Several top-leading GOP leaders at the Florida Freedom Forum in Orlando on Saturday warned that complacency and infighting could give an opening to their political rivals even though the Republican Party of Florida has never been more powerful than right now. Gov. Ron DeSantis, Attorney General James Uthemier and others faced more than half-a-dozen outbursts that took place throughout the day at the Rosen Shingle Creek hotel.
Featured
Keep Your ICE Raids Out of Our Schools
Immigration raids have escalated — often under questionable pretenses. This spring, immigration agents tried to enter two elementary schools in Los Angeles. At the door, agents said they wanted to determine students’ well-being and claimed to have authorization from the children’s caretakers. Administrators denied them entry — and when they spoke with caretakers later, they learned that agents had lied about receiving permission.
‘Yes, We Signed the Damn Thing Because We Really Had To,’ Orlando Mayor Says of Forced Transports for ICE
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings signed an updated agreement with U.S. Immigration and Enforcement (ICE) on Friday, although he later said he did so under “protest and extreme duress.” It came days after Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier threatened the mayor and all six county commissioners that their failure to do so would result in their removal from office by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
County Attorney Al Hadeed, Now a Flagler Sheriff’s Deputy, Is Regaled Into Retirement
The sheriff’s naming of County Attorney Al Hadeed an honorary sheriff’s deputy was among the surprises at Hadeed’s retirement party Thursday evening at the Government Services Building. There were numerous local tributes, a proclamation, the dedication of a bench in Hadeed’s name at Princess Place Preserve, recognitions wrapped in gifts and held-back tears and choked-up memories and overhead screens projecting a lifetime of pictures.
Palm Coast Council’s Charles Gambaro Announces Congressional Run Against ‘Outrageous’ Randy Fine
Palm Coast City Council member Charles Gambaro late Thursday announced he will challenge U.S. Rep. Randy Fine in the 2026 primary for the 6th Congressional District seat Fine won in a special election last April. With Council member Dave Sullivan’s plan not to run in the 2026 election, Gambaro’s decision creates the second open seat on the council–an opening that gives the embattled mayor a chance to make a play for a majority aligned with him.
U.S. Job Creation Stalls to Lowest 3-Month Total Since Covid, Bankruptcies Spike 27% in Florida’s Middle District
The national economy added 73,000 jobs in July and 106,000 in the last three months combined, the poorest quarter in job creation since the massive job losses of April 2020 as Covid shut down much of the economy. The unemployment rate edged up to 4.2. It has hovered between 4 and 4.2 percent for the past 14 months. In a related trend, personal and business bankruptcy filings rose nationally 11.5 percent in the last 12 months, and 27 percent in the Middle District of Florida that includes Flagler County, from 18,471 last year to 23,442 in the last 12 months. A bankruptcy attorney says the trend is here to stay.
Hires of Palm Coast Utility and Development Directors Termed Capstones of Mark Strobridge’s Brief Tenure
Flagler County Sheriff’s Chief Mark Strobridge considers the long-needed appointments of directors to two of Palm Coast government’s most important departments–utilities and growth management–as the capstone to his unusual tenure as an assistant city manager on loan to Interim City Manager Lauren Johnston. The city on Wednesday announced the appointments of Brian Roche as director of the Utility Department, and John Zobler as Community Development Director, a position vacant since Jason DeLorenzo was named chief of staff in September 2022. DeLorenzo left the city earlier this month.
Two Turtle Nests Halt Flagler Beach Pier Construction Until September as Workarounds Prove Impractical
The Flagler Beach pier demolition and reconstruction project is coming to a halt next Wednesday. Two new turtle nests burrowed in the path of the large trestle under construction are stopping work on the $16 million project. It will resume in about two months, after the turtles have hatched. The due date for the newest turtle nest is not before Sept. 10.
