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Featured

‘It’s Not a Big Deal,’ Cop’s Son Said After Hit-and-Run That Left a Woman Dead. Court Denies Permission to Drive.

May 20, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 19 Comments

Jayden Ikaika Jackson.

Circuit Judge Terence Perkins denied a motion to allow Jayden Jackson, 21, to drive while on bond after hearing the prosecution describe the alleged callousness with which Jackson reacted when the car he drove collided with and killed Shaunta Cain on U.S. 1 in late 2022. Jackson allegedly told his passenger that he would not get in trouble.

Sustained ‘Grit and Determination’ Essential to Saving Flagler’s Beaches, Al Hadeed Tells Decision-Makers at Tiger Bay

May 20, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 6 Comments

County Attorney Al Hadeed was the keynote speaker at Tiger Bay last week. (© FlaglerLive)

In a talk at Flagler Tiger Bay, County Attorney Al Hadeed, who for almost a decade has led the administrative charge to rebuild and protect the county’s beaches, told a sold-out audience at Flagler Tiger Bay that feelings of futility in the face of constant erosion must be countered with “grit and determination” to protect the county’s seaside heritage.

How Dare These College Kids Protest for Humanity Toward Palestinians Instead of Getting Wasted?

May 19, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 21 Comments

Pro-Palestine protesters at Florida State University move away from a sprinkler during a protest on the Tallahassee campus on April 25, 2024. (Photo by Jackie Llanos)

Standing around on college lawns, protesting against genocide, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to arms shipments — what are they thinking? These students should be shopping, getting wasted at end-of-semester parties, and engaging in meaningless sex. Instead, they’re going around acting like citizens, engaging in civil disobedience, exercising their right to free speech, telling university administrations to get rid of all investments in Israel, and demanding humanitarian aid for Palestinians.

Ballot Proposal to Adjust Homestead Exempting to Inflation Would Hurt Renters, Businesses and Local Governments

May 18, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 16 Comments

The proposal would only shift more of the tax burden toward renters and businesses. (© FlaglerLive)

Florida voters will get to decide in the November election whether to shield more of the value of their homes from property taxes under a proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution, but the measure might mean higher taxes for renters, landlords, and other commercial property owners.

13 Year Old Arrested in Daytona Beach in Copycat ‘Dare’ to Blow Up Buddy Taylor Middle School

May 17, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly with Superintendent LaShakia Moore at this evening's press conference. (© FlaglerLive)

A 13-year-old adolescent was arrested by Daytona Beach police today and charged with making one call threatening to blow up Buddy Taylor Middle School in late morning today. Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said the threat is believed to be a copycat following a week of similar calls threatening to shoot up Flagler County schools, shoot cops who’d respond to the threats or detonate bombs.

Affordable Housing in Palm Coast-Flagler: Plenty of Ideas, Not Enough Political Follow-Through

May 17, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 18 Comments

Annamaria Long, executive officer of the Flagler Home Builders Association, speaking at the forum today at the Palm Coast Community Center. Other panelists included, from left, Maeven Rogers, Palm Coast administration coordinator, Bill Lazar, executive director of the St. Johns Housing Partnership, a non-profit, and Scott Culp, a principal at Atlantic Housing partnership, builder of affordable apartment complexes in 10 states. Ali Ankudowich, a technical advisor with the Florida Housing Coalition, joined the forum by zoom. The forum was hosted by Valerie Clymer, a mortgage loan officer who also sits on the joint Flagler-Palm Coast Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. (© FlaglerLive)

The Palm Coast Community Center was not the place to be this afternoon if you wanted to hear cheery answers and simple solutions to increasing the dismal stock of affordable housing in the city and the county. But it was the only place and one of the rare times in recent years where local governments–the county and Palm Coast–devoted a serious forum to explore difficult questions and realistic possibilities to bring more affordable housing to the region.

