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Featured

Flagler’s Family Life Center Nets $26,000 from Creekside Festival Donation as 10,000 Turn Out

October 9, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 1 Comment

Vendor space sold out at the 2023 Creekside Music and Arts Festival, and the two-day event drew a combined crowd of 10,000. (Flagler Broadcasting)

Last weekend’s edition of the Creekside Music and Arts Festival at Princess Place Preserve made up for last year’s, when Hurricane Ian made the park impassable and forced the event to move to the Agriculture Museum. The two-day event drew 10,000 people and netted the Family Life center a $26,000 donation from Flagler Broadcasting, which organized the event.

Judge Orders One Final Mediation in Hopes of Averting Trial in Captain’s BBQ Suit Against County

October 9, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 7 Comments

Captain's BBQ, to the left, at Bing's Landing. The lawsuit it filed against the county is four years old. (© FlaglerLive)

The Flagler County Commission met behind closed doors for the first time in over three years this morning to discuss a possible settlement of the four-year-old lawsuit by Captain’s BBQ at Bings Landing. The judge in the case ordered the two sides again to go to mediation to avoid a January trial. Mediation and an attempted settlement that made significant concessions to Captain’s in 2020 failed as commissioners rejected the proposal.

In Florida, Surgeon General Normalizes Medical Quackery

October 7, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 47 Comments

Dr. Joseph Ladapo, in an “America’s Frontline Doctors” lab coat, speaks at a July 2020 event that included Stella Immanuel, a doctor who said “demonic seed” causes ovarian cysts and endometriosis. (Screenshot from YouTube)

In 2021, when Ron DeSantis brought the Quack Ladapo to Florida, it was like returning to a simpler, much stupider time, when docs prescribed drinking a little ground unicorn horn mixed with water as a cure for the plague. Or if you were fresh out of unicorns (or the virgins you need to catch them), you could always  try chicken butt.

State Attorney’s Jason Lewis, Near-Invincible Prosecutor, Wins 7th Judicial Circuit’s Lifetime Achievement Award

October 6, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 3 Comments

Assistant State Attorney Jason Lewis had no idea he would be the State Attorney's recipient of the Boyle Award for th Seventh judicial Circuit. (© FlaglerLive)

Assistant State Attorney Jason Lewis, a ferocious, annihilating prosecutor who’s as genial outside the courtroom as he is fearsome inside it, since 2014 has managed the Flagler outpost of the State Attorney’s Office and oversees its homicide attorneys in the four-county Seventh Judicial Circuit.

Before Her Leap Off the Flagler Beach Bridge, Untouched Drinks and a Purse Left Behind

October 6, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 30 Comments

Five people have jumped from the Flagler Beach bridge in the last 10 years. Two died. (© FlaglerLive)

The Flagler Beach Police Department identified the woman who jumped from the Flagler Beach bridge Wednesday afternoon and survived as Mandy Michelle Mincey, a 47-year-old woman with no reported home. She was also known as Mandy Monroe. Earlier that day she had been at a bar and had ordered drinks, but left them untouched as she ran to the bridge.

Palm Coast Issued Development Orders for 4,138 Homes This Year Alone, and Has 13,361 ‘in Pipeline’

October 5, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 46 Comments

Too much? (© FlaglerLive)

While City Council member Theresa Ponstieri significantly overstated the actual number of homes the council approved this year, there is no question that Palm Coast is growing rapidly, and that Council policy is doing all it can to accelerate that growth, with increasing rumbles from existing residents who think, like Pontieri, that the pace is too rapid.

With District Financial Procedures Ensnarled, School Board Pursues Firing Attorney, But With a Lifeline

October 5, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 11 Comments

It's been a year of face-palms. (© FlaglerLive)

The board’s discussion took an unexpected turn as the possibility of saving Kristy Gavin’s job in a different capacity–she would answer to the superintendent as a staff attorney–gelled around a consensus that perhaps reflects the board’s leeriness at fostering either more controversy or more difficulties for its new superintendent, who already relies a great deal on Gavin and her unparalleled institutional history. 