As Mayor Norris Misrepresents Ethics Complaint Dismissal, Council Focuses on Charter and Governor Action
The Florida Commission on Ethics tossed out a complaint filed by four Palm Coast City Council members against Mayor Mike Norris, citing “legal insufficiency.” Norris had said as much in a social media posting last Friday and at a town hall meeting Monday, misinterpreting the order as a victory. To the council members, the ethics commission’s decision is one more reason to revise the city charter to add disciplinary clauses that would enable a council majority–or a supermajority–to deal with a rogue or derelict member.
On Flagler County School Board, Competing Views Underscore District Tensions Behind Vouchers and ‘Choice’
At the end of a 15-minute hearing on Tuesday to approve Flagler County schools’ tentative property tax and budget for the coming fiscal year–a budget that includes the siphoning of $17 million to subsidize private school “vouchers” for almost 2,000 students, with the district’s dollars–School Board member Janie Ruddy delivered a brief speech decrying the erosion of public dollars for public schools, and addressing its consequences. Will Furry followed with a rejoinder, illustrating district tensions at the heart of the voucher and “choice” program. Both statements follow in full.
Citing Costs, Flagler Beach Commissioners Reject Design of New ‘Beachwalk’ on and Around Pier for 2nd Time in 4 Weeks
The design of a new “Beachwalk” and “Promenade” beneath and around the Flagler Beach pier drew raves from city commissioners. But what started as a $1.5 million project has ballooned to at least $2.8 million, with several design elements that were not part of the original concept as commissioners understood it, including a covered portion of the 4,200-square-foot promenade. Commissioners have tabled the project and asked for a third redesign.
At Mike Norris ‘Mayoral Town Hall,’ an Impressive Crowd Starring Cast of Familiar Faces, Fictions and Grievances
Palm Coast Mayor Norris’s self-vaunted, well-attended and uneventful “Mayoral Town Hall” at the VFW hall on Old Kings Road Monday evening was almost identical to a grousing public comment segment at a City Council meeting, but stretched to two hours, and with a larger audience primed by pizza, beer and wine on the mayor’s personal generosity. The two-hour event drew 154 people, based on a head count just before the halfway mark.
Federal Judge Wants To Know ‘Who’s Running the Show’ at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
A U.S. district judge on Monday pushed state and federal officials to provide a copy of an intergovernmental agreement showing “who’s running the show” at an Everglades immigrant-detention center, calling the situation “urgent” as at least 100 detainees have been deported amid legal wrangling over the remote facility.
Mayor Norris Files for Rehearing in Lawsuit He Lost Over Gambaro Appointment and Distorts Ethics Decision
Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris through his attorney filed a motion for rehearing of his lawsuit against the city and Council member Charles Gambaro, who Norris still claims was illegally appointed despite a court order to the contrary. Separately, Norris, in a truculent social media posting replete with errors and mischaracterizations late Friday, claimed that the Florida Commission on Ethics “has officially dismissed” the complaint the City Council filed against him, and did so “due to insufficient legal standing.”
A Perplexed Flagler Beach Hears Vague County ‘Options’ to Pay for Beach Protection After Sales Tax Plan Collapse
Kim Carney, the county commissioner who played a significant role in defeating the proposed sales tax increase to finance a comprehensive beach-protection plan, went to the Flagler Beach City Commission Thursday with five options from which the city could choose to protect its own beach. Four of the options would require Flagler Beach to impose a new tax or fee on its residents. The fifth would have the city supporting a 2026 referendum to raise the sales tax–the very option the County Commission could have approved, and that Carney opposed.
Trump Voters Wanted Relief From Medical Bills. For Millions, the Bills Are About To Get Bigger.
President Donald Trump rode to reelection last fall on voter concerns about prices. But as his administration pares back federal rules and programs designed to protect patients from the high cost of health care, Trump risks pushing more Americans into debt, further straining family budgets already stressed by medical bills. Millions of people are expected to lose health insurance in the coming years as a result of the tax cut legislation Trump signed this month, leaving them with fewer protections from large bills if they get sick or suffer an accident.