After Some Tactical Chest-Beating, Flagler County and Ormond Beach Swoon to Resolution of Lawsuit Over Road

May 17, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 3 Comments

The lawyers did it: Assistant Flagler County Attorney Sean Moylan, left, immediately after a productive joint meeting of the Flagler County Commission and the Ormond Beach City Commission to resolve issues at the heart of a lawsuit the city filed against the county last October. Moylan worked with Ormond Beach attorney Cliff Shephard, center, to resolve the dispute, leaving it to the two governments to ratify the work. (© FlaglerLive)

Flagler County’s and Ormond Beach’s attorneys started off an unprecedented meeting of the two government boards Thursday evening at Ormond Beach City Hall with a good deal of “chest-beating” in the legal dispute about a county easement over a dirt road that crosses into Ormond Beach. The language was sharp, accusatory, and legally threatening on both sides. Yet by the end of the meeting, the two sides were lobbing gallantry at each other, with all issues resolved and the lawsuit set to be dismissed.

Florida’s High School Athletes Could Soon Get Paid Through Endorsement Deals

May 17, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 10 Comments

The Florida High School Athletic Association held a discussion Tuesday about a potential change to the organization’s bylaws that would allow student-athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness under what is commonly known as an NIL policy. The 13-member board, which includes eight members appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in August, is slated to vote on the proposal during a June 4 meeting.

Emergency Order Will Criminalize Walking on Dunes in Flagler County; Flagler Beach’s Experience: Education Works

May 16, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 16 Comments

Flagler Beach has done a good job of keeping people off its dunes, Flagler County Attorney Al Hadeed says, but the northern part of the county needs more enforcement. (© FlaglerLive)

The Flagler County Commission on Monday is expected to approve an emergency order that criminalizes walking on dunes anywhere along the county’s 18 miles of shoreline. The penalty may be a $500 fine and 60 days in jail. The order reflects several pulses of urgency as dunes are being rebuilt with fragile vegetation taking root, and as erosion continues its relentless work. Flagler Beach criminalized walking on dunes years ago, but has never arrested anyone for it: education is key, its police chief says.

Baffled and Rattled, Flagler Community, Schools and Cops Grapple with Response to Bogus ‘Swatting’ Disruptions

May 16, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

Sheriff Rick Staly with Superintendent LaShakia Moore and School Board Chair Will Furry during a press conference this afternoon. (© FlaglerLive)

There are no arrests, no serious leads, no understandable motives behind the spate of “swatting” calls that have disrupted classes and activities at several schools in Flagler County over the last three days, caused immeasurable anxiety among students, faculty and parents, and caused law enforcement and other responders to expend untold work-hours and other resources. 

Lawyers for Judge Rose Marie Preddy File for Final Judgment Against Scott DuPont’s Qualification to Run

May 16, 2024 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

Circuit Judge Rose Marie Preddy. (© FlaglerLive)

Lawyers for Circuit Judge Rose Marie Preddy, who sits in Putnam County, have filed a motion for a final judgment against Scott DuPont’s qualification to run again for judgeship as he is attempting to do against Preddy in this year’s election. DuPont was booted off the bench in 2018 and suspended from practicing law in 2019 after he was found to have acted with egregious misconduct during his 2016 re-election run and on several occasions in court, as a sitting judge in Flagler County or Putnam Counties.

Judge Rules Unconstitutional Part of Florida Law Forbidding Non-Citizens from Gathering Petitions

May 16, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 14 Comments

It's much harder to find petition-gatherers. (Erin M McCuskey)

A federal judge Wednesday issued a final decision blocking part of a 2023 Florida elections law that placed new restrictions on voter-registration groups, including preventing non-U.S. citizens from “collecting or handling” registration applications.

A $257 Million Re-Construction of the I-95-U.S.1 Interchange Into a ‘Diverging Diamond’ Is Planned for 2027

May 15, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 20 Comments

US 1 rendering

It’s one of the largest and costliest planned infrastructure projects in the region, using a relatively new concept in interchange engineering: a $257 million reconstruction of the I-95 interchange at U.S. 1, a few miles south of the Flagler-Volusia county line, into a “diverging diamond” intended to reduce crash-prone conflict points and increase roadway capacity, with additional lanes on U.S. 1 and shared-use paths for walkers and bikers.