With $719,000 Almost Certainly Lost to Fraud, School District Turns to Insurance in Hopes for Recovery

October 4, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 30 Comments

The Flagler County Sheriff's Office made public a heavily redacted incident report on the school district's fraud case today. (© FlaglerLive)

Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly this afternoon confirmed that the amount of money the Flagler County school district lost in a wire-transfer phishing scheme is $719,583, but that “it’s close to 100 percent long gone.” The district made the payment on Sept. 22. Its fraudulent nature was not detected until Tuesday morning–11 days later, an eternity of comfort for phishing scams to evade controls and make it out of the country.

Sheriff Chitwood’s Dangerous, Irresponsible Attacks on News-Journal’s Frank Fernandez

October 4, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 24 Comments

The News-Journal's Frank Fernandez, right, always on the lookout for cons. (© FlaglerLive)

Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood’s repeated, vilifying and unjustified attacks on News-Journal reporter Frank Fernandez irresponsibly and dangerously inflame his social media base at a time when reporters’ safety is nothing to take lightly–the more so when a law enforcement chief who should know better is stoking the flames. Volusia County media should respond in concert.

Flagler School District Loses ‘Significant Amount of Money’ in Apparent Phishing Scheme Involving Vendor

October 3, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 18 Comments

School Board Attorney Kristy Gavin's desk was conspicuously empty during today's three-hour workshop: she was investigating a case of potential fraud involving the district's accounts. (© FlaglerLive via Flagler Schools)

The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a case of fraud, or phishing, targeting the Flagler County school district and one of its vendors. The district may have lost as much as $700,000 intended for one of the contractors building the Matanzas High School addition. If it is a case of phishing, the likelihood of recovering the money is not high, especially since the district may not have been timely either in discovering the fraud or in reporting it.

Bob Snyder, ‘Giant During Covid,’ Steps Down from Flagler County Health Department He Led for 11 Years

October 3, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 11 Comments

Bob Snyder looks up to retirement. (© FlaglerLive)

Bob Snyder, who’s led the Flagler County Health Department since 2013, was the co-architect of the county’s response to the Covid pandemic and more recently ensured that the department’s funding more directly reflect the county’s population, after decades of imbalance, stepped down and opted for retirement Sunday, six months before he was planning to do so.

For $3 Million Rebuild of Splash Pad at Holland Park, Palm Coast Turns to Trusted Contractor

October 3, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 20 Comments

The splash pad today. (© FlaglerLive)

Palm Coast government is turning to a trusted contractor, Daytona Beach-based Saboungi Construction–fresh from its ramped up transformation of Waterfront Park–to repair the desolate splash pad at Holland Park, a two-year-old blight on the city’s prized park system and an eyesore at the flagship park almost since it opened in May 2021.

Judge Exonerates ‘Christian’ Teacher Who Refused to Refer to Trans Student by His Preferred Pronouns

October 3, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 12 Comments

trans pronouns

An administrative law judge Monday backed a Miami-Dade County teacher who reportedly told a transgender student that, “I’m a Christian, and my God made no mistakes” while refusing to call the student by preferred pronouns.

Here Are the 3 Lawsuits Against the District the School Board Will Discuss Behind Closed Doors Tuesday

October 2, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 2 Comments

Tuesday's closed-door meeting was initially requested by school board members, contrary to state law, which authorizes only the school board attorney to call such "shade" meetings. (Marcus Wallis on Unsplash)

When the Flagler County School Board meets behind closed doors early Tuesday afternoon, a meeting that may at least in part be in violation of state law, it will discuss three pending lawsuits against the district, and potential settlements in two of them, including an employment discrimination lawsuit scheduled for trial in federal court in December.

Flagler School Board Wants ‘Standing’ Closed-Door Meetings Every 3 Months. That Would Be Illegal.