Flagler County Cancels ‘Boots on the Ground’ Line Dancing Event at 11th Hour as Sheriff Blasts Permitting Flop
Flagler County government ordered the permit for a “Boots on the Ground Line Dance Competition” revoked on Friday, cancelling the event 24 hours before it was scheduled to start. The county did so after the organizer of the event “engaged in serial misrepresentation of the event, continually contradicted by his social media promotion,” according to the email by the deputy county administrator.
4 Council Members Ask DeSantis to Suspend Mayor for ‘Malfeasance, Misfeasance, Neglect of Duty, and Incompetence’
Twice charging Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris with “malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, and incompetence,” the rest of the Palm Coast City Council today issued a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis, asking him to suspend Norris from office and appoint an acting mayor in his place.
Flagler Beach Will Consider Moving Its Elections to Even Years to Save Money, and Alter Commissioners’ Terms
Flagler Beach will consider moving its elections from March every year to November, coinciding with general and presidential election cycles. Commissioners’ three-year terms would have to revert to two years, as had been the case two decades ago, or go to four-year terms. The change, suggested as a discussion point by City Clerk Penny Overstreet Thursday evening, would potentially save the city $18,000 per election.
School Board’s Lauren Ramirez Prevails in Conflict-of-Interest Dispute at Ethics Commission, With Help from a Familiar Face
Flagler County School Board member Lauren Ramirez’s challenge of proposed restrictions on her private business not only prevailed today before the Florida Ethics Commission, which unanimously took her side, but spurred a request by the commission that the Florida Legislature rewrite the relevant portions of law to prevent similar conflict-of-interest restrictions in the future. Ramirez all but won her challenge behind arguments to the Ethics Commission by her attorney, Theresa Pontieri, the Palm Coast City Council vice mayor.
Stop the Grift: Florida’s School Vouchers Are Scamming Taxpayers and Sabotaging Democracy
Our public schools are America’s great equalizer, the engine room of our democracy, where kids of different incomes, races, abilities, and beliefs learn side by side. That’s not “just education.” That’s democracy in motion, argues Colleen Conklin, the former School Board member. And that’s precisely why the current voucher experiment—built on selective enrollment, hidden finances, and zero public oversight—is the opposite: it fractures the common schoolhouse, privatizes accountability, and poses a real threat to the democratic fabric that public education holds together.
School Board Fails Math as It Adds Deputy Despite Increased Costs in Lean Times and No Increased Safety
Just hours after the Flagler County School Board bemoaned sharply leaner times as enrollment drops, state dollars drop with it and federal dollars are being withheld, the board voted to add one more school resource deputy to its ranks even though the deputy will not improve school safety and the cost-benefit data is not in favor of adding one.
Flagler Beach Pier Contractor Strikes Power Line, Causing Minor Fire and Shutting Down Funky Pelican and Surf 97.3 Radio
For the third time in two months in Flagler Beach a contractor struck an underground utility line today, this time near the Flagler Beach pier, causing triggering a fire, shutting down traffic on State Road A1A, and cutting off power to both the Funky Pelican and Surf 97.3, Flagler Beach’s radio station, which operates from the pier.
Flagler County’s Industrial Development Authority Holds Inaugural Meeting and Has Its 1st Interested Client
The Flagler County Industrial Development Authority Board met for the first time today to learn its purpose and limitations as an advisory board to the County Commission. The authority’s primary responsibility is to recommend the issuance of tax-exempt bonds to industry or developers as a spur to economic development. To the group’s happy surprise, its first interested parties were in the slim audience of three: RJ Santore and Rick Gil of Ralph Santore & Sons, the pyrotechnics manufacturer in West Flagler.
