The question LaShakia Moore isn’t yet answering is whether she will apply for the permanent position, which the board hopes to fill by Jan. 1. She enjoys district and community support and respect. Yet the more valid question, given this school board’s volatility, may be: why would Moore want to be the permanent superintendent?
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3-2 Vote to Keep Belle Terre Swim Club Open Is Only One More Uncertain Reprieve for Troubled Facility
The Flagler County School Board’s 3-2 vote Tuesday to keep the Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club open to the public is only one more extension of uncertain length. The board has yet to decide how long it will keep it open, and on what terms, in essence leaving fundamental questions that have bedeviled the club for years unanswered.
In Trial of Man Accused of Raping 7 Year Old, Judge Will Allow Evidence ‘Devastating to Defend’
Monserrate Teron, a 59-year-old nurse and Army veteran, goes on trial Monday on charges of raping a 7-year-old girl. Today, a judge let stand an order allowing the prosecution to question two adult sisters who will testify that Teron abused them in the 1980s similarly to the way he abused the younger girl more recently, complicating the defense.
Nearing Presidential Run, DeSantis Signs Series of Anti-LGBTQ Bills Critics Call ‘Slate of Hate’
With LGBTQ advocates decrying it as a “slate of hate,” Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday signed a suite of bills that will prohibit or limit medical care for transgender people, prevent minors from attending drag shows and impose restrictions on which bathrooms trans people can use.
A Different ‘Battle of the Books’ Cheers Competing Students at Rymfire Elementary
At Rymfire Elementary this morning, it was a very different “Battle of the Books” from the kind that’s been crumpling Flagler County’s school libraries for the last couple of years: this battle was all about the love and joy of reading, as 80 students competed to match blind quotes with any of the 15 books they’d read this year.
750-Home Gated Community Called Coquina Shores to Rise North of SR100, Along Old Kings Road
Though a 750 single-family home development on 505 acres, Coquina Shores will be a vastly scaled back development from what JX Properties had planned there in 2006 and 2007–2,400 homes, most of them apartments, and 80,000 square feet of retail and office space. All of that will be reduced to the single family homes.
Palm Coast Adopts 75% Stormwater Rate Increase Over 5 Years, Then Cap on Future Hikes
The Palm Coast City Council this morning voted 3-2 to adopt a stormwater fee increase of residents’ monthly bill from $22.27 currently to $39.10 by 2028, a 76 percent increase. Increases after 2028 will be limited to the rate of inflation.
240-Unit Apartment Complex Planned Next to BJ’s Wholesale Club on State Road 100 in Palm Coast
The Flagler County Commission Monday evening unanimously approved rezoning 28 acres just east of what will be the BJ’s Wholesale Club shopping center, clearing the way for an eight-building, 240-apartment complex called Republic Palm Coast there.
Vidya Herbs Launches Its Manufacturing Plant in Bunnell, Promising 100 Jobs and Bounty of Extracts
Vidya Herbs, founded in India 24 years ago, launched its first American-based manufacturing operation in Bunnell today, where it projects 100 or more employees over the next four years as the plant manufactures a saw palmetto extract and other products.
When Prison Is Preferable to Probation: Holly Norris’s Case and How Probationers Must ‘Walk on Water’
The case of Holly Norris, 44, illustrates how long probation terms can unreasonably trip up defendants even for minor violations, preventing them from reintegrating society. That’s why defense attorneys at times ask for prison instead. Norris was sentenced to a two-year prison term and 10 years on probation in the negligent death of her uncle in 2013.
The Student Protesters Were Arrested. The Man Who Got Violent in the Parking Lot Wasn’t.
College students arrested. A parking lot altercation. A retired teacher waking up to a broken window. Events at a school district in Conway, Arkansas, illustrate the alarming trend of unrest at school board meetings across the country.
Ban the AR-15, ‘America’s Rifle’
A bipartisan bill was introduced in Texas to raise the minimum age to buy assault weapons. It shouldn’t have taken nearly this long for gun-loving Texas to take an action that is supported by a majority of Americans. The slaughter at a suburban shopping mall was the tipping point.
Andrew Mintz Turns Himself In to Jail and Is Released on $100,000 Bond in Flagler Beach Pier Crash
Andrew Craven Mintz, the 34-year-old Palm Coast man at the center of a three vehicle crash that narrowly missed several local officials and a child near the pier in April, turned himself in at the Flagler County jail Friday evening, six weeks after he was charged.
