A Senate committee Monday considers a sweeping proposal that would allow three mega-casinos in Florida, offer more slots at pari-mutuel facilities and rein in Internet cafes a little.
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Col. Jack Howell, Teens-In-Flight Leader, Is Seriously Bloodied in Motorcycle Accident
Update 2, 5:17 p.m. Jack Howell is recovering at home, and AmVets raised over $1,600 for Teens-in-Flight at today’s fund-raiser. Update, 2:45 p.m.: Jack Howell checked out of Florida Hospital Flagler just before 3 p.m., with a broken finger, a lot of bumps, bruises and lacerations and a sprained ankle, but no more serious injuries. […]
The Florida Family Association’s Un-Christian Jihad on TLC’s “All-American Muslim”
In their war on TLC’s “All-American Muslim,” a few aberrant fools at the Florida Family Association are yearning for “No Muslims Allowed” signs everywhere and smearing this state’s reputation while drafting Lowe’s to their bigoted crusade.
Helga van Eckert Is Job Council’s Top Choice As a Council Member Sits Out the Decision
Flagler County’s newly formed jobs council voted to offer Helga van Eckert the top executive job at the county government’s economic development agency. Van Eckert beats out Chris Clifton, who came in second, and Bruce Register, who came in third.
Florida’s Poor and Elderly Again Brace For Cuts As Legislature Prepares for Tuesday Kickoff
Gov. Rick Scott is proposing further deep cuts in Medicaid payments to hospitals, while lawmakers have filed bills that would help shield emergency-room doctors and workers from costly malpractice lawsuits.
Unemployment Falls to 8.5%, Lowest Level in Almost 3 Years, as 200,000 Jobs Are Created
The decline in unemployment, a boon to Obama’s reelection hopes, was the result of actual job creation, rather than a reduction in labor force participation.
Jobs Council Interviews 3 Vastly Different Candidates for Top Economic Development Job
None of the three candidates for the $100,000 job lacked in confidence, experience or enthusiasm, and each projecting enough qualities but sharply different temperaments to make a choice between them difficult. That choice may be made Friday.
Piety Rising: How Iowa Might Give Rick Santorum a Second Chance in Florida
That’s assuming Mitt Romney doesn’t clean up in New Hampshire and does respectably in South Carolina, two states ahead of Florida’s presidential primary on Jan. 31.
Ex-Cops Begin Lineup To Challenge Sheriff Don Fleming, Who’s Declaring for a 3rd Term
Ray Stevens, an Ossining, N.Y. cop, and John Pollinger, a Jersey cop (like Fleming) before their retirements to Palm Coast, are the early filers in what promises to be a crowded field for the $120,000-a-year job.
429 Manatee Deaths in 2011 Second-Highest On Record, But None Recorded in Flagler
A cold-related die-off of manatees in early 2011 set the stage for a third straight year with high numbers of deaths for manatees, following a record 766 deaths in 2010 and 429 in 2009.
Judge Sharon Atack Won’t Run Again This Year, Opening 2nd Flagler Judgeship in 2 Years
On the bench since 1995, Flagler County Judge Sharon Atack, 65, cited personal reasons for her retirement. November’s election to the seat will likely draw a large field of contenders and, Atack said, “at least one” woman.
My 10 Predictions for 2012
Obama is reelected, the world doesn’t end except for Tim Tebow, Jim Landon and Sharon Atack look for other jobs and the News-Journal goes into the cemetery business: predictions worthy of James Ussher.
Medical Marijuana in Florida: Legislators File Long-Shot Proposal to Amend the Constitution
Although a 57 percent majority of Florida voters are ready to inhale (the proposal, anyway), the staunchly conservative Legislature is unlikely to let the proposed constitutional amendment on medical marijuana go forward.
1 Architect, 1 Banker, 1 Health Consultant. Mix. Serve. Result: Thai Korner Restaurant.
Palm Coast’s Thai Korner Restaurant, open one year, is the result of an unlikely partnership between three vastly different latter-day restaurateurs willing to defy a climate murderous to new businesses.
After Iowa: Romney and Gingrich Lead in Florida, For Now, Heading Into Jan. 31 Primary
Romney and Gingrich are essentially in a statistical dead heat, with Romney leading with 27 percent of the vote to Gingrich’s 26, according to the telephone survey of 780 Republican voters, conducted from Dec. 15-19.
Apostolic Outlook: 12 Stories to Watch in 2012
Instead of rounding up the week’s news, which again was in short supply this week – we look forward to next year with a roundup of the stories we think may be the biggest next year in state government and politics. Happy New Year.
Florida Appeals Court Rules In Defense Of Web Comments Defaming to Business
Xcentric, a website that allows Internet users to post opinions about businesses without regard to whether the “reviews” are true may be “appalling” in its invitation to slander businesses, but it doesn’t have to take the post down, a Florida appeals court ruled.