Flagler School Board Wrestles with Smoke and Mirrors Budget as $17 Million in Vouchers and Trump Cuts Hit Home
If Flagler County School Board members aren’t panicking over next year’s budget, they’re either putting on a good act or not fully grasping the breadth of the rapidly changing financial landscape and disappearing dollars that district staff outlined for them at a meeting Tuesday. Large parts of the budget are cloaked in smoke and mirrors–not because district staff is playing with the numbers, but because the federal and state governments are requiring the district to bank on dollars it will never see, or dollars that may never materialize, even though the dollars have to be included in the budget.
Flagler School Board Isn’t Dancing About YMCA’s Request for $3 Million for Palm Coast Y in Town Center
Volusia Flagler YMCA officials made their pitch to the Flagler County School Board for a $3 million contribution to help pay for the $16 million Y planned for Palm Coast’s Town Center. The same officials made the same request of Palm Coast government in April. Palm Coast is almost in. The School Board was much cooler. It shut down the possibility that any cash would be made available unless the district were to sell property–not just because the district’s reserves of around $6 million are limited, but because of restrictions on how the district may spend the money it has.
DeSantis Targeting Democratic-Leaning Broward County and Gainesville with ‘Doge’ Probes
Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia announced Tuesday that state officials will probe spending by the governments in Democratic-leaning Broward County and Gainesville. DeSantis said reviews by his Office of Policy and Budget and Ingoglia’s Department of Financial Services will focus on governments that have “refused” to comply with state “Department of Government Efficiency” efforts, which were announced in February. The reviews also are tied to DeSantis’ effort to get the Legislature to put a proposed constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot to lower property taxes.
Palm Coast’s Policing Budget Set to Increase 24%, with 9 New Deputies; Sheriff Proposes Strict E-Bike Ordinance
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly submitted a policing budget for Palm Coast that would increase the number of deputies patrolling the city from 57 to 66 and increase the city’s policing budget 24 percent, from $9 million to $11.18 million. In 2022, the budget was $5.74 million. Also, responding to what he says is increasing complaints from pedestrians and people on regular bikes and others who’ve had close calls with electric bikes, Staly is proposing an ordinance to regulate e-bikes in Palm Coast.
Any Hope of Stricter Development Regulations in Palm Coast, Bunnell or Flagler County ‘Dead in the Water’ Until 2027
Forget a building moratorium of any kind. A For the next three years, something closer to a moratorium on regulations is in effect in Flagler County, its cities and across Florida, thanks to a provision in a new state law–what emerged from the Legislature as Senate Bill 180–that local governments are only now beginning to understand. The law ties the hands of local land use regulators, prohibiting any “burdensome” restrictions on developers, while giving anyone the right to sue a local government that appears to violate the law.
Palm Coast Couple Face Felony Child Neglect Charges After Leaving Infant in Car While Drinking at a Bar
Norman E. Finnegan Jr., 60, and Clarisse Finnegan, 28, both of Coral Reef Court in Palm Coast, were booked at the Flagler County jail shortly after midnight Saturday, each on a charge of felony child neglect after their infant child was left in the backseat of their car while the couple had drinks at a bar.
Everglades Concentration Camp Boosts Depravity for DeSantis & Co.
Do you think concentration camps are cool? Does your heart fill with mean-spirited joy at the thought of human beings stuffed into tents and FEMA trailers parked on a disused airstrip in the heart of the Everglades in the middle of a Florida summer? Do you get off on the idea of alligators and snakes killing people and admire bully capitalism hawking camo beverage coolers, stickers, and T-shirts with grinning reptiles proclaiming, “Nowhere to Run; Nowhere to Hide”?
DeSantis Signs 10th Death Warrant in 7 Month, for Kayle Bates, 43 Years after Murder of Janet White
More than 43 years after Janet White was abducted from a Bay County insurance office and murdered, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a death warrant for convicted killer Kayle Barrington Bates. Bates, 67, is scheduled to be executed Aug. 19 at Florida State Prison and could be the 10th inmate put to death by lethal injection this year in the state. DeSantis signed the death warrant after the U.S. Supreme Court on June 30 declined to take up an appeal by Bates related to a juror in his trial.
