Supporters of the bill seemed taken aback by the news, which came less than a week after Sen. Jack Latvala, the Clearwater Republican who sponsored the bill, announced that half the Senate had agreed to join him in sponsoring the measure. Latvala and Negron are locked in a battle over the Senate presidency for the session beginning after the 2016 elections.
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Raising Hope: Indian Trails Guardian Angels Lift Awareness of Teen Suicide and Depression
The Guardian Angels, one of two Indian Trails Middle School Service Learning groups doing projects in conjunction with Palm Coast’s annual Arbor Day celebration on May 3, are raising money to dedicate a walkway at the Children’s Memorial Garden in Waterfront Park.
Your Amazon Holiday Is Over: Giant Starts Collecting Sales Tax in Florida in 2 Weeks
For Floridians who are supposed to pay the taxes but haven’t, the announcement of Amazon’s entry into the state’s brick-and-mortar retail landscape could mean about $80 million a year in sales taxes, according to one business lobbying group.
Despite Parental Notification Law, Court Finds Room for Teens to Protect Privacy When Seeking Abortion
Florida voters in 2004 approved a constitutional amendment that requires parents to be notified before their minor daughters can have abortions. But an appeals court ruling released Friday shows how far teens can go to challenge the law–and preserve their privacy when seeking an abortion.
No Thanks: Bunnell Votes 4-1 to Return Old Courthouse to the County, Citing Costs and Liabilities
The stunning reversal culminates months of doubt and disappointment about the building on city officials’ part as they discovered a structure in more serious disrepair than the county had let on and tallied far more expensive bills ahead than the city could afford, if it were to keep the building.
House Balks at $2 Million-a-Year Tax Subsidy to Daytona Speedway as Other Breaks Advance
Funding for Daytona International Speedway and a temporary tax break on gym memberships could be casualties when the House and Senate meet next week on their opposing packages to complete Gov. Rick Scott’s $500 million election-year tax cuts.
Trap, Neuter and Return: Feral Cat Program Makes Progress in Flagler Beach, But Not in Palm Coast
The Flagler Humane Society is on pace to trap, neuter and return some 600 cats in Flagler Beach through a program that avoids killing the animals, though not without creating frictions among some residents. Attempts to to bring the TNR approach to Palm Coast continue to falter.
Rocky Mountain High or Reefer Madness? Legal Pot Comes with Risks
Legal pot is attracting new and possibly naïve users — creating risks that some don’t bargain for. Second, the public health system’s desire to protect people may be well-intentioned, but regulation and efforts to track the health effects have a ways to go.
Palm Coast Voters Lose Again: The City Of Low Turnout Gets a Spoiled Election
Even if Palm Coast and Supervisor of Elections Weeks work out their differences, as it now looks like they have, voters have already lost as this months-long manufactured controversy will become election campaign fodder for candidates who don’t have anything more substantial to offer.
Replacing Salisbury Steak With Sardines, Florida Prisons’ Kosher Option Raises Hackles
Inmates contend that the peanut butter, sardines and cabbage served up daily by the Florida Department of Corrections are designed to discourage them from signing up for the kosher meals or to punish inmates if they do, and that the chow is far from what a federal judge had in mind last year when she ordered the state to start serving kosher meals to inmates.
Mega Health Bill Favoring Nurse Practitioners, Trauma Centers and Drs. Without State License Clears House Panel
The bill would protect private for-profit trauma centers, allow for independent practice for nurse practitioners and allow out-of-state doctors to participate in telehealth without a Florida license. The Florida Medical Association opposes the latter two.
Casino Legislation Is Dead This Year, But So Is Proposal to Report Injuries and Deaths of Race Greyhounds
Florida will remain, along with Alabama, the only state that does not require require greyhound tracks to report dog injury and deaths. Also ended is a sweeping gambling overhaul that would have authorized two Las Vegas-style casinos in South Florida.
Grand Jury Declines to Indict Ex-Flagler Beach Cop Bobby MacDonald Over Wife’s Gunshot Wound, But Case May Remain Open for Years
A Flagler County grand jury found no probable cause to go forward with an indictment against Robert “Bobby” MacDonald, who brought his wife Kathy bleeding from the head, from a gunshot wound, to an ambulance in July 2012 in western Flagler County.