Garage Sale: NYT Sells 16 Papers To News- Journal For Less Than $10 Million Apiece
Each title went for barely $9 million, less than half the $20 million Halifax Media paid for the Daytona Beach News-Journal alone when it acquired that paper in April 2010–at discount from the $300 million price originally set by a federal judge in 2006.
Your Police State At Work: Spy Drones Entering Local Cop Arsenals, Including Florida’s
Forget Iran and Afghanistan. Americans have unmanned drones flying over their own heads, and more are coming as local police agencies, including the Miami-Dade Police Department, are acquiring spy drones and using them for surveillance of citizens.
For a Happy Saturnalian Christmas:
How To have A Good Time
Fulton J. Sheen was that rarity of Catholic sermonizers: he was witty, earthy and unfriendly to religion’s two heels : dogma and doctrine. “How to Have a Good Time” is one of his most celebrated sermons from his “Life Is Worth Living” series, from 1957.
Florida GOP’s Agenda, Once Emboldened, Facing Broad-Based Backlash in Courts
Republicans’ sweeping changes to elections law, welfare drug-testing and state workers’ pension contributions have bogged down in court challenges and judges’ injunctions as Gov. Rick Scott chafes at the push-back.
More Candidates for Jobs Council’s Top Post Drop Out, Citing Expectation of Creating Jobs
Some candidates were worried that they’d be expected to create 200 jobs in their first year, though candidates have also been raising concerns over the checkered political history of economic development in Flagler County.
Two Hammock Teens Faked Their Abduction, Triggering an Amber Alert Overnight
Danielle Annis, 17, and Amanda Hunt, 15, residents of a home on Ocean Crest Drive in the Hammock in Palm Coast, faked their own abduction and stole their parents’ car Wednesday evening. Charges against them may be pending.
Florida Utilities Fume as EPA Tells Dirty Coal Power Plants To Clean Up Or Clam Up
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday released controversial new air-pollution standards that could force expensive upgrades at some Florida power plants — but have been long-sought by environmental and health advocates.
Light at the End of the Catacombs: Home Sales Up Significantly in Flagler and Florida
Palm Coast’s and Flagler County’s real estate market can take heart: for the first time in half a decade, the home-buying industry is looking a lot less grim than it’s been, even if prices have yet to catch up to the uptick in sales.
A Fight Over a Cat Escalates Into Violence, Police Chases and a 6th Jailing 3 Days Later
Gregory Wright, a resident of the Mondex, didn’t want a cat sharing his bed with his girlfriend because of dander, though that was only one pretext leading to an alleged series of violent outbursts, threats and a case of false imprisonment.
A Most Common Palm Coast Tale: A Burglary, But With a Christmas Sting
Rhiannon Gross lives in a modest house in Palm Coast’s R Section with her two-and-a-half-year-old son. She came home earlier this month to a house robbed of presents under the Christmas tree and of all her electronics and jewelry.
Downturn Be Damned: Florida Crosses 19 Million Mark as Population Grows By 256,000
The population growth in Florida was driven mostly by migrants into the state, while the nation’s growth of less than 1 percent between April 2010 and July 2011, was the lowest since the mid-1940s.
Palm Coast Seethes as Flagler Ends Hammock Dunes DRI’s Obligations to County and City
The Flagler County Commission closed the books on the 28-year-old Hammock Dunes “development of regional impact,” angering Palm Coast over developer dollars the city contends should still be paid for widening Palm Harbor Parkway.
“Celico Way” Will Have Only Second Billing as Palm Coast Resists Full Name Change
The name will appear below “Kings Way,” in smaller letters. Friends and supporters of the late Sgt. Frank Celico, the Flagler deputy who died in September at 33, wanted to rename the street near the Dunkin Donut where Celico spent many of his waking hours.
Florida Legislator Wants $1 Cigarette Tax Increase In Exchange for Lower Driver Fees
South Florida’s Jim Waldman, a Democrat from Coconut Creek, wants to roll back unpopular driver’s license and registration fees, paying for it with a $1 increase in Florida’s cigarette tax, now at $1.34.
News-Journal Owner Halifax Media Buying New York Times’s 16 Regional Papers
The New York Times confirmed today that Halifax Media Group, owner of the Daytona Beach News-Journal since 2010, is buying the 16 newspapers in The New York Times Regional Group in what would represent a significant cultural and ideological shift away from centrism and liberalism for those 14 papers.
Of Art and Soul: Erin Walker’s Pottery Studio For All Creators Coils Into Palm Coast
The Art and Soul Studio at 25 Pine Cone Drive in Palm Coast is recreational paint-your-own-pottery shop for all ages and many occasions, including birthday parties and Wednesdays’ Wine-d Down, a bring-your-own-wine ladies night.