Justice Department Demanding to See States’ Voter Lists in Latest Intrusion
The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking the voter registration lists of several states — representing data on millions of Americans — and other election information ahead of the 2026 midterms, raising fears about how the Trump administration plans to use the information. The DOJ is also demanding Colorado turn over all records related to the 2024 election, a massive trove of documents that could include ballots and even voting equipment. The Colorado inquiry, the most sweeping publicly known request, underscores the extent of the administration’s attention on state election activities.
What You Can Do To Keep Your Data Privacy from Slipping Away
In 2024, the Identity Theft Resource Center reported that companies sent out 1.3 billion notifications to the victims of data breaches. That’s more than triple the notices sent out the year before. It’s clear that despite growing efforts, personal data breaches are not only continuing, but accelerating. What can you do about this situation? Here are some options.
America(n) Unbecoming
If the president can threaten citizenship revocation even for U.S.-born citizens, as he did this week, and just for holding opinions he doesn’t like, the rest of us certainly aren’t safe. For migrants, every night–every day–is Kristallnacht as ICE carries out its pogroms. A majority of Americans are either applauding or indifferent, while protesters are branded enemies and invaders to be crushed by militarized goonery. This is not the America any of us have known, or should tolerate.
Flagler Commission Hires Michael Rodriguez Its Next County Attorney as Al Hadeed Era Closes
The Flagler County Commission Thursday evening voted unanimously to hire Michael Rodriguez, a lawyer with 28 years’ experience, much of it in local government, as its next county attorney, replacing Al Hadeed, who retires in two weeks. The unanimous vote masked reluctance among some commissioners to immediately make the choice, which was made more by default than by acclamation.
Motorcyclist, 62, Is Killed in Crash After Striking Median on A1A Near Surf Club
A 62-year-old motorcyclist died at midday Thursday when he ran his motorcycle into a median, crashing on State Road A1A near the intersection with Old A1A, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Bull Creek Fish Camp Rising Again 2 Years After Demolition as County Secures Leaseholder for New Restaurant
Two years after Flagler County’s Bull Creek Fish Camp was torn down following severe damage from Hurricane Nicole, a nearly 5,000-square-foot building is rising in its place and will be leased to a west Flagler family that will run a restaurant there again. The Flagler County Commission tentatively agreed to leasing the property–which has yet to be built up–to Jessica Norton-Henry and the mother-son team of Pamela White and Joshua White.
School Board’s Derek Barrs Glides Through Senate Committee Hearing’s Grandstanding Members Unscathed
Navigating a few ideologically choppy waters as senators dueled over deregulation and political interference, Flagler County School Board member Derek Barrs on Wednesday cleared the main hurdle to his presidential nomination to lead the Transportation Department’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration as he appeared for a nomination hearing before the U.S. Senate Transportation Committee.
Palm Coast Council Again Reverts on Allowing All Exterior House Colors, to Now Keep 5 on Ban List
The Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday agreed to rescind its two-week-old decision to end all restrictions on houses’ exterior paint colors. It will instead allow almost all colors while preserving a ban on five: neon, fuchsia, magenta, orange and purple. The proposed change would still result in the least restrictive color rules since ITT founded Palm Coast in the late 1960s as a deed-restricted community. The upshot for now is that the famously, handsomely dark blue house in the F Section that’s been at the center of the controversy for months can keep its royal color.
As Sheriff Announces Sweep Netting 17 Arrests, 18th Is Seized While Watching Staly on Facebook
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly and State Attorney R.J. Larizza this afternoon announced the results of a six-month undercover investigation of suspected drug pushers, many of them habitual offenders. The sweep netted cash, guns, drugs and 18 arrests, eight of them this morning and a ninth taking place even as the sheriff’s press conference was rolling–and as the suspect was watching it.
