• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
MENUMENU
MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • FlaglerLive Board of Directors
    • Comment Policy
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Values
    • Privacy Policy
  • Live Calendar
  • Submit Obituary
  • Submit an Event
  • Support FlaglerLive
  • Advertise on FlaglerLive (386) 503-3808
  • Search Results

FlaglerLive

No Bull, no Fluff, No Smudges

MENUMENU
  • Flagler
    • Flagler County Commission
    • Beverly Beach
    • Economic Development Council
    • Flagler History
    • Mondex/Daytona North
    • The Hammock
    • Tourist Development Council
  • Palm Coast
    • Palm Coast City Council
    • Palm Coast Crime
  • Bunnell
    • Bunnell City Commission
    • Bunnell Crime
  • Flagler Beach
    • Flagler Beach City Commission
    • Flagler Beach Crime
  • Cops/Courts
    • Circuit & County Court
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • Federal Courts
    • Flagler 911
    • Fire House
    • Flagler County Sheriff
    • Flagler Jail Bookings
    • Traffic Accidents
  • Rights & Liberties
    • Fourth Amendment
    • First Amendment
    • Privacy
    • Second Amendment
    • Seventh Amendment
    • Sixth Amendment
    • Sunshine Law
    • Third Amendment
    • Religion & Beliefs
    • Human Rights
    • Immigration
    • Labor Rights
    • 14th Amendment
    • Civil Rights
  • Schools
    • Adult Education
    • Belle Terre Elementary
    • Buddy Taylor Middle
    • Bunnell Elementary
    • Charter Schools
    • Daytona State College
    • Flagler County School Board
    • Flagler Palm Coast High School
    • Higher Education
    • Imagine School
    • Indian Trails Middle
    • Matanzas High School
    • Old Kings Elementary
    • Rymfire Elementary
    • Stetson University
    • Wadsworth Elementary
    • University of Florida/Florida State
  • Economy
    • Jobs & Unemployment
    • Business & Economy
    • Development & Sprawl
    • Leisure & Tourism
    • Local Business
    • Local Media
    • Real Estate & Development
    • Taxes
  • Commentary
    • The Conversation
    • Pierre Tristam
    • Diane Roberts
    • Guest Columns
    • Byblos
    • Editor's Blog
  • Culture
    • African American Cultural Society
    • Arts in Palm Coast & Flagler
    • Books
    • City Repertory Theatre
    • Flagler Auditorium
    • Flagler Playhouse
    • Flagler Youth Orchestra
    • Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra
    • Palm Coast Arts Foundation
    • Special Events
  • Elections 2024
    • Amendments and Referendums
    • Presidential Election
    • Campaign Finance
    • City Elections
    • Congressional
    • Constitutionals
    • Courts
    • Governor
    • Polls
    • Voting Rights
  • Florida
    • Federal Politics
    • Florida History
    • Florida Legislature
    • Florida Legislature
    • Ron DeSantis
  • Health & Society
    • Flagler County Health Department
    • Ask the Doctor Column
    • Health Care
    • Health Care Business
    • Covid-19
    • Children and Families
    • Medicaid and Medicare
    • Mental Health
    • Poverty
    • Violence
  • All Else
    • Daily Briefing
    • Americana
    • Obituaries
    • News Briefs
    • Weather and Climate
    • Wildlife

Featured

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.

Jury Finds Brenan Hill Guilty In Murder of Savannah Gonzalez, and Faces 25 Years to Life in Prison

September 15, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 2 Comments

Brenan Hill during his trial this week. (© FlaglerLive)

A jury of four women and two men found Brenan Hill guilty of second degree murder and two other charges in the shooting death of Savannah Gonzalez, 22, after deliberating two hours and 45 minutes today. He faces life in prison when Circuit Judge Terence Perkins, who presided over the five-day trial, sentences him at a later date.

Malacompra Beach Annexation Into Palm Coast Draws Frosty but Not Fatal Response from Joint Committee

September 15, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 31 Comments

Riders on the Old Coast Guard Road near Malacompra park in the Hammock. (© FlaglerLive)

The joint local government committee of county and city representatives that met for the second time approached at arm’s length Palm Coast City Council member Theresa Pontieri’s proposal that Palm Coast annex into the city the county beach and access at Malacompra Road.

