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.
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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.