Open Skateboard Rinks to Scooters and Bikes? County and Flagler Beach Propose More Permissive Rules at Wadsworth
The proposal is dividing officials and parents, some of whom like the broader allowance, some of whom consider it an invitation to accidents and lawsuits. The Flagler County Commission got in on the discussion earlier this week because the park belongs to the county, though it’s been run and policed by Flagler Beach for 10 years.
Abortion Restrictions May Tighten in Florida as “Viability” Bill Diminishing Women’s Rights Moves Forward
Under current law, third-trimester abortions are allowed if they are necessary to save a pregnant woman’s life or preserve her health, The proposals would make that standard more restrictive, and would exclude a woman’s psychological health as a reason to perform an abortion.
Palm Coast Prepares to Run Its Own Elections, But Cost Would Rise and Turnout Drop
Supervisor of Elections Kimberle Weeks and Palm Coast have been in talks to resolve their differences, but in case they don’t, Palm Coast is planning on running its own elections in 2014, with paper ballots and at a single location only, which would most likely hurt turnout significantly.
Health Groups Oppose Bill Banning E-Cigarettes to Minors, Calling It a Stealth Favor to Big Tobacco
The American Lung Association of Florida and other groups are fighting the measure because it would also ban local efforts to restrict the sales of cigarettes and other tobacco-related products.
My Agreement Or Else: Elections Supervisor Weeks Bluntly Rejects Palm Coast Proposals
Reaffirming a stalemate, Weeks’s refusal to conduct the Palm Coast elections on any terms but hers means the city may have to go it alone, triggering costs and confusion.
More Parents Are Defaulting on College Loans For Their Children, Costing Taxpayers
The Parent Plus program allows parents to take out essentially uncapped amounts to cover college costs, regardless of the borrower’s income or ability to repay the loan. But default rates, while still modest, have nearly tripled over the last four years.
Altered Space: When the Mall
Is a Refuge From Virtual Reality
With America’s slouch toward the virtual at the expense of the real and the human, it is entirely possible that we will become nostalgic for malls as lost relics of interpersonal relations, alongside the courthouse square, the barber shop and the neighborhood bar.
Third Florida Wrong-Way Crash in Two Months Kills 2 and Injures 14 as 91 Year Old Man Errs
Ernest Lee Holmes, 91, drove his Buick south in the northbound lanes of I-75 near midnight Friday, crashing with one car head-on, killing oral surgeon Peter Linek of Ormond Beach, and triggering three more crashes including a Greyhound bus carrying 42 passengers and a car carrying four children.
Scoring the Legislature at the Half-Way Mark
With the two chambers working in tandem on most issues, Gov. Rick Scott was able to sign a series of bills into law this week. They included a bill, dubbed the “Florida GI Bill,” aimed at making the state more military friendly; a package of bills aimed at keeping sexually violent predators locked up; and a bill that will roll back motor-vehicle registration fees.
Lawmakers Poised to Kill Florida KidCare Expansion for 25,000 Children of Legal Immigrants
The proposal (HB 7 and SB 282) would eliminate a five-year waiting period for lawfully residing immigrants to be eligible for KidCare, a subsidized insurance program that serves children from low- and moderate-income families. Senate President Don Gaetz would vote against it.
Senate Approves Proposed Constitutional Amendment Giving Scott Court-Packing Power
The proposal, passed by the Senate in a 26-14 vote, would give the next governor the ability to pack the courts and is intended to give incumbent Gov. Rick Scott, who is seeking re-election, the ability to reshape the Florida Supreme Court.
Man Wanted for Home Invasion Arrested in Palm Coast After Chase and Wreck of FHP Car
A high-speed chase for Aaaron Butler of Jacksonville man that started somewhere on I-95 south of Palm Coast ended at Palm Coast Parkway and Club House Drive earlier this afternoon with Butler’s arrest–and the wreck of a Florida Highway Patrol cruiser.
As Baker Acting of Children Soars, Flagler School Board Grapples With Perceptions of “Outrage”
Baker Acts involving children in schools has reached 32 so far this year, three times more than last year, prompting one school board member to call herself “outraged” at the police-led manner in which most such Baker Acts are carried out, even with teens and younger children.