October 2, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 12 Comments

School Board members Will Furry, Christy Chong and Sally Hunt have been on the board for less than a year. Their grasp of sunshine is tenuous. (© FlaglerLive via Flagler Schools TV)

The Flagler County School Board directed its attorney to schedule “standing” closed-door meetings every three months to get updates on litigation facing the district. Such meetings would be illegal, as was the board assuming the authority to set such meetings, according to Florida law and a veteran local government attorney.

DeSantis Solution to Climate Change: Burn More Fossil Fuels

October 1, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 17 Comments

The last two weeks' erosion just north of the Flagler Beach pier. (© FlaglerLive)

Gov. Ron DeSantis traveled to Texas last week to stand in front of a couple of noisy oil wells and a friendly crowd of oil field workers to issue a clarion call for coping with climate change by burning more fossil fuels. He pledged to make it easier for oil industry to drill and said he would replace references to “climate change” with “energy dominance.”

When Sisco Deen Reconnected Descendants to the Local Legacies of General Hernández, Bings and MalaCompra

October 1, 2023 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

Sisco Deen, standing, with descendants of Gen. Hernandez, at the MalaCompra archeological site. (Flagler County Historical Society)

The late Sisco Deen and his wife Gloria played a central role in exhuming history and reconnecting descendants and state historians with the local legacy of General Joseph Hernández, who owned a plantation residence in what became Bings Landing Park and was the first Hispanic in Congress.

U.S. Supreme Court Will Hear Challenge to Florida Law Forcing Social Media to Carry Objectionable Content

October 1, 2023 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

aca still standing

The Texas and Florida legislatures passed the laws at the center of the disputes in 2021. The Florida law, known as S.B. 7072 or the Stop Social Media Censorship Act, prohibits social-media companies from banning political candidates and “journalistic enterprises.” The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to weigh in on the constitutionality of the controversial laws.

Remembering Lucy Morgan, Florida’s Most Feared Journalist

October 1, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 2 Comments

Lucy Morgan in her days as a reporter for the St. Petersburg Times. (Florida Memory)

When Lucy Morgan started out, female reporters were usually confined to the food and style pages. She was the machete clearing the trail for many women in Florida, not the first pioneering newspaperwoman but surely the most significant. Causing trouble — for the powerful, at least — was her job, and she mentored generations of journalists.

Bipartisan House Vote Keeps Government Open for 45 Days; Flagler’s Mike Waltz Votes Against

September 30, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 13 Comments

The U.S. House approved a bill Saturday that would stave off a government shutdown until at least mid-November, though the measure doesn’t include Ukraine aid backed by both Republicans and Democrats. The bipartisan 335-91 vote to send the bill to the Senate took place with less than 10 hours until funding expired. U.S. Rep. Mike Waltz, who represents Flagler County, voted against the measure.

Sally Hunt Raises Questions About Using Schools as Shelters During Hurricane Emergencies

September 29, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 53 Comments

sally hunt shelters

Flagler County School Board member Sally Hunt questioned whether district schools should continue to be used as shelters during tropical storm emergencies, and whether the district could go to late starts rather than cancel whole days of school. Officials explained to Hunt that schools are an integral part of emergency management, with closures are carefully calibrated between potential risk and the safety of students and staff.

Bible Challenge in Flagler Schools Unravels Inconsistencies, Arbitrariness and Confusion in Review Process

September 29, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 33 Comments

LaShakia Moore, then in her role as assistant superintendent, eplaining to volunteers the district's book-challenge reviewing process--a process the district is not following with a challenge filed regarding the Bible. (© FlaglerLive)

A challenge of the Bible’s presence in some of Flagler County’s public school libraries is unraveling the inconsistencies, contradictions, flaws, and arbitrariness of Flagler County’s book-challenge process. The challenge, filed by Palm Coast resident Bob Gordon, cites 67 passages he claims are sexually explicit, sadistic, graphically violent and bigoted.

