Regional successes aside, Florida’s flagship universities did poorly when ranked against other national public and private universities.
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Palm Coast Firefighters Unionize, Citing Unbalanced Treatment of Employees
Some 75 percent of the Palm Coast Fire Department’s 60 rank-and-file employees voted to form a union. Higher pay or better benefits aren’t on the agenda. Job security is.
Outlining Achievements, Enterprise Flagler Tells Palm Coast City Council: We Matter
The economic development agency’s list included achievements that weren’t quite its own while Director Greg Rawls remained cagey regarding the new tax the agency is proposing.
Sheriff Knocks Commissioner Flynt’s Towing Company Out of Wrecking Rotation Indefinitely
Saxon’s Wrecker, owned by Bunnell City Commissioner Jimmy Flynt, is at the center of a withering investigative report showing Flynt benefited from chronic favoritism at other towers’ expense.
Innovative Garden Hose Start-Up Swells Flagler Hopes for Economic Revival at the Airport
MH Operations proposes to manufacture an expanding and retracting hose few will resist, and do so from a county airport, where it would create 125 jobs.
State Report Details Disturbing Patterns at Bunnell PD and Favors For Comm. Jimmy Flynt
A 35-page State Attorney’s report puts Bunnell City Commissioner Jimmy Flynt at the center of a pattern of favoritism involving the long-troubled Bunnell Police Department.
Cakes Across America Dumps Airport Building County Built For It; Taxpayer Bill: $300,000+
In another example of economic development subsidized at taxpayers’ expense, the cake company leaves taxpayers holding the bag for a promise of jobs never fulfilled.
Krauthammer’s Sacrilege: When Reactionaries Fire Up their Sunday Missals–and Miss
A comparison of Ground Zero’s neighborhood to Auschwitz or Gettysburg is ridiculous, given the ritzy and lurid neighborhood of Ground Zero. Walk the walk.
Harmonic Shock Meets Art at Hollingsworth Gallery’s “Music Is the Muse”
The latest show at City Walk’s Hollingsworth Gallery features works by 18 artists inspired by particular songs or pieces of music, which will also be playing–through Sept. 28.
Water Wars Redux: Homeowners Sue
Palm Coast Over Annexation Bullying
Palm Coast is forcing Palm Coast Plantation property owners to sign annexation agreements in exchange for water and sewer services. The owners say Palm Coast is breaking the law.
Florida Court Rules Pregnant Woman’s Rights Override Presumptions for the Unborn
In a circuit court decisions with wide implications about the rights of a fetus, a judge ruled a woman had the right to decline hospitalization against doctors’ concerns over her pregnancy.
Palm Coast City Manager Jim Landon’s Compensation Package: $218,296 a Year
Jim Landon’s base salary of $168,878 is higher than the total compensation package of the school superintendent, who manages five times as many employees and is responsible for 13,000 students.
Flagler Beach Commissioners Pick 12 to Interview for Manager (Updated)
Two charts show how each commissioner and the mayor drew up a short list of candidates for Flagler Beach city manager.
450 Vehicles for 350 Palm Coast City Employees? Council Bridles at “Urban Legend”
Palm Coast’s city government owns a total of 285 vehicles, including dozens of off-road mowers, utility vehicles and firetrucks, though it also has a well-endowed vehicle fund.
Cool Project, Cooler Reception: Palm Coast’s Desalination Aims Leaves Others Unmoved
Slower than before, but still expensively, Palm Coast continues to push desalination as its only alternative water source in the future.
From 140, Flagler Beach Short-Lists 35 Applicants for Manager Ahead of Thursday Cut
Two local favorites appear at the top of the list, which Flagler Beach city commissioners on Aug. 10 will pare down to about 10 applicants who’ll be invited for interviews. See the chart.
Council Slams Enterprise Flagler’s Camouflage, Casting Doubt on “Development” Tax
The economic development agency that devours taxpayer dollars year after year hasn’t produced a report in years showing what it’s accomplished. Elected officials are tiring of the mystery.
Commission Increases County Employees’ Health Costs Against Steep Opposition
County employees’ health insurance premiums are rising steeply, but they remain less expensive than for employees in other government agencies in the area.
Crunch Time for Carver Gym: County Will Keep It Open, But Debates How
The County Commission has backed off a proposal to close the gym, but is still wrangling over how to keep it open, paid for, and properly run with children’s programming.
Justice for Sale: Half a Million Dollars
Slosh Races for 3 Local Circuit Court Seats
Eleven candidates in three races in the 7th Judicial Circuit have raised an average of $44,000 each, more than 60 percent of it their own money.
Judge Them Before One of Them Judges You: The Race For Kim C. Hammond’s Seat
Six lawyers, including Bunnell’s Marc Dwyer and Sid Nowell, are vying to replace Circuit Judge Judge Kim C. Hammond, who’s retiring after 32 years.
“Back 2 School Jam”‘s Free Backpacks, Supplies and Shots Draws Thousands at FPC
In addition to free school supplies, the annual jam provided free bike helmets to those hardy students willing to sit through immunization shots.
Supervisor of Elections Scans Boards Through Emergency Meeting and 11th Hour Theatrics
An emergency meeting of the Flagler County Commission and some silly jockeying prefaced the certification of the county’s voting equipment.
Flagler District Scores an A for 3rd Year in a Row as 3 Schools Maintain A, 3 Drop Back
Belle Terre Elementary, Buddy Taylor and Indian Trails middle repeat their A rating. High School scores will be released in late fall.
US Economy Loses 131,000 Jobs, Unemployment Rate Stalls at 9.5%
The economy is losing far more jobs than it is adding as more temporary census workers lose work.