Sweeping Child-Welfare Reform Bill Calls For “Moral Outrage” and More Money
The legislation got its start last fall, after media reports about a wave of child deaths from abuse and neglect — and gained momentum as it became clear that many of the victims were already known to the Florida Department of Children and Families, which had failed to protect them.
The Ten Tenors Renew Their Vows With Flagler in Two Broadway-Themed Shows at the Auditorium Saturday
The Ten Tenors have been coming to the Flagler Auditorium for a dozen years, ever since they sprung out of Australia to set out on what’s become an increasingly popular, worldwide phenomenon.
Single-Family Home Permits Up 29% in 1st Quarter as Construction in Palm Coast Churns
Some 126 construction permits were issued for single-family homes in Flagler County in the first three months of the year, 88 of them in Palm Coast and 34 in the unincorporated part of the county.
Federal Appeals Court Declares Scott Administration’s 2012 Voter Purge Illegal
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments from Rick Scott’s administration that the effort to remove suspected non-citizens from the voting rolls did not violate a federal law barring wide-ranging efforts to cleanse those rolls within 90 days of an election.
Pitching Two Proposals Back to Elections Supervisor, Palm Coast May Call on State to Resolve Conflict
The Palm Coast City Council approved two separate agreements calling on Supervisor of Elections Kimberle Weeks to run the 2014 city elections, asking her to pick one, though Weeks has been unwilling to negotiate. The city may call on Secretary of State Ken Detzner to resolve the issue, should a stalemate persist.
Lifelong Republican Turned independent: Howard Holley Launches All-Business Bid For County Commission
Howard Holley, a Hammock business executive, would face Flagler County Commissioner Frank Meeker in November if Meeker doesn’t have a primary opponent, no black candidate and no independent candidate has ever won a county commission seat.
Obamacare Tally: Florida Subsidies Average $3,000, But Some Families Complain of Costly Exclusion
And yet only one in four Floridians who qualifies for a subsidy had enrolled in a plan by March 1, leaving 1 million eligible residents uninsured. A mother describes how the law’s employee-insurance provision barred her family from subsidies.
Rick Scott’s Dilemma: Helping Undocumented-Immigrant Students Or Sticking to His Base
While Scott has repeatedly said he supports a proposal to end annual 15 percent tuition hikes, he’s remained mum about the portion of the bill that would grant in-state tuition to undocumented students, or Dreamers.
Weeks Against the World: Elections Supervisor Holds Out on Palm Coast Elections Despite Secretary of State’s Admonition
The only higher official who hasn’t yet told Flagler County Supervisor of Elections Kimberle Weeks to move beyond her feud with the Palm Coast City Council over the city’s 2014 elections is Gov. Rick Scott. Sill, Weeks remains obstinate as time runs short for Palm Coast to decide who will run its 2014 elections.
Farewell To Bookstores:
Why I Won’t Miss Books-A-Million
The closure of Books-A-Million is not as bad as it sounds: the chain bookstore was not living up to its billing as a cultural hub, and bookstores these days are becoming irrelevant thanks to Amazon, audio books and Google, which make the world’s libraries immediately accessible at a click.
Chris Christie’s Hormonal Problem
Would someone please call Chris Christie and tell him that if he thinks he could be President of the United States, he doesn’t have a prayer. By insinuating that the lane closings were the handiwork of a woman suffering from a romantic setback, Christie’s lawyers have ensured that he will be scorned by every woman who has had to endure the canard that women are ruled by their hormones and their feelings.
“Opportunity Scholarships”: Lawmakers Revive Vast Expansion of School Vouchers By Riding Coattails of Students With Disabilities
The House Education Appropriations Subcommittee voted 8-4 to introduce the measure, which would bind together a program aimed at students with disabilities and the voucher expansion. Senate leaders last week pulled their counterpart to the House voucher bill, but the measure for students with disabilities remains alive.
For Pizza and Chicken Wings: Matanzas Football Star and 3 Teens Accused of Robbing Delivery Woman in F-Section
Al’kwazi J. Spencer, a star player on the Matanzas High School football team, and two teens, were arrested early this morning and charged with robbing a pizza delivery woman in Palm Coast’s F Section just after midnight. The boys had allegedly taken the pizza and chicken wings to a house near where the alleged robbery took place and ate the goods with other friends, minus the crust.
