A 17-year-old Palm Coast boy was killed and another injured in a mudding crash in isolated and unlit Flagler Estates shortly after midnight this morning, according to the Florida Highway Patrol and the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office. Four other youths in the vehicle escaped injuries.
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Judge Mulls Trial Competency of Migrant Facing Manslaughter Charge in Sudden Death of Deputy After Arrest
Declaring it a “complex situation,” Circuit Court Judge R. Lee Smith at the end of a three-hour hearing today said he needed time to think before issuing a decision on whether Vergilio Aguilar Mendez, the 18-year-old migrant controversially charged with manslaughter in the death of a St. Johns County deputy Michael Kunovich last May, is competent to stand trial. Kunovich died several minutes after Mendez was arrested for resisting arrest after a stop-and-frisk encounter in St. Augustine.
Flagler Students Violated Limited Cell Phone Ban 1,300 Times This Year; Principals Caution Against Total Ban
There’s no recommendation from the administration to go further than the current cell-phone ban in schools, which still allows students to use their phones between classes and at lunch. If anything, Flagler’s middle and high school principals are cautioning the school board against imposing a stricter ban, finding the current balance effective and educational.
Taking On Artificial Intelligence, Florida Legislature Will Contend Unpredictable Scenarios in Coming Session
As access to artificial intelligence, or AI, continues to spread, state lawmakers are poised to consider ways to set up guardrails around a technology that one senator said has “outpaced government regulation.” Measures filed by Senate and House Republicans target issues such as potential defamation of people using AI in media, use of the technology in political advertising and the creation of a state council that would look at potential legislative reforms.
Cascades Development in Seminole Woods Back on the Table for a Re-Hearing, Putting in Question 416-House Limit
A part of the application for the 416-home Cascades development in Seminole Woods will be heard again by the City Council in January following an error in the application process, possibly reopening the way for the developers to push for a higher housing limit than the 416 the council agreed to, after much public opposition to the originally proposed 850 units.
Flagler County and New Florida State Guard Sign Lease on $10 Million Training Facility Near Sheriff’s Jail in Bunnell
It is no longer just a possibility. It is now a certainty. The Florida State Guard’s training facility will be located in Flagler County next to the Flagler County jail on Justice Lane in Bunnell. The County Commission on Monday approved a 30-year lease with the Guard. As with the National Guard armory on county grounds near the county airport, the State Guard will not pay rent.
Ban on Felons Owning Guns Survives as Florida Supreme Court Rejects Challenge
Florida Supreme Court Justices on Monday issued an order rejecting an appeal by William Edenfield, who was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon after a 2020 shooting incident in Leon County. Edenfield went to the Supreme Court in August after the 1st District Court of Appeal rejected his Second Amendment arguments.
Approval of Carver Center’s Joint Agreement Is Upended as School Board Has Late-Breaking Changes
In the works since June, a new, joint agreement on management and oversight of the Carver Center in Bunnell will have to wait until at least January before it is enacted, because a misstep at the school district delayed a legal review of the agreement. That kept the School Board from seeing the revised proposal for the first time until the County Commission had already approved the original version.
Commissioners Votes Heather Haywood Off Flagler Planning Board Over Public Records Snub: ‘She Handled It Poorly’
On a motion by Greg Hansen, the Flagler County Commission Monday evening unanimously voted to remove Realtor Heather Haywood from the county’s planning board after Haywood falsely accused Hanse of “crossing a line” in a Facebook Messenger text he never sent, and after Haywood failed to take seriously a public record request. It was the second time in a month that the commission removed a planning board member. Haywood appeared to leave commissioners no choice.
Moore Overruled Panel to Name Cari McGee, Outspoken Diversity Expert and Advocate, Bunnell Elementary Principal
Superintendent LaShakia Moore’s choice of Cari McGee as Bunnell Elementary’s next principal says as much about Moore’s willingness to buck recommendations and trust her own instinct as it does about McGee, a committed and–like Moore, opinionated and socially conscious–leader who a few years ago signed her name to an open letter condemning “inaction in the face of oppression” and lambasting Nancy Pelosi for using the language of white supremacy.