Taylor Manjarres Pleads Out in R-Section Home Invasion Murder, and Faces Up to 20 Years Instead of Life
Taylor Manjarres, 19 at the time, had teamed up with Kwentel Moultrie and Zaire Roberts for a drug deal with Danial Marashi at Marashi’s parent’s home on Regent Lane in Palm Coast in December 2021. Marashi shot and killed Roberts. Manjarres and Moultrie were charged for murder. Manjarres will now testify against Moultrie, who faces life in prison.
In Flagler Beach, Jane Mealy Warns Eric Cooley of ‘Consequences’ Over Conduct. He Doubles Down.
Flagler Beach City Commissioner Jane Mealy warned Commission Chairman Eric Cooley of unspecified “consequences” if he were to ever treat her the way he did at a special meeting last week. Cooley conceded that he had been “spitting fire,” doubled down, dismissing Mealy’s criticism as “armchair quarterbacking” and accusing her of not behaving like an adult.
Indian Trails Teacher JaWanda Dove Loses Her Attorney Over Refusal to Settle Discrimination Suit Against District
Almost three years after filing an employment discrimination suit against Flagler County schools, and a few settlement offers that even her attorney implored her to accept, Indian Trails Middle School teacher JaWanda Dove may now head for trial representing herself, as her own attorney asked the court to be relieved of representing her.
FPC Removes 2 Books Under Challenge Without Review, Abruptly Cancelling 2 Committee Meetings
Flagler County’s three book-banners are getting their way the easier way: the books they’re challenging are now getting removed without committee review, even though such a process is set out in district policy. Twice in the last three weeks, Flagler Palm Coast High School abruptly cancelled scheduled challenge-review committee meetings at the last minute, “weeding” the books instead.
Wadsworth Principal Paul Peacock Ordered on Leave Over Employee Complaints as District Hires Investigator
Wadsworth Elementary School Principal Paul Peacock has been placed on administrative leave with pay and barred from all district campuses or from contact with any employees pending the resolution of an independent investigation stemming from several employee complaints about Peacock, internal documents show and school officials say.
DeSantis Signs Most Restrictive Bill Against Undocumented Migrants in the Country
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed what both he and his critics agree is the strongest anti-illegal immigration bill passed by any state legislature in the country on Wednesday. Speaking in Jacksonville behind a podium with a sign reading, “Biden’s Border Crisis,” the governor blasted the president for the large influx of undocumented immigrants that has occurred across the U.S.-Mexican border over the past couple of years.
Court Disputes Behind It, Community Cats of Palm Coast Set for Grand Re-Opening at City Marketplace
Community Cats of Palm Coast, which operates the City Marketplace adoption shelter at 160 Cypress Point Parkway, Suite B-110, and a thrift store there at Suite C-101 (upstairs and downstairs), has been in business for 10 years, helping rescue, trap and deal with feline problems in the area.
At Charter School, DeSantis Signs Bills Against Teacher Unions and For School Board Term Limits
The bill (SB 256) bars public sector unions, including those for teachers but not for police or firefighters that tend to support the governor, from deducting dues from members’ paychecks, requiring employees to write checks instead. Furthermore, unions’ membership would have to constitute 60% of a bargaining unit, an increase from the old threshold of 50%.
DeSantis, On a Death Run, Signs 4th Execution Warrant in Less Than 4 Months
Duane Owen, 62, is scheduled to die by lethal injection June 15 in the murder of Georgianna Worden, who was bludgeoned with a hammer and sexually assaulted in her Boca Raton home in May 1984, according to the death warrant and court records.
On Flagler’s Ban List: Elana K. Arnold’s What Girls Are Made Of, a Review and a Recommendation
“What Girls Are Made Of,” Elana K. Arnold’s deconstruction of a 16-year-old girl’s being and nothingness, is one of 22 titles three Flagler County residents want banned from high school libraries. A Flagler Palm Coast High School committee takes up the challenge on Thursday.
Hang 8 Dog Surfing Contest Returns to Flagler Beach in All Its Ridiculous and Timely Exuberance
This time the Hang 8 Surfing Contest’s organizers are better prepared than they were last year, when they expected 50 people, maybe 100 at most, and got overrun with about 500. Hang 8 since its first edition last year has caught waves of attention, and gives Flagler Beach a break from seriousness, polarization and mountains of challenges.
9 Arrested on Federal Indictments in Phoenix-to-Palm Coast Drug Pipeline
A more-than-yearlong federal and local investigation into a drug pipeline from Mexico, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Palm Coast led to the indictment on federal trafficking and conspiracy charges of nine individuals, including two from Palm Coast and three from Bunnell.
