The $13.2 million renovation is complete, and the county’s second-oldest school looks and feels new again. A photo gallery.
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Food Safety Inspections End At Florida Hospitals, Child Cares and Nursing Homes
A new law designed to diminish duplication of services ends them instead, as food-preparation for children, the sick and the elderly will go mostly uninspected from now on.
Botox for Historic Holden House, Age 92
The $23,400 renovation will restore one of the county’s oldest buildings’ original color and windows and lend the Flagler historical society’s headquarters even more of a museum feel.
Sunshine Fusion: Florida Art, Music & History Merge in Landmark Symphonic Performance
Mark your calendars for this one: A uniquely Florida, uniquely artistic performance of “A Historic Portrait in Sound” combing painting, music and words Sept. 18-19 in DeLand.
Compact Shuffles Bad Nurses Like Parishes Shuffling Bad Priests
A 24-state nursing compact, which does not include Florida, enables nurses to evade their shady pasts merely by moving to a new job.
What Bunnell Could Learn from the County’s Courtesy Notices on Government Meetings
County government usually goes out of its way to comply with the spirit as well as the letter of the open-government law. It didn’t when it came to Bunnell’s meeting on Carver Gym.
Flagler Manatee Committee Report Concludes: Against Speed Zones. Just “Education.”
No surprise: a local committee stacked with boating advocates is recommending against most manatee-protecting speed-zone recommendations on the Intracoastal by a state conservation agency.
Sheriff’s Budget: Few New Deputies, No Raises, More Bottled Water and Drug Money
The 2011 budget, reflecting the enduring recession, is almost the same as it was this year, leaving the number of deputies on patrol virtually static.
Beyond Sunshine: Maneuvers Over Carver Gym Reopen Wounds Flagler Claims to be Mending
Bunnell Commissioner Jenny Crain-Brady’s well-intentioned but half-secret meeting over Carver Gym undermined the very trust she claims to be building toward keeping the gym open.
Classic Landon: County on Notice that Palm Coast Will Annex Airport. County Begs to Differ.
Palm Coast made it seem as if bringing the National Guard to Flagler was mostly its doing. That would be news to the county government. But more is at stake between the two.
Bunnell’s Crain-Brady Leads Half-Secretive Meeting of 4 Gov’t Agencies on Carver Gym
The meeting on July 8 was intentionally not noticed according to the Sunshine Law even though it was an essential part of the decision-making process on Carver Gym’s future.
Spy-and-Snap Red-Light Cameras Will Enrich Private Company At Palm Coast’s Expense
The traffic cameras generated $1.7 million for Palm Coast since 2008. Most of that money will now go to a private company and to Tallahassee, while the cameras keep snapping.
Conservation in Contempt: How Palm Coast Opened the Way to Urbanizing Bulow Creek
Under the guise of having to rezone land it recently annexed, the Palm Coast City Council enabled the highest-density zoning possible in the sensitive Bulow Creek watershed.
Portrait of a Transcending Mind: J.J. Graham’s Hollingsworth Gallery Genesis
J.J. Graham is remaking Palm Coast’s art world through his Hollingsworth Gallery, which he opened at City Walk in January 2009. He’s remaking more than the art world.
Flagler Beach Manager’s Job List at 83 Names; School District’s Mike Judd Withdraws His
Flagler Beach commissioners will begin paring down the list in August but are unlikely to have a new manager in place by Oct. 1.
Dysfunction in Flagler Beach: Jane Mealy Rails at a “Fragmented” and Meddling Commission
Mealy criticized fellow commissioner Steve Settle by name and alluded to Ron Vath in a wide-ranging indictment of micromanagement. Her two colleagues disagree, but welcome a future meeting on the matter.
Tax Wave Hits Flagler Beach First: Rate Going Up 22% (But It’s Not As Bad As It Sounds)
In Flagler Beach as elsewhere, big increases in property tax rates will be offset by big decreases in property values, resulting in a wash for most taxpayers.
Small Businesses Mobilizing Against Broad Restrictions on Commercial Vehicles
As code enforcement responds to anonymous complaints over trucks in driveways, small business owners are tiring of the harassment in a hurting economy.
How Marineland Got Public Dollars To Build a (Mostly) Private Marina
Marineland will spend $500,000 in public dollars to build a marina that will mostly benefit a private developer, though it will also help redevelop the town.
Regulations Will Put Dog and Other Animal Owners on a Tighter Leash in Palm Coast
Palm Coast’s proposed dog and animal control ordinance would impose more restrictive rules for pet owners and steeper fines for violations.
School Board Quietly Hires
In-House Attorney for the First Time
The district was not interested in anyone other than Kristy Gavin for the $85,000 to $125,000-a-year position.
Palm Coast’s Two Best Arguments
For a New City Hall: Take the Tour
This much isn’t too controversial about a new Palm Coast city hall: the current digs are ugly, cramped and unbecoming. And government spending is needed to create jobs.
3 Connected to a String of ATM Burglaries Arrested on July 4
Two Palm Coast men and one from Massachusetts, now in jail, are tied to burglaries in Flagler Beach, the Hammock and Palm Coast.
FPC Football Coach Steve Allen Resigns Weeks Before First Scrimmage
Allen had a fractious history with the athletic director and the administration, but that was nothing new.