Florida’s ‘Voucher’ System Adds 123,000 Students Attending Private School at Public Expense

September 15, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 22 Comments

Nearly 123,000 new students have received private-school vouchers after state lawmakers this year passed a major expansion of voucher programs, while a group that administers the programs says they will not bring an “exodus” from public schools as critics have predicted.

Brenan Hill Takes Stand in His Defense, Weeping, then Seething that Shooting Savannah Gonzalez Was an ‘Accident’

September 14, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 1 Comment

Brenan Hill reenacts his version of how the gun he took out of his waistband allegedly misfired and struck Samantha Gonzalez on march 26, 2021. He faces a second degree murder charge. He says it was an accident. (© FlaglerLive)

It was not an exactly calm man the jury saw when Brenan Hill took the stand this afternoon in his own defense. Not the sort of man who helped himself much in his trial on a second-degree murder charge that could send him to prison for life if he is convicted: when the prosecution cross-examined him, he was angry, exasperated and at times barely responsive.

Ed Danko Attacks City Staffer With Baseless Claims in Public Meeting, Drawing Sharp Rebuke from Mayor

September 14, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 54 Comments

The Palm Coast City Council's Ed Danko hectoring Chief Sustainability and Resiliency Officer Maeven Rogers at Tuesday's meeting, before turning to argue with Mayor David Alfin, who brought Danko under control. (© FlaglerLive via Palm Coast TV)

Palm Coast City Council member Ed Danko verbally attacked and disparaged the city’s resiliency and sustainability officer in a public meeting on Tuesday, baselessly calling her presentation “propaganda,” questioning why she had a job, and sparring with Mayor David Alfin, who brought him under control.

Kwentel Moultrie Pleads to Murder, Will Serve 45 Years in Prison on Series of Convictions

September 14, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

Kwentel Moultrie will serve a combined 45 years in prison on sentences for two separate offenses--a rape and a murder. (© FlaglerLive)

Kwentel Moultrie, the 24-year-old former Palm Coast resident convicted last year of raping a 16-year-old girl, this morning pleaded guilty to a second degree murder charge and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. He will serve that sentence consecutively to the 10-year sentence for the rape charge.

Almost a Good Day for Brenan Hill in Murder Trial: Jury Does Not Hear Him Speak. Then the Hammer Falls.

September 13, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 2 Comments

Former Flagler County Sheriff Crime Scene Investigator Daniel Wardman shows the jury the firearm, a BDA 380 semi-automatic pistol, that Brennan Hill hid after shooting Savannah Gonzalez in his car in March 2021. Hill is on trial for second degree murder. His attorney says the shooting was accidental. (© FlaglerLive)

In the third day of trial for Brenan Hill, 34, who faces a second-degree murder charge in the shooting death of Savannah Gonzalez, 22, the prosecution built its case through forensic evidence and almost a dozen witnesses today, including testimony from a firearm expert who appeared to all but demolish the defense’s claim that Hill could fire the gun accidentally, as he claims.

Palm Coast Council’s Pontieri Makes Startling Move to Annex Malacompra Park: ‘Our Citizens Are Entitled to Their Own Beach’

September 13, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 71 Comments

The beach at Malacompra Park. (© FlaglerLive)

In a startling proposal that may revive city-Hammock conflicts dormant since the mid 2000s, Palm Coast City Council member Theresa Pontieri on Tuesday said the city should consider annexing the county’s Malacompra Park so Palm Coast can have its own beach. The idea did not get a warm reception from fellow council members or others.

Jury Hears Brenan Hill in a Confederacy of Lies About Shooting that Led to Girlfriend’s Death

September 12, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 6 Comments

Brenan Hill at AdventHealth Palm Coast after bringing Savannah Gonzalez to the hospital with a. gunshot to the head. The image is of a body cam video shown the jury this morning during Hill's trial on a murder charge. In the video, Hill was lamenting the shooting--and lying about it. (© FlaglerLive)

Brenan Hill lied at least six times times about what led to him shooting Savannah La-Rynn Gonzalez in the head on March 26, 2021, including a lie to his mother. The 22-year-old Palm Coast woman never recovered. She died last Nov. 9. The jury heard most of those lies today in Hill’s second day of trial on a second-degree murder charge that could send him to prison for life if he’s convicted.