Against Family’s Wishes, Chad Cordoma, 21, Is Sentenced to Prison for Texting His Little Brother a Threat

September 28, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 14 Comments

prison sentence for threatening text to little brother

Chad Cordoma, 21, of Palm Coast, who’s had numerous mental health issues, was sentenced to 13.5 months in prison and 18 months on probation for texting his younger brother a death threat and the picture of a gun he was carrying. His parents called 911 thinking they were getting him help. He was arrested, charged with two felonies, and sentenced today, despite the family’s plea against a prison sentence.

At Post-Segregated Assemblies Town Hall, Superintendent Bridges Conversation Beyond Walls and Outrage

September 28, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 7 Comments

Superintendent LaShakia Moore addressing the Carver Center audience Wednesday evening. (© FlaglerLive)

Flagler Schools Superintendent LaShakia Moore hosted a town hall at the Carver Center in predominantly Black South Bunnell Wednesday evening in the wake of the segregated assemblies at Bunnell Elementary School. The audience of some 110 and the superintendent engaged in an open conversation about education and community involvement, with only two moments when the assemblies and their aftermath were discussed.

At Sisco Deen’s Memorial, Tales of When Jail Saved Him from Dissolution and a Jeep Shook Him Overboard

September 28, 2023 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

Al Hadeed, the county attorney, a friend of Sisco Deen's and an amateur historian in his own right, signs Deen's memorial banner at the entrance to Cattleman's Hall Wednesday. (© FlaglerLive)

More than 130 people turned up at Cattleman’s Hall at the Flagler fairgrounds for the Quaker-style memorial and life celebration of Claude Sisco Deen, the veteran, archivist and self-made historian who exhumed much of Flagler County’s documented history and died at 83 on Aug. 31.

Contrasting with Depa Case, Judge Dismisses Charge Against Autistic Female Who’d Assaulted Teacher at Matanzas

September 27, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 19 Comments

Reba Johnson in court today, moments before the felony case against her was dismissed. (© FlaglerLive via zoom)

A felony assault charge against Reba Johnson, now 20, an autistic student who had attacked her teacher at Matanzas High School, was dropped today after she was continuously found incompetent to stand trial,. It’s a sharp contrast with the ongoing charge against Brendan Depa, who faces a more severe felony charge after he attacked a paraprofessional last February, though Depa’s and Johnson’s profiles parallel each other in many, but not all, respects.

Town Center Fills In Slowly: Palm Coast Council Approves First 66 of 161 Homes at ‘The Retreat’

September 27, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 30 Comments

Roads and much of the infrastructure is already in place at The Retreat, previously called the Palm Coast tennis Pod because of its proximity to the city's tennis center and future Southern Recreation center. (Palm Coast)

The Palm Coast City Council last week approved a 66-home development, phase 1 of a gated development that will eventually total 161 houses and duplexes in what’ll be called The Retreat at Town Center, on land just north of the Publix on Central Avenue and east of Belle Terre Parkway. 

Taylor Manjarres, 20, Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Her Role in Shooting Death of Zaire Roberts

September 26, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 9 Comments

Taylor Manjarres, 20, walking to the lectern to hear her sentence this afternoon. Her plea deal reduced her exposure from life in prison to 12 years. (© FlaglerLive)

Circuit Judge Terence Perkins sentenced Taylor Renee Manjarres, 20, to 12 years in prison for her role in the armed home invasion that resulted in the shooting death of 23-year-old Zaire Roberts at an R-Section house in Palm Coast in December 2021. Her co-conspirator, Kwentel Moultrie, got 35 years in addition to 10 years for a separate charge.

Michael Benkert, on the Run for 19 Days Since Flagler Beach Trailer Park Manhunt, Is Arrested

September 26, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

The heavy police presence around the trailer park in Flagler Beach the evening of Sept. 7. (© FlaglerLive)

Michael Benkert, the thrice-imprisoned 31-year-old Palm Coast resident who had terrorized family members in Flagler Beach and whose evasion from law enforcement turned a trailer park there into a police-chase zone three weeks ago, was finally apprehended, along with his twin brother Anthony, and faces a half dozen charges, three of them felonies.