Flagler Pride Fest Cancelled Amid Turmoil as Organization’s Founder Resigns, Board Frays and Wagons Circle

May 15, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

The heart has gone out of Flagler Pride for now, the five-year-old LGBTQ non-profit that had brought the annual Flagler Pride Fest to Palm Coast's Central Park. (© FlaglerLive)

To the dismay of a following that had grown substantially over the years, what was to be the fifth annual Flagler Pride Fest at Palm Coast’s Central Park in a month was abruptly cancelled last week through a cryptic, short-lived Facebook post that was scarcely cleared up when what remained of the organization’s officials posted a not-entirely accurate statement attempting to explain the decision on Tuesday, and betraying infighting.

Buddy Taylor Middle School Targeted by Suspicious Call for 2nd Day in a Row as Students and Buses Are Turned Away

May 15, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 22 Comments

The Flagler County Sheriff's Office's stepped up presence at Buddy Taylor Middle School this morning, where students were being turned away. (© FlaglerLive)

For the second day in a row, Buddy Taylor Middle School is the target of a suspicious called-in threat that’s resulted in a lockdown before school started this morning and the turning away of students arriving for class. 

Bunnell Approves Plan That Would Add 6,000 Homes, a Town Center, and Increase City’s Population Fivefold

May 14, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 63 Comments

The proposed development currently called Preserve at Haw Creek would sprawl form the existing Bunnell's urban core west and southwest, within the estimated boundaries in red. (© FlaglerLive via Goggle Earth)

The Reserve at Haw Creek would be Bunnell’s largest development yet, and one of the largest in the county’s history. It would sprawl over nearly 3,000 acres west and south of the city. It would add nearly 6,000 homes, mostly single family and some apartments, plus commercial and industrial acreage. It would result in a potential population increase of 15,000 in a city with a current population of 3,500. Bunnell would be unrecognizable.

In a Shift, Palm Coast Council Agrees to Leave City Manager Hire to Next Council, But Will Pick Search Firm

May 14, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 6 Comments

Palm Coast City Council members Ed Danko and Theresa Pontieri crafted a compromise approach to hiring the next city manager. Pontieri attended today's meeting remotely. (© FlaglerLive)

The Palm Coast City Council today in an effortless shift from its previous intention to hire new city manager before the election agreed to let the new council make that decision. But it also agreed to help the process along by putting a search firm in place by late summer to get started on the work. The search firm they agreed to hire is Keller, Texas-based Strategic Government Resources, commonly known as SGR, the company that led Palm Coast’s city manager search in 2018.

Bacardi Jackson , New Florida ACLU Leader, Points to ‘Urgency of Now’ at ‘Deeply Disturbing’ Juncture

May 14, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

Bacardi Jackson by "The Embrace," the Hank Willis Thomas sculpture on Boston Common in Boston. (Instagram)

Bacardi Jackson, a veteran litigator seeped in civil-rights advocacy, took the leadership of of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida on Monday amid a growing number of challenges to laws passed by the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Jackson views her new position as an opening to spur action at a critical juncture in the history of the state and the nation.

Flagler Fluid and Advisory Group Float Pair of Plans to Keep Belle Terre Swim Club’s ‘True Spirit’ Viable

May 13, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 1 Comment

The Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club still has its advocates to keep it a viable operation with a public component. (© FlaglerLive)

Flagler Fluid, the independent swim-team organization operating out of the Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club since 2001, has submitted a plan to the school district as part of a proposal to take over and run the club as a business, potentially with a fee-based, public-use component, to reverse the district’s recent decision to end membership access to the club.

Beyond Memorial Day: A Family’s Journey to Educate and Remember Fallen Heroes

May 13, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 3 Comments

Luke Stanford. (Stanford family)

Tim Stanford’s only son, Sgt. Luke Stanford, made the ultimate sacrifice while serving in the Army. He had served a year-long tour in Iraq during the height of the war there, re-enlisted at the end of the tour and was serving as a member of a technical rescue company when he died. He was 28. The loss endures. For most families, it’s not the sort of loss that gets better with time. Amidst the struggle, the Stanfords have found some solace in their mission to educate the nation about the true meaning of Memorial Day.

I Run a Food Pantry. Without Food Stamps, It’s Not Enough.

