgt. Larry Jones, One of Flagler Sheriff’s First Black Deputies, Retires After 30 Years
Jones’s career has straddled the best and worst of the county’s history. When he was hired in October 1984, Jones was only the fifth African-American deputy hired in Flagler County, which only a few years earlier had been the last county to desegregate its schools in Florida.
Cue That Processional: Gay Marriage Could Be Legal in Florida Starting Jan. 6
A federal appeals court Wednesday rejected Attorney General Pam Bondi’s request to at least temporarily extend Florida’s ban on gay marriage — possibly setting the stage for same-sex marriages to start in January.
For Oceanside Grill in Flagler Beach, a Parking Lot Becomes Epic Battleground Over City Rules
The city told Oceanside Grill that it had inadequate parking, and when the restaurant bought a lot to comply, the city told it it could not use it for parking. The contradictions came to a head at a planning board meeting Tuesday, but a compromise is in the works.
Serious Flagler Candidates All Out of Special House Election; Dennis McDonald Qualifies for Senate
Howard Holley pulled out of the House election race Monday, leaving no serious Flagler candidate in the running, though newcomer Danielle Anderson has qualified. In the Senate race, Dennis McDonald will be challenging Hutson, Renuart and Sweeny in a four-way Republican primary.
Obamacare Snags: He Wants To Be Insured But Still Can’t Afford It.
The law requires all Americans to carry health insurance, but despite subsidies, it isn;t a given that some workers can afford their portion of premium costs. One of those people is Leaburn Alexander
Should Brandishing a Gun at Someone Who Cuts You Off in Traffic Be Considered Self-Defense?
The Florida Supreme Court is considering a “stand your ground” case in which a man was charged with aggravated assault after brandishing a gun at a trucker during a confrontation on a state highway.
Jonathan Canales Charged With Attempted Murder in Shooting of His Wife 2 Weeks Ago
Jonathan Canales was arrested for attempted first-degree murder after allegedly shooting his wife from behind as she ate dinner in the couple’s kitchen in the Mondex, moments after putting her three children to bed.
New Sheriff’s HQ Square Footage Grows By a Third Even as Construction Cost Falls to $4.2 Million
Instead of a $6.2 million demolition and construction project, the lowest bid for the sheriff’s HQ came in at $4.2 million, with the sheriff gaining 9,000 more square feet in the bargain, for a total of 35,000 square feet.
Palm Coast Will Optimize Its 50 Traffic Signals, But No: They Still Won’t Be Synchronized
Palm Coast will spend $55,000 to study its traffic signals on its way to improving efficiency and wait times for drivers at red lights, but drivers’ most pressing wish–synchronization–won’t be part of the results.
Hurricane-Free For 9th Consecutive Season, Florida’s Property Insurers Now Better Braced for Catastrophe
A single Andrew-like Hurricane could wipe out in a day what Florida has taken almost a decade to recoup, but those nine years of calm have also placed the state in a stronger position to face an eventual and inevitable catastrophic storm.
Faith Coleman, Founder of Flagler County Free Clinic and Champion of Grit, Is Dead at 60
Even as she battled a cancer that kept recurring over the past 11 years, Faith Coleman created in the Flagler County Free Clinic one of the county’s most crucial and enduring institutions, which a board of directors now vows to preserve in her memory.