A More Settled Flagler Beach Commission Makes Up and Nearly Kisses Over Fracture
The dispute between commissioners Jane Mealy and Steve Settle was channeled into a more constructive discussion of the limits of commissioners’ administrative meddling.
Scammed Into a Lease and Facing Eviction While the Accused Realtor Lives Nearby
A renter faces her fourth foreclosure-driven eviction in a year as local Realtors are struck with what appears to be a rogue Realtor’s rental scam in Palm Coast’s R Section.
It’s Raining Taxes: Despite Rising Revenue, County Considers Increase in Bed Tax to 4%
The increase to 4 percent would fuel the backlash against other local tax proposals and increases.
Laying Off Employees, Palm Coast Is Set to Pay at Least $83,000 for One School Deputy
The school deputy Palm Coast is paying for is a way to get four other extra deputies on Palm Coast’s streets for large portions of the year–at the schools’ expense.
In a Shift, Andy Dance Joins Unanimous Vote for School Tax Referendum in November
Andy Dance’s switch improves the school district’s case for a tax proposal while hurting that of an “economic development” levy.
United Healthcare Pledges 75-Day Extension for Flagler Clients Despite Hospital Dispute
United Healthcare’s pledge lessens thousands of Flagler residents’ anxiety over getting care at Florida Hospital Flagler, but only temporarily.
Merchants of Greed: How Florida Hospital and United Healthcare Bargain Over Your Body
On Aug. 15, half a million central Floridians, and thousands in Flagler County covered by United Healthcare, including children on medicaid, will be denied insured coverage at Florida Hospital’s facilities, including Florida Hospital Flagler.
This Year: 5 School Deputies for $300,000; Four Years Ago: 9 Deputies for $222,000
The sheriff has virtually eliminated his department’s share of the cost of keeping deputies in schools, forcing the district to pick up most of the costs.
Bankruptcy Boys: County Commission Candidates Claim “Fiscal Responsibility” Despite Dismal Finances
Both county commission incumbent Bob Abbott and challenger Nate McLaughlin have bankruptcies and foreclosures in their recent past even though they’re running on fiscal sanity.
Bunnell City Administration Will Occupy County Offices Rent-Free Through 2012
Bunnell will continue occupying a suite of county offices valued at $3,000 a month even though the old city hall is livable.
Opposition to the Mosque “At” Ground Zero Desecrates American Values
Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich and other reactionaries’ opposition to a mosque near ground zero offends liberty at the expense of the dead of 9/11.
Taking Stockman: How Nixon, Reagan, Bush and their GOP Demolished the Economy
David Stockman, Reagan’s former budget director, sums up how his GOP destroyed the American economy through a bogus faith in markets and false promises of fiscal discipline.
How Palm Coast Got Tagged in the Jessi Slaughter Cyberbullying Affair
A Florida girls tries out for fame and becomes a poster-child of cyberbullying instead. If her story were a flag on Iwo Jima, it’d be all red.
What You Always Wanted to Know About Mills & Millage Rates
Even John Quincy Adams complained almost 200 years ago that few people could figure out the meaning of “mills,” and he wasn’t even talking about millage rates. Here’s an explanation and some history of the most commonly incomprehensible word at tax time.
Florida 1 of 3 States With Top-Rated Medicare Advantage Plan. But You Can’t Enroll in Flagler.
Top-rated Capital Health Plan, a non-profit, is available only in the four-county Tallahassee area, so local Medicare members are denied enrollment.
County Tax Rate Going Up 15.4% Even as Revenue and Government Services Stall
The proposed 2011 property tax rate would be the highest in at least 10 years, yet collapsing property values mean government revenue will not rise at all compared with this year.
Mia Bella’s Dancers: From Non-Existent to National Champions in Seven Months
Brie Valenti opened her Mia Bella dance studio last January at City Walk, and returned from a competition in Tennessee with two national trophies this week for her students and her choreography.
School Board Candidate Peter Peligian’s Impersonation (and Tax and Claims) Problems
It’s not just that allegedly allegedly used his identity: School board candidate Peter Peligian is not living up to his own claims of transparency and accountability.
Dull and Duller: County Commission Candidates Out-Trivial Each Other at Forum
Bob Abbott and Nate McLaughlin were not convincing candidates in an hour-long chance to shine before a large audience. And one of them is supposed to be the incumbent.
After 11 Years and Feeling “Unwelcome,” Boys & Girls Club Is Quitting Carver Gym
A day after securing a least to run its program at Rymfire Elementary, the Boys & Girls Club voted to leave Carver Gym, where it says it’s unwanted and unappreciated.
Andy Dance’s Two Masters: Voting for a Tax at the Chamber, Against One at the School Board
Dance says a perceived conflict between his positions on two tax proposals is unfortunate, but he’s still exploring the school option.
School Board Candidates Tread Gulf Between Ideal and Reality in Chamber Forum
The five candidates fielded relatively straight-forward questions but with key exceptions answered in generalities that revealed more of what they didn’t know than what they did.
News-Journal Dealer and 71-Year-Old Who “Had 2 Beers, Maybe 3,” in US1 Smash-Up
The News-Journal dealer was driving north when an elderly man who’d just been at the White Eagle Lounge pulled out of the driveway, causing the wreck. Neither was seriously injured.
In Shifty Budget, Palm Coast Projects Peter Pots Paying Paul Pots and 12-15 Lay-Offs
Next year’s city budget is heavy on shifts, cuts and one pot of money subsidizing another while keeping the tax rate where it’s been.
Speaking of Sex In (and Out of) Flagler Schools: Butterfly Project Shows Adults How It’s Done
Teens educating teens about sex, the pitfalls of young romance, and the eternity of sexually transmitted diseases, while the school district explores how to go beyond abstinence only.