May 12, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 38 Comments

Even regular food drops are not sufficient to alleviate food insecurity or hunger for many. (© FlaglerLive)

Pantries are a critical piece of the anti-hunger puzzle, but they’re filler pieces. Government nutrition programs — with the infrastructure and funding to get the job done — should be the centerpiece. SNAP is the nation’s most effective anti-hunger program, feeding nearly a quarter of all U.S. children. But the end of a Covid-era boost in benefits is leaving nearly 13 percent of the population experiencing food insecurity.

23 Million Americans Are Losing Federal Help to Pay for Internet, Reopening Digital Divide

May 11, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 22 Comments

internet access aid

The federal Affordable Connectivity Program, launched at the end of 2021, has provided a discount of up to $30 per month toward internet service for eligible low-income households and up to $75 for households on qualifying tribal lands. Now, without additional funding from Congress, more than 23 million households across the country have begun to lose the aid. April was the last fully funded month, with some households receiving partial benefits from their internet service provider through May.

Data Company Wants to Use Veterans Park to Land Undersea Cables; Flagler Beach Wants Appropriate Payment

May 10, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 36 Comments

Veterans Park is primarily a hub of people, events and leisure. A data company is hoping to make it, in part, a hub for undersea cables. (© FlaglerLive)

DC Blox, a data company planning a data center in palm Coast–its Florida subsidiary is called DC Orchid–is now proposing to run its undersea internet cable landing site through the north side of Veterans Park in the heart of Flagler Beach, after a proposal to do so at a South 6th Street location displeased city commissioners. The company is also willing to pay more than the one-time, $100,000 fee it had offered, per cable–a sum city commissioners found paltry.

Brendan Depa’s Sentencing Will Not Resume Until Aug. 6, Giving Defense Time to Recover from Bad Day

May 9, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 18 Comments

Brendan Depa, center, with his attorney, Kurt Teifke, right, in court on May 1. (© FlaglerLive)

The defense for Brendan Depa, the 18-year-old former Matanzas High School autistic student to be sentenced in the beating of his teacher’s aide, faces a steep climb back from a prosecution case that portrayed Depa as a willful, intelligent, chronically violent man who knows right from wrong and who knew what he was doing that day at Matanzas. The prosecution is developing an argument that sidelines Depa’s autism as irrelevant, and calls prison time essential. The defense has yet to make its case.

At Law Enforcement Memorial, Solace in the Language of a Flag and the Bond of Shared Loss

May 9, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 5 Comments

Bunnell Police Chief Dave Branon, sitting with the family of the late Sgt. Dominic Guida, who died in 2021, comforts David Alfin, Palm Coast's mayor and the father of Alfin, an FBI agent killed with his partner while serving a warrant in South Florida the same year. In front of Alfin is Carlo Celico, whose son FRank, a sheriff's deputy, died in 2011. (© FlaglerLive)

Some 150 people and law enforcement officers from different agencies turned out for the annual Law Enforcement Memorial Service hosted by Sheriff Rick Staly in Bunnell Wednesday evening. Earlier in the day the sheriff had unveiled a memorial plaque to Perry Hall, for whom the county jail is named, and who was the county’s first fallen officer, on Aug. 21, 2027.

Congestion-Prone Stretch from Royal Palms Parkway to Town Center and Old Kings Road Will be Four-Laned

May 8, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 23 Comments

A frustrated driver wrote "Put a light here!" on the concrete barrier along Royal Palms Parkway at the intersection with Town Center Boulevard, a notoriously congested area at rush times. The city is planning to widen Town Center Boulevard to four lanes from that spot to Old Kings Road. (© FlaglerLive)

The Palm Coast City Council approved the first leg of a $4 million plan to redesign and widen the congestion-prone intersection of Royal Palms Parkway and Town Center Boulevard, the intersection of Town center Boulevard and Old Kings Road, and Old Kings Road from there to just south of Palm Coast Parkway. But it will be more than a year before anyone sees construction.

Flagler Schools Paid Former Indian Trails Middle School Teacher $40,000 to Settle Discrimination Lawsuit

May 8, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

JaWanda Dove, now a dean at Rymfire Elementary, seen here in an image from a brochure by the African American Entrepreneurs Club, where she was a guest speaker in 2018.