Later Start Time for Middle and High School Students in Flagler Means Earlier Start for Younger Ones
A bill awaiting the governor’s signature would ban school start times before 8:30 a.m. for high schools and 8 a.m. for middle schools, starting in the 2026-27 school year. The Flagler County School Board had been reconsidering its own start times–but in the other direction. Now, it may be faced with making tough choices regarding elementary-school start times, which would go from latest to earliest starting times in the county.
4-Day School Week Is Gaining Popularity, But Not Among State Lawmakers
Nationwide, the number of four-day schools has increased by 600% over the past two decades, now numbering more than 1,600 in 24 states. Many four-day schools report higher test scores, fewer discipline problems and strong support from parents.
End Language that Dehumanizes Immigrants
Sensationalizing, stigmatizing, and misleading imagery and rhetoric surrounding immigration leads to near-constant use of the term “illegal” or “unlawful” to describe unauthorized crossings. An advocate for immigrant survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, and trafficking is alarmed by the use of this language to describe a migrant’s attempt to survive.
Imagining life in DeSantistan
In Caseytown, Desantistan, it’s Jan. 6, 2028, a year since Ron DeSantis declared himself President for Life, making this country the freest America in America, if not the world. Let’s recap.
Flagler’s Vacation-Rental Regulations Again Survive at Last Minute as Lawmakers End Session
For the ninth year running, local regulations of short-term vacation rentals in Flagler County and across the survived a legislative attempt at dilution and pre-emption by the state, though it came down to a last-minute escape as lawmakers finalized a $117 billion budget and ended the session.
Flagler Beach’s Next City Manager Salary May Go Up to $165,000 as Commission Pitches for Candidates
The next Flagler Beach city manager will have a salary of between $125,000 to $165,000, an upper range that would have been unthinkable only a few years ago for the small city of 5,000 people. The city commission in an often-snippy special meeting Thursday also rewrote the profile that accompanies the job announcement for a new manager, which will be issued this weekend.
Council Set to Approve 76% Stormwater Fee Increase Over 5 Years, With Annual Review to Possibly Lessen Impact
At the tail end of a five-year stretch doubled stormwater fees for Palm Coast residents, the City Council is set to yet again increase monthly fees by another 76 percent over the next five years. Council members pledge to review the stormwater budget annually and see if there’s room to lessen the impact of coming increases. But October’s 27 percent increase is all but certain.
YMCA, 3 Fire Stations, Road Projects: Palm Coast and Flagler Stand to Gain Nearly $100 Million From State
Flagler, Palm Coast, Flagler Beach and Bunnell may be at the receiving end of the largest appropriations of state dollars for local special projects, by far, in the county’s history–nearly $100 million for roads, fire stations, pier reconstruction, water projects, a substance abuse facility and other, smaller projects, according to the $116 billion budget the Florida House and Senate published Tuesday.
Flagler School Board Plans to Appoint LaShakia Moore Interim Superintendent at Least Until January
The Flagler County School Board is planning to appoint LaShakia Moore its interim superintendent from July 1 to at least the beginning of January. The approach has the support of the board and relieves pressure on the board to find a superintendent at a time when nearly a dozen districts are looking to make similar appointments.
How the Belle Terre Walkway Project Near Buddy Taylor Middle Doubled in Cost and Tripled in Completion Time
The reconstruction of the Belle Terre Parkway pathway near Buddy Taylor Middle School, and the rehabilitation of culverts beneath, was to have been a $1.89 million project, completed by last November. It is now a $3.4 million project and may not be completed until the end of summer.
Army Corps Project in Flagler Beach Doubles to $33 Million as Dune Repair Costs Pile Up Faster Than Sand
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s project to rebuild 2.6 miles of dunes along the south shore of Flagler Beach was to cost $17 million when it was first approved by Congress in 2017. It is now a $33 million project, with Flagler County responsible for $11.3 million of that. The project is set to start, while the county is on an ambitious plan to cover the remaining miles of shoreline either with emergency sand dunes or with more durable dunes the size of the Corps’.
From Gun Truck to Healthcare: Ret. Gen. Mark Hertling, Former Commander of 90,000, Talks Leadership in Workplace
These days Mark Hertling lives in Palm Coast, teaches physicians and healthcare administrators how to lead, and talks geopolitics on CNN. When he has a moment, he appears before civic groups for a talk, as he did on a Saturday last month when he addressed the University Women of Flagler at the Hilton Garden Inn, as he will again on May 17 as the keynote speaker at Flagler Tiger Bay’s monthly lunch.
Gun Deaths Drive Biggest Spike in Child Mortality in 50 Years
After decades of steady improvement, the death rate of America’s children and teens shot up between 2019 and 2021 — and Covid-19 wasn’t the reason. Gun-related deaths represented the largest share of the increase — by far.