Anti-LGBTQ Activist Wants Flagler Library System to Stop Paying $173 Membership to American Library Association
The Flagler County library system is hoping to fend off an attempt by a South Florida activist opposed to LGBTQ equality to sever library staff memberships in the American Library Association and its affiliates, though currently that entire cost amounts to $173. It is the latest flare-up of an ongoing push by the far right in schools and libraries to restrict or ban LGBTQ-related materials, themes or associations, particularly in connection with children’s access or programs, though in this case the connection–if there is one–is tenuous.
Palm Coast’s Tyler Perkins, 27, Dies in Single-Vehicle Crash on Old Kings Road
Tyler Perkins, a 27-year-old resident of Palm Coast, died in a single vehicle crash on Old Kings Road when his pick-up truck went off the road and struck a tree Sunday afternoon.
Winnie Oden, Peripatetic Educator In Flagler Schools With Foresight and a Passion for Security, Dies at 75
Oden–who was officially known as Juanita Winnie Oden–had a mind of her own, opinions to spare and the kind of foresight that led to champion safety and security well before the Parkland massacre. She was as outspoken as she was irrepressible, and did not mind ruffling a feather or two–going as far as suing her own school board when she was serving on it.
An Affair to Dismember: The Tawdriness of Florida’s GOP Chair and His Moms for Liberty Phony
Republicans cast themselves as the party of piety, traditional gender roles, and family values. This is at odds with reality. Florida GOP chairman Christian Ziegler is accused of rape. His wife Bridget, co-founder of Moms for Liberty and member of the Sarasota School Board who has vowed to bring “religious values” to education, also admits to having an affair with her. Gov. Ron DeSantis had said he wished he could put a Bridget Ziegler on every school board “in every county in Florida.”
Federal Judge Will Hear Arguments in Escambia Schools’ Book-Banning Case in January
The case is playing out amid wide-ranging debates in Florida and other states about school officials removing or restricting access to books. The plaintiffs in the Escambia County case contend that the school board’s decisions violated First Amendment and constitutional equal-protection rights. Attorneys for the school board argue the judge should dismiss the case because the board has authority to decide which books to purchase and keep on school shelves.
The Affidavit Behind Rape Allegation Against Florida GOP Chair Christian Ziegler
The release of Sarasota police’s sworn affidavit provides facts about the rape investigation of Florida GOP Chairman Christian Ziegler, writes investigative reporter Bob Norman. The facts are damning primarily to Ziegler, but also to his wife Bridget Ziegler, a Sarasota School Board member and cofounder of the right-wing, book-banning group Moms for Liberty.
Florida Court Rules Child Is Mature Enough to Be a Mother, But Not to Have an Abortion
A state appeals court Friday upheld a Calhoun County circuit judge’s ruling that blocked a minor from having an abortion without notification and consent of a parent or guardian. The decision’s implicit reasoning is that the child is nevertheless mature enough to carry the baby to term.
Heather Haywood’s ‘Inauthentic’ Records Fail to Prove Incendiary Accusation Against Flagler Commissioner Hansen
Flagler County Attorney Al Hadeed said Friday that Planning Board member Heather Haywood, who has made false and public accusations against Commissioner Greg Hansen, has not been responsive to a public record request, and what she has submitted about “Hansen” is deemed “inauthentic”–that is, either fabricated or part of a scam. The County Commission on Monday is to vote on whether to retain Haywood’s membership on the planning board or to remove her.
Flagler Airport Marks Opening of 42 New T-Hangars, But $6.5 million Project Barely Reduces Waiting List
County officials dedicated the opening of 42 T-hangars at Flagler Executive Airport, adding to the 56 existing T-hangars. The $6.5 million project was mostly financed by the Florida Department of Transportation. Despite the new addition, the waiting list for hangar space is still 158 people.
Should Flagler Beach Mayor Have a Vote and Chair All Meetings? Commission Is Split on Possible Ballot Proposal.
On a proposal fronted by Commissioner Eric Cooley and informally seconded by Mayor Suzie Johnston, the Flagler Beach City Commission will consider whether to ask voters to change the city’s form of government, reducing the commission to five members, giving the mayor voting power, making the mayor the [permanent chair of meetings, and increasing electoral terms from three years to four.
The Immoral Gamble of ‘Shopping’ for Health Insurance
Between high premiums, deductibles, co-pays, co-insurance, other out-of-pocket costs, and the enduring myth that Americans still get to choose their own doctor, health insurance has become a maze of forced costs and limited options based on impossible choices you shouldn’t have to make. Obamacare has failed. Private insurance is often an overpriced, over-subsidized racket. Medicare alone remains the only viable solution with universal application.