The Flagler County school district paid JaWanda Dove $40,000 to settle a federal lawsuit Dove filed in 2020, alleging that as a Black teacher at Indian Trails Elementary, she had repeatedly been passed over for promotion by white applicants. Dove transferred to Rymfire Elementary last year, where she was promoted to dean and where she remains. Dove had been seeking Dove is seeking $100,000 in back pay and benefits, and an appointment as assistant principal. 

Flagler School Board Will Send Letter of Support for Locating Museum of Black History in St. Johns

May 8, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 3 Comments

st. johns county

Following the recommendation of Will Furry, its chair, the Flagler County School Board will send a letter of support to a state task force in hopes of luring the future Museum of Black History to St. Johns County. St. Johns was ranked first among three finalists for the location. Its competitors are Eatonville in Orange County and Opa-locka in Miami-Dade County.

DeSantis Lawyer Argues Governor’s ‘Executive Privilege’ Places Him Above Public Record Law

May 7, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 28 Comments

The DeSantis administration argues that some of the governor's records may be blurred from public view. (© FlaglerLive)

In a case that could have far-reaching implications for the state’s public-records laws, an appeals court heard arguments Tuesday in a challenge to a judge’s ruling that “executive privilege” shields Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration from releasing records. During Tuesday’s arguments before a three-judge panel of the Tallahassee-based 1st District Court of Appeal, the plaintiff’s attorney said that the constitutional right to public records does not include an exemption for the governor’s records.

County Judge Andrea Totten Is Considering Applying for a Circuit Judge Appointment as Perkins Retirement Looms

May 7, 2024 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

Judge Andrea Totten with Clerk of Court Tom Bexley in their joint appearance on Free For All Friday last week. (WNZF)

With Circuit Judge Terence Perkins retiring in September, and opening a spot among the Seventh Judicial Circuit’s 27 circuit judgeships for appointment, Flagler County Judge Totten is considering applying, she said in a radio appearance on Friday.

$27 Million Contract Awarded as 9-Month Dredging to Rebuild Beach North and South of Pier Starts in Weeks

May 6, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 32 Comments

A recently completed beach-rebuilding project in St. Johns County, conducted by Weeks Marine, the contractor that just won a $27 million bid to rebuild 3 miles of Beach north and south of the Flagler Beach pier. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last week awarded a $27 million contract to a New Jersey company with extensive beach-rebuilding experience in Florida to rebuild 3.5 miles of severely eroded beach north and south of the Flagler Beach pier. The reconstruction starts in June. By the time the nine-month beach-reconstruction is done in March 2025, the beach will have grown in width by 140 to 180 feet with1.3 million cubic yards of sand. The work will be done 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Rev. Daisy Henry, ‘Matriarch of Bunnell’ and Determined Advocate for Carver Gym, Dies at 77

May 6, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 13 Comments

Daisy Henry was "the matriarch of Bunnell." (© FlaglerLive)

The Rev. Daisy Henry, a pastor, the former Bunnell City Commissioner and long-time advocate for South Bunnell and the Carver Center, died on Friday in Bunnell. Community members have been paying tribute to her tenacity and forthrightness through the years. She was 77.

18-Year-Old Man Shot in the Arm Near Flagler Beach Fire Station; Alleged Assailant at Large

May 5, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 19 Comments

The scene outside the Flagler Beach Fire Department this evening. (© FlaglerLive)

An 18-year-old man was shot in the arm in the vicinity of the Flagler Beach Fire Department and taken to the hospital with the non-life-threatening injury this evening, Flagler Beach Police Chief Matt Doughney said. The assailant fled the city and is unknown and at large for now.

The Fear and Loathing Behind GOP’s Christian White Nationalism

May 5, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 9 Comments

Joseph Mallord William Turner's "The Deluge" (1805)

MAGA adherents to Aryan tough-guy Jesus see America becoming less white and less Christian, so they’re freaking out, flailing around, breaking things — such as your right to control your own body, your right to read what you want, identify however you want, and love who you want.

Reporters Without Borders Condemns Wave of Arrests and Violence Against Journalists Covering Campus Protests

May 5, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 6 Comments

KXAN photojournalist Carlos Sanchez was arrested covering a protest in Austin, Texas. Image: KXAN

Four journalists have been arrested by police and four others attacked in the course of covering university campus protests in the past week. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns this wave of arrests, criminal charges, and violence against journalists and urges law enforcement agencies and school administrators to protect and respect the rights of all journalists, including student media.