How ‘Decorum’ Masks Discrimination
Republicans from Tennessee to Tallahassee to Tacoma struggle manfully to stop those rule-breakers who would keep disrupting white men’s God-ordained exercise of unchecked power. You know the kind: gays; transgender types; students; immigrants; women; Blacks. They’re getting uppity. They’re breaking the rules.
My Date With Jerry Springer
In November 1998 I was traveling the country on a year-long assignment and at that point working on a piece on American discourse. I’d chosen Illinois as a prism: the various grounds of the Lincoln Douglas debates at one end and the Chicago-based Jerry Springer Show at the other. Springer agreed to let me hang out with him half a day, interview him and attend his show, thankfully not as a guest.
Flagler Beach, With Unusually Limited Transparency, Is on a Schedule to Hire Next City Manager By Mid-July
The Flagler Beach City Commission is on course to hire its next city manager by mid-July, but through an accelerated timeline that involves the least public input or transparency of any recent executive searches for local governments. That’s unusual in Flagler Beach, whose commission over the past decade and a half–regardless of make-up–has prized transparency and deliberation, at times to painful extremes. It’s also about to change, the commission chairman says.
Top of the World: FPC’s Per Berg Takes IB Students to Uruguay and Argentina in Pre-Exam Immersion
The IB is highly prized by college admission panels. It is also the most rigorous, demanding program of study in high school. Going on what looks like a vacation right before the exam might seem counterintuitive. But it is right in line with the IB’s philosophy–and it prepares the students for their exams better than sitting behind a desk, as Spanish teacher and coach Per Berg’s experience through a dozen trips with FPC students has shown.
Beach Front Grill Owner Buying High Jackers Restaurant at County Airport Just As He Tees Off at Palm Harbor
Jamie Bourdeau, owner of Beach Front Grille in Flagler Beach and Loopers at Palm Harbor Golf Club in Palm Coast, is buying High Jackers Restaurant at the Flagler County airport from Gail Holt for $700,000 and assuming the lease at the county-owned property for the next eight years, with an option to renew for another 10. He is partnering with Joseph Wright, owner of Quantum Electrical Contractors and Anthony’s Pizza.
Sacrifice for the American Dream: Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre Stages Arthur Miller’s ‘All My Sons’
“All My Sons,” opening for a two-weekend run at Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre Friday, embodies Miller’s critique of the “American dream,” that credo which asserts that every U.S. citizen, regardless of their station or societal factors, can bootstrap him/herself to success and prosperity through initiative, hard work and determination.
Florida Legislature Is About to Repeal All Local Tenant Bill of Rights Ordinances
As rent costs rise dramatically in Florida, dozens of cities and counties have been passing ordinances — often called tenant “bill of rights” — to give some protections to renters. But the Legislature is now looking to eliminate those ordinances.
County Plan to Move Whispering Meadows Equine Therapy Ranch to Fairgrounds Collapses as State Says No
The state has rejected Flagler County government’s plan to move the Whispering Meadows Ranch–the equine therapy non-profit–to the county fairgrounds, saying it would privatize public land. The rejection is the latest setback in the ranch’s two-year effort to leave its John Anderson Highway property, where it has operated for 16 years, until neighbors started objecting to its presence.
Dreaded Franchise Fee and Public Service Tax Back on Table as Palm Coast Faces $52 Million Street Fix
Facing a $52 million backlog to resurface a deteriorating road system, the Palm Coast City Council is discussing adopting utility franchise fees and public service taxes that have previously drawn angry opposition from residents, as well as exploring raising a local sales surtax through the county.
Erica Bergeron Confirmed to Have Died in Car Pulled Out of Pond Off Matanzas Woods Parkway
The medical examiner today confirmed that the body found in a car that had sunk in a pond off Matanzas Woods Parkway is that of Erica Bergeron, a Palm Coast resident who had gone missing on April 20.
From Sleepy Cart Barn to 13,000 Calls a Year: Palm Coast Fire Department Celebrates 50th Year
The Palm Coast Fire Department was founded on April 3, 1973, with 36 volunteers, from the cart barn at the Palm Harbor Golf Club, responding to two calls for service the first year. The county population was 4,454. Today the department is a combination department that responded to over 13,444 calls for service in 2022 from five fire stations.
On Paul Renner’s Request, House Will Subpoena Trans Treatment Information
The decision to issue the subpoenas is among a series of moves by lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration targeting transgender people and the LGBTQ community. A lawmaker criticized the move as reminiscent of the Johns Committee, a Florida legislative investigative panel that sought to expose communists and gay people at state universities in the 1950s and 1960s.