Grinchy Storm Raises Flooding Concerns and Cancels Palm Coast Starlight Parade, With No Make-Up Date
A low-pressure system in the Gulf of Mexico that will whirl across Florida over the weekend, from the Big Bend area to Jacksonville, is expected to churn up the Atlantic with up to 10-foot waves and significantly higher tides that may cause flooding, it is already kicking up wind gusts of up to 40 mph in places, and it is cancelling weekend plans such as the much-anticipated Palm Coast Starlight Parade.
Flagler School District’s Poison-Pill Offer to Save Attorney Kristy Gavin’s Job Draws Warning of Lawsuit Ahead
The Flagler school district’s negotiations with Board Attorney Kristy Gavin have soured following the district’s condition that Gavin should give up the right to sue in exchange for her keeping her job. School Board member Cheryl Massaro says Gavin, who is not likely to accept such terms, is likely to be fired by year’s end, and to sue the district on numerous grounds including breach of contract, wrongful discharge, hostile work environment, age and sex discrimination and defamation.
Jury Finds 47-Year-Old Palm Coast Man Guilty of Cyber-Stalking and Soliciting Girl, 14, for 18 Months
A jury found 47-year-old Jerome Byron Malerba guilty of cyber-stalking, soliciting a child for sex, and using a cell phone to criminal ends. He had been involved in what he termed a “mentoring friendship” with a girl when she was 14 and 15. He faces a maximum of 15 years in prison and will be designated a sex offender when he is sentenced early next year.
Proposal to Rollback Florida’s Child Labor Laws, Masked as Opportunities for Teens, Clears Its 1st Hurdle
A proposal that would eliminate restrictions on the number of hours that 16- and 17-year-olds could work received its first hearing in the Florida Legislature on Wednesday, where it passed on a party-line vote in the GOP-controlled committee. The measure limits restrictions that now prohibit 16- and 17-year-olds from working more than six consecutive days in any one week or working 4 hours continuously without a break.
School Board’s Cheryl Massaro Will Run Again, Saying Reign of Rookies Scares Her
When Cheryl Massaro was elected to the Flagler County School Board a little over three years ago, she intended to serve one term. The past year’s aberrations on the board by its three rookies and constituents’ pressures on her not to retire in the face of those aberrations changed her mind. Massaro is running again.
City Attorney Warns Palm Coast Away from Directly, Financially Aiding Flooded Property Owners
Palm Coast City Council member Ed Danko wants the city to more directly aid property owners whose yards have been flooded from adjacent, new construction, but the city attorney says funds may not be spent to benefit any single private property owners. The city administration will look at alternatives.
All Those Yards Flooding from New Construction? Blame ITT, Nature or Changing Codes, Not Builders, City Finds
More than 80 property owners have filed complaints about yards flooding as new construction has gone up in Palm Coast recently. Palm Coast officials say there are all sorts of reasons but builders and new construction are not among them. The city is working with property owners to analyze the issues and provide direction. It is also rewriting is technical building rules. But it’s stopping short of providing direct aid.
Brightline Rail from Orlando to Tampa ‘Making Tremendous Strides,’ With SunRail Spurs to Airport and Disney Ahead
What is known as the Sunshine Corridor Partnership seeks to connect the SunRail commuter-rail service in Central Florida to Brightline at Orlando International Airport, while linking the Orange County Convention Center, south International Drive and the Disney Springs areas. While Florida in 2011 turned down $2.4 billion in federal money for high-speed rail between Tampa and Orlando, the right-of-way along the I-4 corridor is reserved for passenger rail.
Facing Lawsuit from Ormond Beach, Flagler Defends Acquiring ‘Easement of Necessity’ That Crosses Volusia Border
Flagler County Attorney Al Hadeed explained why in his view Ormond Beach’s lawsuit against the county over an easement through conservation land in Hunter’s Ridge is off-base: Ormond Beach could itself settle the matter by acquiring conservation land on its side of the border, by setting aside unreasonable fears that Flagler will build a highway–and by upgrading Durrance Lane, the road that runs across the Hunter’s Ridge development.