‘No Smoke and Mirrors’: New Baler Helps Flagler Beach Recycle 4 Tons of Cardboard a Week

September 26, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

Flagler Beach's Sanitation Department is now in the cardboard baling business: it placed 18 tons of cardboard, or 24 bales, on a truck last month when the new system kicked off. (Rob Smith)

Flagler Beach’s Sanitation Department acquired a $6,000 carboard baler and since mid-August has been baling some 4 tons of carboard a week. The city was previously trucking the loose cardboard to ELS Environmental in Bunnell, and losing on the revenue.

Court Rules Unanimous Jury Not Necessary in Death Penalty Re-Sentencing of 2 in ‘X-Box Murders’

September 25, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 2 Comments

Jerone Hunter, left, and Troy Victorino.

Troy Victorino and Jerone Hunter were convicted in the murders of six people in a Deltona home in a case that drew national attention. The case became known as the “Xbox murders” because it involved a dispute about some of Victorino’s belongings, including an Xbox video-game system. A panel of the 5th District Court of Appeal ruled a unanimous jury is not necessary in the two men’s death-penalty re-sentencing.

Montessori School Owner Kerri Huckabee, 54, Arrested on 3 Felonies in Dispute with Flagler Beach Neighbors

September 25, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 34 Comments

The Nardone property in the foreground was built in 2018, immediately adjacent to that of Kerri Huckabee, who has been angered by the Nardones' surveillance cameras and lights. (© FlaglerLive)

Kerri Ann Huckabee, 54, the long-time owner of the Montessori school in Flagler Beach that moved to Bunnell in 2018, was arrested on three felony charges, including a second degree felony, and for kicking two police officers, and was booked at the Flagler County jail. The arrest was the result of long-running antagonism toward her neighbors on South 23rd Street since they moved in in 2018.

Don’t Blame Us Seniors for the Affordability Crisis. Blame Developers.

September 24, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 15 Comments

affordable housing palm coast

A Hammock resident rejects the claim that Palm Coast’s and Flagler County’s seniors “contribute least” as they buy up homes, or that they are to blame for the housing affordability crisis. Rather, developers convince your fearless leaders that they cannot make any money unless they cram in as many houses on a property as possible. They convince commissioners to change zoning frequently, for profit.

College Football Reflects America As it Really Is: Indefensible In a Civilized World

September 23, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 11 Comments

college football as american civilization diane roberts

It’s college football season in Florida and you know what that means: trash talking, martial metaphors, peculiar rituals involving animals, bizarre clothing in colors not found in nature, bad grammar, mansplaining, and racism. College football reinforces some of our least attractive stereotypes — those Black kids sure are fast! — and extreme gender roles, as well: huge dudes on the field knocking the living hell out of each other, while small (though quite athletic) women with incongruously large bows in their hair cheer them on.

Sean Barry, 33, Found Hanging at County Jail and Dies at Hospital. He’d Been Waiting for a Drug-Treatment Bed.

September 22, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 12 Comments

Sean Barry and his sister Danielle Brown, and Barry by himself. (Danielle Brown)

Sean E. Barry, a 33-year-old resident of Butternut Avenue in Bunnell’s Mondex, died at AdventHealth Palm Coast on Thursday afternoon, five days after he was found hanging in an apparent suicide attempt at the Flagler County jail. Barry was not at the jail on a criminal charge, but on a Marchman Act motion his sister had filed with the court in early August as she sought to get him the drug treatment help he needed. 