Unquiet Silence: Inside a Jacksonville Abortion Clinic After Ban Kicks In

May 4, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 23 Comments

abortion limit florida

On Monday, almost 60 people came to A Woman’s Choice, a clinic in Jacksonville that offers abortion services. Half did so for their abortions, and half for the preliminary consults. A third were from somewhere other than Florida. The vast majority were past six weeks of pregnancy. By Wednesday morning, it was all over. Outside, half a dozen abortion opponents chanted prayers. Inside the clinic was quieter. The six-week ban had kicked in.

At Brendan Depa Sentencing, Prisons’ Mental Health Chief Draws Bizarrely Rosy Picture of Services Awaiting Him

May 3, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 17 Comments

brendan depa

To hear Suzonne Kline, chief of mental health at the Florida Department of Corrections, mental health services in Florida prisons are so extensive, so thorough, so attentive, you’d want to get imprisoned just to get a piece of them. She testified during the first portion of the sentencing hearing of Brendan Depa, the former Matanzas High School autistic student who pleaded to severely assaulting his teacher aide, and is facing the possibility of prison time. Kline’s testimony was a tactical success for the prosecution.

DeSantis Signs Bill Censoring Teacher Training Programs, Saying It Will Prohibit Their ‘Indoctrination’

May 3, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 13 Comments

teachers classroom

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed bills that include seeking to prevent “indoctrination” in teacher-training programs and beginning to allow credit unions to hold state money. The teacher-training bill (HB 1291) was one of the most-controversial education issues of this year’s legislative session, which ended March 8. It seeks to prevent “identity politics” from being included in teacher-preparation programs at colleges and universities.

When Is Punishment Enough for a Predator? A Child Rapist Makes His Case to End Probation, and Loses.

May 2, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 18 Comments

Lawrence Morton, right, with his attorney, Richard Zalesky. (© FlaglerLive via zoom)

Lawrence William Morton, formerly of Flagler Beach, served 20 years in prison and five on probation for sex crimes against six minors. He appeared before a judge Monday, seeking to end his probation five years early, as the law allows, arguing that he’s been a model probationer. The judge denied the motion in a case broadly illustrative of recurring requests by sex offenders and predators, and dilemmas faced by the court and prosecutors.

Florida Joins GOP Lawsuit to Kill Federal Protections for Transgender Students

May 1, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 28 Comments

anti lgbtq lawsuit florida

Republican State Attorney General Ashley Moody has enlisted Florida in multi-state litigation challenging new Biden administration regulations protecting transgender people from discrimination in schools, colleges, and universities.

Joan Naydich, Brendan Depa’s Victim of Beating, Details How ‘Everything Was Taken Away’ from Her

May 1, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 51 Comments

Joan Naydich on the stand today. (© FlaglerLive)

Joan Naydich, the former teacher’s aide at Matanzas High School, described how Brendan Depa destroyed her life at 10 o’clock that Tuesday morning in 2023, when the then-17-year-old special education student rushed her as she was leaving his classroom–after he spat on her–knocked her unconscious and pummeled her, all on video.

Flagler County and Ormond Beach Will Hold Extraordinary Meeting in Hopes of Resolving Dispute Over 1,750 Feet

May 1, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 6 Comments

40 Grade, the dirt road that crosses into Ormond Beach from the Flagler County side, and that is at the center of a dispute between the city and the county. The image was included by the county in a court document.

The Flagler County and Ormond Beach city commissions will meet on May 16 in hopes of resolving a lawsuit Ormond Beach filed against the county, disputing Flagler’s use of a 1,750-foot stretch of dirt road on Ormond Beach’s side of the county line, through conservation land the county manages.

Arrests and Threats of Expulsions of Students Protesting Gaza War Increase at Florida University Campuses

April 30, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 9 Comments

An image posted on social media by Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society.

Arrests of protesters on Florida university campuses increased this week, after tensions ratcheted up at the University of Florida and the University of South Florida during demonstrations about the war between Israel and Hamas. The arrests Monday of a dozen people at the two Florida universities came as pro-Palestinian campus protests draw attention across the country. The ACLU of Florida denounced the threats of expulsions, calling protest a fundamental right.