Flagler Schools Again a ‘B’ District, With Only 2 Schools Notching A’s and FPC Improving to B
Twenty-nine Florida school districts–or 43 percent of districts in the state–scored an A this year. The Flagler County school district is not among them. The district notched another B, its ninth in the last 10 years that the state Department of Education has awarded school grades.. When a plurality of districts across the state score an A and Flagler does not, it makes it harder for the district to claim, as its motto likes to claim, that it is a “premier learning organization,” or that it promotes a “culture of excellence.”
The Wheels Are Falling Off the Ronbo Bus
Ron DeSantis has decided to show how tough he is, going on the offensive not against Moscow but against a peaceable nation of pink buildings, blue seas, and Black people, wooing voters in Iowa and New Hampshire by hollering, “Like, if the Bahamas were firing rockets into Fort Lauderdale, like, we would not accept that for, like, one minute. I mean, we would just level it.”
How DeSantis and GOP Are Undermining Abortion-Right Ballot Initiatives Before the Vote
As abortion-rights initiative pick up victories in referendums, Republicans across the nation, exemplified by Florida’s Ron DeSantis, want to change the terms of the debate by injecting it with misinformation or overriding the referendum process.
FWC Admits Error and Changes Policy in Response to Palm Coast Outrage Over Gruesome Killing of a Pet Deer
A trio of Palm Coast residents indignant at the euthanizing of a domesticated deer by throat-slitting in early October addressed the Dec. 5 meeting of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and got what appeared to be an immediate response: FWC, one of whose officers was responsible for killing the animal, has changed its euthanizing policy to prevent similar outcomes in future.
Flagler Beach Property Owner Liam Mackin, 70, Identified as Anti-Semitic Hate Crime Suspect Just as He Flees
Flagler Beach police identified the man allegedly responsible for a series of hate crimes against local business on Nov. 19 and 20 as Liam Mackin, a 70-year-old resident and property owner with his wife at the Bridgewater condominiums in Flagler Beach, unit E101, since 2015. He has been a local resident for 30 years. But he has fled to Ireland. Mackin deliberately and very specifically targeted businesses that were either owned by Israelis or Americans of Jewish heritage, or had business or family affiliations with Jewish concerns.
A Poisoned Tree Grows in St. Augustine
An 18-year-old migrant faces an aggravated manslaughter charge for the death by heart attack of the sheriff’s deputy who arrested him on a resisting charge, while the migrant was on a sidewalk eating dinner and speaking to his mother by phone at his motel in St. Augustine. The death of the deputy was a tragedy. The charge against the migrant compounds it with a miscarriage of justice in the making.
Florida Senate Panel Backs $200-a-Year Tax on Electric Vehicle Owners to Offset Gas Tax Revenue Loss
The Senate Transportation Committee on Wednesday backed a proposal (SB 28) that would require electric-vehicle owners to pay annual an annual $200 registration fee (or license tax) to try to offset anticipated losses in gas-tax dollars as more people convert to electric and hybrid vehicles. Annual fees of $50 a year would be imposed on plug-in hybrids that use a combination of electricity and gas and $25 fees would be imposed on electric motorcycles.
Palm Coast Pledges ‘Task Force’ Action on Homes Flooding Near New Construction, But Residents Are Skeptical
The Palm Coast city administration is pledging to residents that it is taking a case-by-case approach to address concerns about flooding on quarter-acre properties seemingly caused by new construction. It has created what it calls a “task force” to address the issue. But residents are skeptical, claiming their calls or emails go unanswered, or that the city’s response is to sue neighbors, or that they’re having to shoulder their own costs of drainage improvements.
Approval of 205-Home Old Kings Village Delayed as Polo Club West Residents Say Developer Is Not Negotiating
The Palm Coast City Council is not yet ready to approve Old Kings Village, a planned 205-home development on 60 acres on Old Kings Road, 2.5 miles south of State Road 100. The proposed development is within a short distance of Polo Club West, an equestrian community significantly less dense and more lush than would be its neighboring “Village.” Residents of Polo Club West are objecting to the Village, absent wider buffers and other safeguards.
Paul Renner Rails at ‘Climate Activists’ and Pledges New Controls on Kids’ Social Media Access
House Speaker Paul Renner said Tuesday that lawmakers during the 2024 legislative session will take steps to support energy companies and place limits on children’s access to social-media sites. He provided little detail.