Flagler County Approves Higher Taxes, Palm Coast Stays Level, But Claims of ‘Historic’ Rollback Are Inaccurate

September 21, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 17 Comments

Not quite sine die: the council meets again on Oct. 3. (© FlaglerLive)

Palm Coast and Flagler County government this week adopted their budgets and tax rates for the 2023-24 fiscal year with little controversy and so few people in the audience at final hearings that you could count them on one hand. The county raised taxes, the city kept its taxes flat. Palm Coast going back to the rolled back rate was not unique, as some council members claimed or thought.

At Root of Palm Coast’s Affordable Housing Crisis: We Got Our Own. Screw the Rest. 

September 21, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 92 Comments

affordable housing crisis palm coast

We have a housing crisis in Palm Coast. Too few houses, too few apartments, discriminatory zoning and homesteading laws that make the problem worse. We who live in our sprawling, property-tax-sheltered single-family houses not only see these laws as entitlements. We want the door to more development closed behind us. We got our own. Screw the rest. So just when we need it most, affordable housing is becoming a dirty word.

Up to 210 Homes Approved on Old Kings Road South of SR100 But Polo Club West Neighbors Have Worries

September 20, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 32 Comments

The entrance to Polo Club West on Old Kings Road South. (Google)

The Palm Coast Planning Board recommended approval of a rezoning of 62 acres on Old Kings Road some 2.5 miles south of State Road 100 that will clear the way for up to 210 small homes, hours after the Palm Coast City Council annexed the property into the city, from the county. The property is adjacent to Polo Club West, an upscale equestrian community where residents have been worried about the effects of a more dense development on their privacy and property values.

‘Faith’ Bridge Over SR100 Goes from Maligned to Acclaimed as It Opens, But in the Absence of Its Champion

September 20, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 17 Comments

Officials hope the look of the bridge, shaped like the Flagler Beach Pier's A-frame, will become just as iconic. (© FlaglerLive)

Flagler County and city officials inaugurated the formal opening of the $12.3 million pedestrian bridge over State Road 100, five years in the making, with speeches and a dedicatory run by the Flagler Palm Coast High School track team. But its leading champion, Faith al-Khatib, was absent.

UCF May Close Three Campuses

September 20, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 1 Comment

The state university system’s Board of Governors on Wednesday will consider proposals by the University of Central Florida to close three campuses no longer in use. The proposals involve the South Orlando Campus, the UCF Leesburg campus and the UCF Palm Bay campus.

School Board Trio Will Hire an Attorney to Help Them Fire Board’s Attorney of 17 Years

September 19, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 39 Comments

gavin firing

The Flagler County School Board has assigned fellow-board member Will Furry to hire a labor attorney–at the district’s expense–who will then shepherd them through firing Kristy Gavin, the board’s attorney, without risking a lawsuit. Board members Sally Hunt and Christy Chong pushed the idea of outside counsel. Board Chair Cheryl Massaro joined them in assigning Furry.

Rezoning Enabling Up to 850 Homes in Seminole Woods Causes Sharp Debate Before Palm Coast Approval

September 19, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 45 Comments

Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin and Council member Theresa Pontieri do not see eye to eye on the pace of development in Palm Coast. (© FlaglerLive)

The Palm Coast City Council today approved on a pair of 4-1 votes land use changes that clear the way for up to 850 housing units on 375 acres on the west side of Seminole Woods Boulevard, three miles south of State Road 100. The proposal, for a project called Cascades, drew sharp opposition from City Council member Theresa Pontieri and an equally sharp defense from the developer, Jeff Douglas of Douglas Properties. The exchange drew in the mayor and other council members and reflects a recurring debate in Palm Coast over the speed, density and purpose of development.

A Mixed Bag in New Rankings of Florida’s Colleges and Universities as DeSantis Polarization Dims Luster

September 19, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 5 Comments

Florida universities, which have been in the center of national polarization for months, have seen a mixed bag in U.S. News & World Report college rankings, with both positive and negative views and some changes in the methodology. Florida has been bombarded by the anti-woke rhetoric and action of Gov. Ron DeSantis and conservative politicians who are pushing higher education reforms and policies such as post-tenure reviews that have been blasted by faculty unions.