Man Shot 8 Times in 2nd Heist Is Guilty of Armed Robbery at Palm Coast Circle K and Sentenced to Life in Prison
A jury of six convicted Qwinntavus Jordan, 34, of armed robbery of a Palm Coast Circle K in 2023 at the end of a three-day trial at the Flagler County courthouse today. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Jury Convicts Man Who Turned Down 1-Year Plea Deal for Hit-and-Run; He Faces Up to 15 Years in Prison
Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols had warned Joao Paulo Fernandes just five weeks ago: don’t go to trial. You’ll lose. Fernandes, a 50-year-old Palm Coast contractor, thought he knew better than the seasoned judge. He turned down a plea deal for hit-and-run with injury that would have had him serve less than a year in prison. Today, a jury convicted him, and that offer is off the table. He faces up to 15 years in prison.
Palm Coast Council, with 2nd Censure Vote, Will Ask Governor to Remove ‘Toxic’ Mayor Norris
The Palm Coast City Council in a 4-1 vote today censured Mayor Mike Norris for the second time in three months and agreed to send a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis asking him to unseat the mayor. Both acts were extraordinary for this or any city but for controversies Norris has been provoking since his election last November, making a routine of the extraordinary.
Palm Coast Council’s Five Charter Review Picks Reflect Politics and Experience, Not Diversity
The Palm Coast City Council today appointed five residents–five men, four white, one Hispanic–to the Charter Review Committee, along with five alternate members, out of 27 applicants. The council’s choices reflect some appointments with an eye to politics and some to experience. The appointments include former two-term County Commissioner Donald O’Brien and current East Mosquito Control District board member Michael Martin. O’Brien especially has deep familiarity both with governance and parliamentary procedures, as well as the difference between charters and ordinances.
County Money for Flagler Beach’s Lifeguards Survives for One More Year After Outcry
To Flagler Beach’s relief, the Flagler County Commission today agreed to reverse course from a plan to eliminate paying for half the salaries of Flagler Beach’s lifeguards, as the county has been doing for years. The commission agreed to the one-year extension of what will be a $106,000 payment even as it directed County Administrator Heidi Petito to continue talking with the city to prepare it for an end to the county subsidy. The decision today was part of a budget overview as Petito presented the tentative budget for next year.
Flagler Beach Commission Votes 4-1 to Start Negotiating Sale of Ocean Palm Golf Club, But Residents Skeptical
To more skepticism than support from residents, the Flagler Beach City Commission on Thursday voted 4-1 to enter into negotiations to sell its chronically ramshackle 37-acre Ocean Palm Golf Club to Jeff Ryan, who has held the property’s lease for over a year and a half. If the course is sold, there’s no guarantee against a future commission approving the land for development. It would only take a unanimous vote of the commission to do so.
Flagler School Board’s Lauren Ramirez Challenges Ethics Commission’s Pending Restrictions on Her Private Business
Flagler County School Board member Lauren Ramirez is contesting a proposed finding by the Florida Ethics Commission that would severely restrict local public school students and employees from her business. Prohibiting local students from using her company’s services, she argued, would “have broad, unintended implications for public officials who own businesses unrelated to their elected duties and who operate in good faith under the assumption that members of the public, including students or parents, can choose where to spend their time and money.”
Lawmakers Describe ‘Disturbing, Vile Conditions’ at Everglades Migrant Prison
U.S. Democratic representatives characterized the state-run migrant prison in the Everglades as a cruel and wasteful political stunt following a guided tour Saturday. “There are really disturbing, vile conditions, and this place needs to be shut the hell down,” said U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz. The South Florida Democrat said 32 men slept in each of the cages with bed bunks and three sinks attached to the toilets. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced hundreds of people started arriving on July 2.
The Texas Flood Is a Preview of the Chaos to Come
The rapid onset of disruptive climate change — driven by the burning of oil, gasoline and coal — is making disasters like this one more common, more deadly and far more costly to Americans, even as the federal government is running away from the policies and research that might begin to address it.