School Board Saves Thanksgiving Week Off for 2024-25 Calendar, But at Cost of Extending High School Day
The school day for Flagler County high school students will be longer by seven minutes each day starting next fall, with a minute added to each class period so the instructional calendar can still meet the legally required total number of class hours per semester, while the Thanksgiving week holiday is not affected. Class periods will go from 47 to 48 minutes.
ER Physician Paul Mucciolo Files for Conklin’s School Board Seat, Citing Need for ‘Healthy Dose of Professionalism’
Dr. Paul Mucciolo, an emergency-medicine physician at AdventHealth Palm Coast, declared his candidacy for the District 3 seat on the Flagler County School Board to bring back “a healthy dose of professionalism” to the board, he said, and to return the school district to an A-rated organization. Mucciolo is running for the seat Colleen Conklin has held since 2000. Conklin has elected not to run again in 2024, as has Cheryl Massaro, though Massaro may not have entirely closed the door on another run.
Proposed Joint Agreement on Bunnell’s Carver Center Governance Gives Sheriff’s PAL New and Larger Role
A proposed joint agreement on governing the Carver Center in South Bunnell–the area’s only recreation and community center–gives the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office’s Police Athletic League a broader presence and a much more prominent role in the management of the facility, especially in programming and running the gym.
Florida Likes Its Tailpipe Emissions As They Are and Rejects $320 Million in Federal Carbon Reduction Aid
Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue has turned down $320 million in federal money aimed at reducing tailpipe emissions, arguing federal transportation officials are overstepping their authority in the program. Perdue on Nov. 13 notified U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg the state will not participate in the federal Carbon Reduction Program, a five-year, $6.4 billion effort focused on emissions that contribute to global warming.
National Guard at Flagler Airport Breaks Ground on $15.7 Million Facility at Armory That’ll Add 30 Jobs
Barely three years after cutting the ribbon on its $22 million, 73,000-square-foot Flagler Palm Coast Readiness Center on the south expanse of Flagler Executive Airport, the Florida National Guard today broke ground on a 37,000 square foot building that will consolidate truck and weapons maintenance operations from two other units into the Palm Coast facility and add 30 permanent jobs.
County May Remove Heather Haywood from Planning Board Over a ‘Lie’ and Refusal to Comply with Record Request
The Flagler County Commission Monday morning voted unanimously to “reconsider” Heather Haywood’s service on the county Planning Board, pointing to her possible removal, should she not comply with a public record request FlaglerLive filed on Nov. 21. Haywood on Nov. 20 stood before the commission and accused Commissioner Greg Hansen of writing to her inappropriately. She did not back-up her statement with evidence. She has so far not produced the alleged communication, nor any other requested.
In Florida, Voter-Suppression Is Essential to GOP’s Edge
Republicans in 2023 are on a campaign to emulate what occurred during Reconstruction by disenfranchising African Americans, engaging in severe gerrymandering so that the odds are turn in their favor in 2024. Their harsh and uncompromising position on abortion is costing them support and has led to losses in primaries. But the GOP’s political strategy is explained by former President Donald Trump, who has said the quiet part out loud: Republicans will never again win elections if democratic reforms make voting easier.
Florida Appeals Court Upholds Disenfranchising Black Voters in North Florida, a Victory for DeSantis
A state appeals court has rejected a legal attempt to save a Black-opportunity congressional district in North Florida, relying on legal reasoning never raised by the parties to the case: That the district originally was devised to benefit Democrats, not Blacks specifically.
Gabriella Alo Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison, Her Brother to 2 in Attacks in Flagler Beach
Gabriella Alo, the 19-year-old Palm Coast woman at the center of a pair of seemingly sadistic assaults in Flagler Beach last January was sentenced to 6 years in prison. Alo’s brother, Nicholas, 22, was sentenced to two years in prison, with credit for nearly a year he’s served, followed by three years on probation.
In Major Decision, Unanimous Supreme Court Rules ‘Marsy’s Law’ Does Not Shield Victims’ Names from Public Disclosure
A 2018 constitutional amendment designed to bolster victims’ rights “does not explicitly” shield the identities of police officers — or any other people — from disclosure, the Florida Supreme Court ruled in a major decision on Thursday. “Protecting crime victims from being located — as opposed to identified — is a meaningful distinction, for exposure of a crime victim’s location creates a threat of physical danger that exposure of his or her name alone does not generally pose,” the decision reads.