Veranda Bay Says It’s Ready to Annex Into Flagler Beach; Its 2,700 Future Homes Will Double City’s Size

April 30, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 11 Comments

The sun rises on Veranda Bay's relationship with Flagler Beach. Above, a Veranda Bay lot on the Intracoastal. (© FlaglerLive)

Ken Belshe, who represents Veranda Bay, the planned 2700-home development along John Anderson Highway, told Flagler Beach’s city attorney in an email that voluntary annexation is a go. The city had been assiduously pursuing Veranda Bay to annex, amending its annexation ordinance to make it possible, courting Belshe with what amounted to a love letter, and with not a little bit of anticipatory drool, sharply increasing its development impact fees that would disproportionately be generated from Veranda Bay.

Man Accused of Woodlands Murder Judged Incompetent for Trial. State Hospital Won’t Take Him. Now What?

April 30, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

Charles Kidd Jr. (© FlaglerLive)

Charles Kidd, the 86-year-old former resident of 20 Blare Drive in Palm Coast’s Woodlands, where he is accused of shooting and killing 36-year-old Mark Ruschmeier last August, has been deemed incompetent to stand trial and ineligible for restorative treatment that could bring him back to court to face a second degree murder charge.

Florida’s 6-Week Abortion ban Goes in Effect Wednesday. Here’s What It Means for Patients and the South.

April 29, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 16 Comments

More than 25,000 women traveled to Florida for an abortion over the past five years, most from states like Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi with little or no access to abortion. Hundreds traveled from as far as Texas. Starting on May 1, Florida’s 6-week ban goes in effect. The ban could be short-lived if 60% of Florida voters in November approve a constitutional amendment adding the right to an abortion.

‘I Love You Mayor’: Palm Coast’s David Alfin Gets a Warmer Reception at Coffee Talk Than at Council

April 29, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 42 Comments

Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin this morning at his town-hall-style Coffee Talk with residents at Panera Bread. (© FlaglerLive)

Based on the pillorying he regularly gets from the floor at Palm Coast City Council meetings, David Alfin can look like a mayor more embattled than front-running barely three months from an August primary. Judging from this morning’s town hall-style “Coffee Chat” with Alfin at Panera Bread, where he was warmly received, reports of Alin’s demise may be premature. “I love you Mayor” isn’t something you hear at council meetings lately. It was heard this morning.

Bunnell Man and His Family Wake Up to Find Ex at Foot of His Bed With a Knife, Ready to Attack

April 29, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 12 Comments

melinda gould child abuse burglary

It is among the worst imaginable situations in one’s home: to wake up and see an armed, threatening assailant at the foot of the bed. It was even worse for R.G. and his family: his two young children were in the bedroom, as was his girlfriend. The assailant clenching a knife was his ex-wife, Melinda Gould, 40, who’d previously faced a stalking charge, and who earlier that night had been on the hunt for a gun. She now faces five felonies, one of them punishable by up to life in prison.

Chief Engert: How Flagler County Jail Stepped Up to Ensure Brendan Depa’s Continuing Education

April 29, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 7 Comments

Brendan Depa, in the orange shirt, arriving for a hearing in court last June, before his transfer to the Flagler County jail. (© FlaglerLive)

The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office and its jail were not responsible for the education of Brendan Depa, the former Matanzas High School student arrested over a year ago on a charge of aggravated battery of a school employee. Nevertheless, the jail, under the supervision of Chief Daniel Engert, has ensured that a team of volunteers and professionals have continued Depa’s education, with notable and continued successes.

Why Do Your Groceries Cost So Much? Price-Gouging, Not Inflation.

April 28, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 87 Comments

Snap, crackle and gouge. (© FlaglerLive)

According to a new report by the Federal Trade Commission, the largest grocery retailers — which include Walmart, Kroger, and Amazon, which owns Whole Foods — used the pandemic as an excuse to raise prices across the board. The same is true for big agribusinesses like Tyson Foods and DuPont, which sell the lion’s share of meat products and seeds. These giant companies wrote themselves a blank check during Covid, which they now expect us to pay for.

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