Bomb Threat Phoned In Forces Evacuation of Flagler County Courthouse; All-Clear at 4:30p
A bomb threat called in around 12:30 this afternoon forced the evacuation of the Flagler County Courthouse. The building remains evacuated at the moment, with personnel either in the Government Services Building or in the parking lot of the building.
Flagler Unemployment Creeps Up Again, to 9.4%, But Labor Force and Net Jobs Grow
Flagler County’s unemployment rate again rose in February, to 9.4 percent, a decimal-point increase over the previous month and some 80 more people went on unemployment. But The county’s overall employment went up sharply, by 364 (for a total of 31,976), and the county’s labor force went up even more, by 442–both signs of growing strength in the local economy as more workers seem encouraged to join the labor force, and more workers are actually finding jobs.
Lawmakers’ Proposal to Ban E-Cigarettes for Youths Lights Up Local Governments Over Additional Strictures
Health groups and local governments are criticizing a bill (HB 169) that would ban e-cigarette sales to minors because the measure also would prevent cities and counties from passing their own regulations on the sales of electronic cigarettes and tobacco products.
The End: Palm Coast’s Books-A-Million, Flagler’s Only General-Interest Bookstore, Is Closing
Books-A-Million in Palm Coast on Wednesday announced an everything-must-go sale ahead of closure, ending the town’s very brief romance with a bookstore larger than an attic. The company lost money in 2013. There is no known replacement for the store, a mainstay of the Target shopping center.
Red-Light Cameras Won’t Be Repealed This Year, But Restrictions on Profits May Yet Pass
Red-light cameras’ powerful lobby defeated Senate Transportation Chairman Jeff Brandes’s attempt to end the use of the devices, but several proposed restrictions are still moving through the Legislature, such as limiting profits to safety uses and requiring safety studies before cameras can be installed.
As March 31 Deadline Nears: Going Without Health Insurance Will Likely Cost You At Tax Time
If you thought you could get health coverage later this year, you may not get that chance until November, which means that you’ll most likely have to pay a penalty of 1 percent of your income at tax time, even if only a single member of your family is not insured. Penalties rise in subsequent years.
Bunnell Cop Michael Stavris Is Arrested on Charges of Computer Porn Involving Underage Boys
Michael Stavris, an officer with the Bunnell Police Department, was jailed Tuesday evening on two charges of computer porn and a charge of criminal use of someone else’s personal information following a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation into several instances where Stavris is accused of soliciting naked images from underage boys.
Judge Refuses to Revoke $400,000 Bond on European Village’s Would-Be Shooter; Bova Behaves
Daniel Noble, accused of attempted murder in the March 15 European Village incident, was in court today, as were the men who disarmed him, as prosecutor tried unsuccessfully to revoke his bond. Joseph Bova, the accused murderer of Mobil Mart store clerk Zuheily Rosado, was also in court, subdued this time, and is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing in May.
Now Leery of Old Courthouse, Bunnell Fears Money Pit and Talks of Giving It Back
With two commissioners ready to give back the old courthouse to the county, Bunnell opted Monday to get more solid bids on what it would cost the city to turn the problematic building into its city hall, but the city administration drew a bleak picture of finances that cannot bear new burdens regardless.
For 2nd Time in 5 Days a Deputy Is Involved in Serious Crash, But No Report Yet from Sheriff
Monday’s crash took place at the intersection of U.S. 1 and Grand Reserve, within the city limits of Bunnell, where a sheriff’s deputy rear-ended another motorist. The motorist was reportedly cited, and the sheriff’s office, not the Bunnell PD or FHP, investigated the crash.
Palm Coast Cancels Special Meeting as Conflict With Elections Supervisor Again Flares
Tuesday’s special meeting between the Palm Coast City Council and Elections Supervisor Kimberle Weeks was to have ironed out a mutual agreement for Weeks’s office to run the city’s municipal elections this year. Weeks, however, is demanding that the city approve the agreement she drafted without such a meeting, and virtually without changes, something to which the city is not likely to agree before the April 2 deadline set by Weeks.