Flagler Beach Will Consider New Impact Fees for Fire, Police, Parks, and Library, and Higher Fees for Water and Sewer

September 12, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 1 Comment

It's been a rain of rooftops in Flagler County, but proportionately fewer have gone up in Flagler Beach. (© FlaglerLive)

The Flagler Beach City Commission Thursday will vote on what could be the single-largest tax increase on development in the city’s history. The city is considering adopting higher impact fees on water and sewer connection, and imposing new impact fees for police, fire, parks and recreation services, which it has not had until now. 

Florida Wants ‘Marsy’s Law,’ Designed for Crime Victims, to Prevent Death Penalty Appeals

September 11, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 3 Comments

Florida's actual death row. (Florida State Prison)

Nearly five years after voters passed a constitutional amendment about victims’ rights, Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office Monday urged the Florida Supreme Court to use the measure to make it harder for Death Row inmates to get stays of execution.

Jury Selection in Brenan Hill’s Trial on Murder Charge Keys In on Guns, Violence and Intent

September 11, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 1 Comment

Brennan Hill, right, with his attorney, Gerald Bettman, this morning. (© FlaglerLive)

Brennan Hill, 32 at the time, shot Savannah Gonzalez in March 2021 near the Microtel in Palm Coast. Hill’s attorney, made his intentions clear in his remarkably brief interactions with potential jurors at the end of a day of jury selection Monday: the shooting was accidental. It had nothing to do with domestic violence. It was a homicide, but not a murder. 
Obviously, the prosecution disagrees, though it did not tip its hand today as Bettman did.

Flagler County Joins St. Johns in Banning ‘Floating Structures’ Used as Unregulated Party Stores on Waterways

September 11, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 13 Comments

The floating structure County Commissioner Andy Dance spotted on the Intracoastal, toward the north end of the county, last Saturday--a few days after he and his colleagues on the commission voted to ban such structures from county waters. (Andy Dance)

A month after St. Johns County did so, the Flagler County Commission last week banned all floating structures used on county rivers, lakes or inlets “like a neighborhood convenience store on the water,” as a county memo describes them, and that the county considers unregulated nuisances that at times damage the surrounding ecology.

Dead White Males Return: Behind Florida GOP’s Push for Christian-Leaning Classic Learning Test Instead of SAT

September 10, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 14 Comments

Dead white males return: Plato, Rousseau and Hamilton. (Wikimedia Commons)

The new Classic Learning Test has been pushed by conservative politicians and religious activists as an alternative to the SAT and ACT, and will now be accepted as a measure of admission in Florida colleges and universities. Of the 12 private institutions in Florida that now accept the CLT, 11 are religiously affiliated.

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 29
  • Page 30
  • Page 31
  • Page 32
  • Page 33
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 262
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents
Flagler County Sheriff's Expo 2025

Recent Comments

  • FlaglerLive on Zakrzewski Killed for Murdering His Family, and DeSantis Sets Modern-Day Record for Executions in a Year
  • DaleL on Keep Your ICE Raids Out of Our Schools
  • Dan on U.S. Job Creation Stalls to Lowest 3-Month Total Since Covid, Bankruptcies Spike 27% in Florida’s Middle District
  • Juan on Keep Your ICE Raids Out of Our Schools
  • Ugly ending on Keep Your ICE Raids Out of Our Schools
  • Fact check everything on U.S. Job Creation Stalls to Lowest 3-Month Total Since Covid, Bankruptcies Spike 27% in Florida’s Middle District
  • Marek on ‘Yes, We Signed the Damn Thing Because We Really Had To,’ Orlando Mayor Says of Forced Transports for ICE
  • Marek on Keep Your ICE Raids Out of Our Schools
  • Whathehck? on Vance 46 Points Ahead of DeSantis in Early 2026 Presidential Poll
  • Bill on Keep Your ICE Raids Out of Our Schools
  • Laurel on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, August 1, 2025
  • Pogo on Vance 46 Points Ahead of DeSantis in Early 2026 Presidential Poll
  • Cathy M Poturny on Keep Your ICE Raids Out of Our Schools
  • Laurel on Keep Your ICE Raids Out of Our Schools
  • Laurel on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, August 3, 2025
  • Pogo on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, August 3, 2025

Log in