Proudest Moment on a Gray Day:
On Becoming an American
My personal July 4th happens to fall on December 16. That day, 24 years ago, I became an American. The day has become more important to me than any other, including my birthday.
Raging Skies Redux: The Fireworks in Palm Coast’s Town Center
Palm Coast’s July 4th celebration starts in Town Center at 7 p.m. and culminates with a fireworks show at 9 p.m.
Soaked, Whipped, Rushed, Magnificent, Flagler Beach Fireworks Go Off After All
After a day of rain and uncertainty, the fireworks went off before one of the smallest crowds in memory.
Fireworks Set For 9 p.m. in Flagler Beach, Not 9:30; Latest Video from the Pier’s Arsenal
The decision to move up the fireworks to 9 p.m. instead of 9:30 was dictated by a brief window of opportunity.
The Gods Must Be Crazy: Rain Slams But Doesn’t Stop Flagler Beach Parade
Clouds thicker than menace mobilized offshore, then struck, but the Flagler Beach Independence Day parade held on anyway.
Miss Flagler County 2010 Essay Winner: Recession or Not, Blessings Point to Rebound
As a nation and a culture, whether in recession or not, we are incredibly blessed and should be thankful, says Mia Parliaricci in an essay that won her this year’s Miss Flagler County essay competition.
Transition in Style: It’s Janet Valentine’s School District Now as Delbrugge Exits
Janet Valentine this week began filling Bill Delbrugge’s shoes amid high expectations and some concerns.
Double-Dip: US Economy Loses 125,000 Jobs Even as Unemployment Rate Drops to 9.5%
With census jobs vanishing, so is job creation as the US economy in June appeared headed for a double-dip recession.
Prescription Pill-Popping By Far a Leading Killer as Florida’s Drug Deaths Spike 20%
Oxycodone, the addictive prescription pain-killer also known as OxyContin, directly caused more deaths in Florida in 2009 than cocaine, heroin and morphine combined.
Charter School Failure: Why Imagine and Heritage Weren’t Included in FCAT Tallies
Charter schools are not in the same league as traditional public schools. Their standards are lower. The burden is on charters to prove their worth.
School Board: Closing Carver Gym Not an Option; How Bunnell Killed Carver Housing
The school district is adding its voice to a chorus of protest and damning history against closing Carver Gym.
Tourism Panel Clears Half-Step Toward Palm Coast Arts Foundation Center, But Questions Persist
A $50,000 study is recommended for the smaller scale of a grand plan for the Palm Coast Arts Foundation’s arts, culture and conference center in Town Center.
They’re Watching You: Palm Coast Council Turned on by Spy Cameras at Public Parks
City employees can spy on park-goers from ordinary computers networked to the six cameras installed at the park.
Flagler Schools’ FCAT Reading Scores Disappoint, Math Scores a Plus
Every grade but the 6th and 9th posted declines in reading. The district did better in math, either improving or holding steady in all grades except the 5th.
A Confused but Adamant Bunnell Commission Wants Carver Gym to Stay Open
Bunnell city commissioners had neither the numbers nor the patience to discuss Carver Gym thoroughly Monday, delaying the issue to another meeting.
Pressing for Raises, Teachers’ Union Holding District Hostage Over Class-Size Compromise
The union would approve a district plan to comply with class-size requirements in exchange for $2.4 million in raises.
Flagler Get Your Gun: Supremes Rule 5-4 That 2nd Amendment Extends to States and Locals
The ruling is more likely to confuse rather than clarify how state and local gun regulations may be written into law.
Bill Delbrugge Joins FlaglerLive Board; Here’s Who We Are
An introduction to the seven-member FlaglerLive Board of Directors, and a few words about who we are and what we’re about.
Miss Flagler County 2010
It’s Amanda Dack
Amada Dack has achieved more in her 21 years than many people do in an average lifetime.
Palm Coast Roller Derby Scrimmage Against Ocala in a First–and Set Sights on Carver Gym
Palm Coast’s first roller derby team falls to Ocala–and talks about moving to embattled Carver Gym in Bunnell.
Watching Team USA Live With Eddie Johnson (US 1, Ghana 2)
We’re covering the US-Ghana World Cup match live with soccer great and Bunnell native Eddie Johnson, from Palm Coast’s Houligan’s.
Drill This: Hundreds in Flagler, Thousands Across Globe’s Sands Link Against Oil
The moment was as symbolic as it was literal: a human chain in Flagler Beach against off-shore oil drilling and for alternatives to fossil fuels.
Hit the Beaches: Solidarity Against Oil As Hands Across the Sands Gets Set for Noon
Colleen Conklin, the school board member, is organizing the event–handing out slips and whistles, synchronizing the human link–along with Carmen Arasknick.
FCAT Scores, A Month Late, to Be Released After Untold Damage to Schools
The Department of Education and testing company Pearson are still playing word games over the cause and extent of the delay, which ruined district and student planning for fall.
Flagler Beach Again on Collision Course With Boating and RV Parking Regulations
It’s one of three issues–dogs on the beach and surfing near the pier are the others–that get Flagler Beach residents really, really ticked at whatever the commission decides.
Poverty Signs: Steep Rise in Children Needing Free or Reduced Meals in Flagler Schools
The rising numbers of children on free and reduced meals is a reflection of rising poverty and a rising toll on local families with fewer means.