Ammons Stays at FAMU, Defying Gov. Scott’s Muscling Into Hazing Homicide Controversy
The Florida A&M University Board of Trustees will meet by phone Monday to decide the fate of President James Ammons in the wake of the hazing death of a drum major on Nov. 19 and the hazing-related brutalization of another student in the band two weeks earlier.
The 10 Greediest Americans of 2011
Whether they manage football pageants or Ford Motor Co., these guys, from Walmart’s Michael Duke to ex-Massey Energy’s Don Blankenship, remind us how much needs to change, economically and politically, in 2012 and beyond.
Citing Health and Other Priorities, Bunnell Police Chief Arthur Jones Will Resign in April
Bunnell Police Chief Arthur Jones will leave his post at the end of April after three years as a tempering force in a small but tumultuous department, and as the city’s first black police chief.
Flagler’s Unemployment Rate Remains Stubbornly At 14% As Florida’s Improves
Flagler County’s unemployment rate remains Florida’s second highest, after Hendry’s 15.1 percent, while job creation in the state, while slow, continues. Gov. Rick Scott took credit for the job creation.
As Autopsies Dwindle, Hospitals Bury Their Mistakes Instead of Learning From Them
Autopsies are conducted on just 5 percent of patients who die in hospitals, letting common diagnostic errors go undiscovered, allowing physicians to practice on other patients with a false sense of security, and short-shrifting understanding of the effectiveness of medical treatments and the progression of diseases.
Palm Coast Accepts Garbage Hauling Bids But Doesn’t Open Them Publicly
The method continues a pattern that’s been less than transparent since fall when the city manager recommended renewing the contract with Waste Pro and skipping the bidding process.
Speeder’s Stop on I-95 Nets 1.7 lb of Cocaine and Trafficker’s Arrest on $150,000 Bond
Edward La Troy, a 34-year-old resident of Miami, had been ticketed for speeding less than three hours earlier by a Florida Highway Patrol trooper when the Flagler County Sheriff’s Carmine Celico stopped him and summoned a K9 that sniffed out the drugs.
Testing Industrial Complex Descends on Florida To Fight Over $35 Million Contract
McGraw-Hill and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt are in a battle over the right to provide testing items to the Florida Department of Education under a Race to the Top contract worth tens of millions of dollars.
We Don’t Need Another Payroll Tax Cut
We can all afford less tax coddling and more fiscal responsibility. But don’t expect to hear that from allegedly conservative Republican and our blandly, irresponsibly centrist president, who’s bribing his way to a second term.
Only Partial Victory for Palm Coast’s Merrill Shapiro in Fight Against Religious Aid Bid
Circuit Judge Terry Lewis struck down only part of a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow taxpayer money to go to religious institutions, leaving the door wide open for a fix in time for the 2012 ballot. The case was brought by Palm Coast Rabbi Merrill Shapiro and public education advocates.
Warned Of Animal Filth Months Ago, a Mondex Woman Is Jailed on Child Neglect Charges
The house where four young children lived was strewn with dog waste and infested with roaches. Deputies had first investigated the scene in late July.
“Between Us Girls”: Jobs Council Hears Drones, Stunners and Enthusiasm in 7 CEO Interviews
Flagler County’s economic development council conducted seven phone interviews over four hours this afternoon, hoping to pare down its list to three or four candidates who’d be interviewed in person.
Total Cell Phone Ban for Drivers: Not Likely in Florida
The National Transportation Safety Board is urging states to ban all cell phone use while driving, even hands-free uses, the first such call by a federal agency. Florida is still struggling to impose a hands-free requirement.
Flagler’s 7 Governments Gather to Hear How Well Their Economic Development Is Doing
Despite enduringly high unemployment and a year of fraying rather than unity among local governments, the county hosted an intergovernmental summit Tuesday that piled back-patting on exclamation marks.
Palm Coast Would Underwrite Small Business Loans With Tax Dollars as New Incentive
The city’s loan-guarantee program would set aside $55,000 for existing, for-profit businesses looking to expand–or survive. The program is part of a series of economic development initiatives centered around the seven-month-old Business Assistance Center.
Matanzas Graduation Rate at 90%, FPC at 83% As Charter School Drags Flagler’s Down
When the numbers from heritage Academy, a charter school, are excluded, the Flagler school district’s graduation rate improves to 84.4 percent. The district’s single-year drop-out rate was 1.7 percent.
Supreme Court’s Ruling on Immigrants Will Redefine Policing and State Powers
The Supreme Court’s ruling on Arizona’s law is due by the end of June, at the same time as its ruling on Obama’s health care reform law, making this court term one of the most consequential in years, and with big reverberations in Florida.