In many states, lawmakers long have used so-called fiscal impact statements to predict how much money proposed laws will cost or save. Now more legislators want to use racial impact statements to predict how a particular measure might harm—or help—racial and ethnic groups or widen racial disparities, though you won;t see this in Florida any time soon.
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2 Flagler School Board Members Object to Black Lives Matter Language and a ‘Hate Group’ Trolls District’s Library Books
The Flagler County School Board is not banning books–yet. But two board members–Jill Woolbright and Janet McDonald–are on the warpath, playing up isolated complaints about materials they find objectional on ideological grounds and mirroring similar attempts in other districts where a few voices have capitalized on largely manufactured controversies. The board members’ moves parallel a national extremist organization’s inquiry in Flagler and other Florida counties about the district’s book holdings, especially targeting racially-conscious and LGBTQ-themed books.
Matthew Wright Dies of Wound in Attempted Murder-Suicide, Gia Troutman, 23, in Critical Condition
Matthew Wright, the 25-year-old Palm Coast man involved in what appears to be an attempted murder-suicide Thursday afternoon, had spent most of his adult life in prison. He’d been out less than a year when he died Thursday of what authorities are reporting as a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, after shooting his girlfriend, Gia Troutman, four times.
Domestic Argument Between Man and Woman Leads to Apparent Attempted Murder Suicide on Bunker Knoll Lane
Flagler County Sheriff’s detectives are investigating a domestic altercation between a woman and her boyfriend on Palm Coast’s Bunker Knoll Lane that resulted in a shooting that left both severely wounded this evening. The shooting appears to have been an attempted murder suicide.
In Wrenching Hearing, Judge Opts for Closure More than Retribution in 5-Year Prison Sentence for Fatal Hit and Run
Joshua Carver had faced up to 30 years in prison for the hit and run collision that left 29-year-old Jonathan Rogers dead on the side of State Road 100 in February 2020. Circuit Judge Chris France sentenced him to five years in prison and five years on probation after hearing from families on both sides of a divide marked not by enmity but mutual loss.
35% Short of Needed Bus Drivers, School District Agrees to $15/hr Pay, Plus Incentive, as Part of Raises for All Service Employees
Members of the Flagler Educational Support Professional Association, the union that represents Flagler schools’ 800-some service employees, are voting today on what may amount to the largest pay increase in nearly 20 years, though bus drivers and paraprofessionals will see larger increases than all others.
County Commission Again Delays Decision on School Impact Fees As Disputed Numbers Strain Trust on Both Sides
The Flagler County Commission voted to delay for two months a decision on the school board’s request to double its impact fees following a two-and-a-half hour meeting Tuesday evening. The county is not trusting the school board’s numbers, and the school board is frustrated over the county’s resistance to what the district considers an emergency request.
County Commission Boots Mike Goodman Off Planning Board in Apparent ‘Retaliation’ Over Captain’s BBQ Lawsuit
The Flagler County Commission on Monday unceremoniously voted to boot Mike Goodman, the co-owner of Captain’s BBQ at Bings Landing and a voice of prudence on development, off the county’s planning board, just three years after voting him in. Commissioner Dave Sullivan directly cited Captain’s lawsuit against the county and said removing Goodman might spur movement on the lawsuit, which has stalled.
Detectives Investigating Alleged Home Invasion Robbery and Shooting on Palm Coast’s Coral Reef Court
Early Monday morning a 36-year-old Palm Coast resident of Coral Reef Court reported to Flagler County Sheriff’s detectives that he was the victim of a home-invasion robbery, in the course of which he fired a gun belonging to one of the assailants, but missed.
With County as Farrier, Whispering Meadows Ranch Takes a Step Closer to Permanent Home at Fairgrounds
With Flagler County government clearing the way lease, free, a large portion of a 44-acre parcel, Whispering Meadows Ranch, Flagler County’s equine therapy non-profit on John Anderson Highway, is a step closer to its next permanent home on the grounds of the county fairgrounds.