Fractured Leadership: Few Questions Asked, Fewer Concerns Raised Ahead of Segregated Assemblies, Investigation Reveals

September 18, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 11 Comments

A failure and fracture of leadership at Bunnell Elementary appears to have enabled what turned into segregated assemblies for Black students. (© FlaglerLive)

Bunnell Elementary school’s leadership environment that enabled a trio of teachers to hold assemblies targeting only Black students last month was disjointed, incurious, careless and oblivious to the optics of segregating Black students in the name of improving test scores, regardless of their academic standing, a  pair surprisingly limited and identical internal investigations reveal.

‘Savannah Asked Me To Never Be Silent.’ A Survivor of Brenan Hill’s Violence Speaks.

September 18, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

savannah gonzalez

Brenan Hill was convicted on Friday for the murder of Savannah Gonzalez, 22. Shanell Torchia was a previous victim of Hill’s violence, and the mother of his child: he was a fugitive from justice, and the charges she had filed, when he shot Gonzalez. Torchia speaks out about her experience, her friendship with Savannah, and the dangerous leeway granted abusers.

Crazy and Cruel Sell Well in Florida. So Scott Is Running Again.

September 17, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 21 Comments

Rick Scott issues a manifesto. (© FlaglerLive)

In response to the NAACP, the ACLU and the Human Rights Campaign warnings that travel to Florida could be hazardous to people of color, LGBTQ people, or people who just believe in decency and tolerance, Scott posted a huffy hunk of mansplaining on that X-thing that everyone still calls Twitter, warning “socialists and communists” and suchlike to stay out of Florida.

Felony Charge for Mom Who Left Child Alone With Dead Man After Night of Sex and Drugs at Hammock Resort

September 17, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 30 Comments

Amy Kemper.

The State Attorney’s Office filed a third-degree felony child neglect charge against Amy M. Kemper, 32, of Richland Place in Palm Coast on Thursday. The charge is in connection with an incident at the Hammock Beach Resort on Sept. 9 involving drugs and group sex in the proximity of Kemper’s 11-year-old child, and that ended with the death of a 60-year-old man, according to her arrest report and the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.

Florida Under DeSantis Is Ground Zero of Voter Disenfranchisement

September 16, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 21 Comments

If you can. (Derek Bridges via Flickr)

DeSantis and the malleable Florida Legislature have cracked down on political protest, asylum seekers, the LGBTQ community, and women and trans men who might need abortions, among others. In elections litigation alone, the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition sued the state in federal court in Miami alleging the state has erected barriers to felons hoping to regain their voting rights under 2018’s Amendment 4, which the organization sponsored.

City Repertory Theatre’s Audacious New Season Runs from ‘Perfect’ Love to Witch’s Cat to Freud’s Lingerie

September 16, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 3 Comments

John Sbordone. (Mike Kitaif)

Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre’s news season includes heady classics rarely staged in East-Central Florida: “Educating Rita” and Edward Albee’s unnerving “The Zoo Story.” There are acclaimed but off-the-radar, even experimental works: “Vinegar Tom,” Caryl Churchill’s Brechtian take on 17th-century witchcraft trials, and Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour’s bizarro, undirected “White Rabbit Red Rabbit.” Contemporary works include “Edges: A Song Cycle” and the comedy “Hysteria,” wherein Salvador Dalí meets Sigmund Freud.

Third Cyclist Killed in 6 Weeks, on Narrow CR 302, as Flagler County’s 2-Wheel and Pedestrian Fatalities Rise

September 15, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 38 Comments

The area of the crash on County Road 302, just west of County Road 15, is narrow, has no shoulders or bike lanes, and no street lights. (Google)

A 51-year-old Palm Coast man cycling on County Road 302 early this morning died in a crash involving two vehicles, the third cyclist to die on Flagler County’s roads in six weeks. County Road 302 is a narrow two-lane road with no shoulders, no bike lanes and no street lights.

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