For the first time in 17 years, the Palm Coast City Council is having to shop for a new law firm: Neysa Borkert, the city attorney, is leaving Dec. 15. It’s not a position the city wanted to be in. The council at a special workshop this morning agreed to issue a request for proposal and hunt for a law firm able to mirror the city’s current legal services.
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Judge’s Artful Pressure Convinces 22-Year-Old Who Molested Siblings to Plead Rather Than Risk Life in Prison
It took a lot of work on Circuit Judge Terence Perkins’s part this morning. But in the end, the judge convinced Ja’vere Justin Lumpkins, who just turned 22, to take the deal: six years in prison, instead of a high likelihood of life in prison if he was convicted at a trial that was set for next month. Lumpkins faced several counts of sexually assaulting two of his half-sisters, which alone could send him to prison for life. The minimum sentence he’d face on conviction would have been 21 years in prison.
Statewide Grand Jury Attacks Organizations That Help Migrants and Calls for Further Crackdowns
A statewide grand jury has issued a 146-page report that calls for taking a series of steps to try to curb illegal immigration. The report includes calling for further attempts to crack down on businesses that hire undocumented immigrants, probing non-government organizations and collecting fees on transfers of money from Florida to other countries.
In Rare Rebuke, Judge Rejects Plea Agreement and Asks for Jail Time in Dog Abuse Case
Willie Gardner, 30, was ready to plead to four felony counts of cruelty to animals involving negligence toward pitbulls, but Circuit Judge Terence Perkins rejected the plea negotiated between the defense and the prosecution, asking for jail time.
Zealotry Takes the Gavel at the Flagler County School Board
It’s an indication of the Furry-Chong-Hunt majority’s churlishness that the school board member with the most experience, the most education, the most legislative, parliamentary and institutional knowledge by far (Colleen Conklin, who is in her last year), is being passed over as chair on Tuesday for Will Furry, her polar opposite in every respect, and a rookie.
Proposed Florida Law Would Ban Local Governments and Contractors from Recognizing Preferred Pronouns
A legislative proposal to bar state and local governments and contractors or nonprofits drawing state money from recognizing employees’ preferred gender pronouns if they differ from their biological sex has drawn criticism from LGBTQ+ Democrats as “a disturbing escalation of right-wing extremism in Florida.”
Trump’s Draconian Immigration Policies Are Setting the Tone for GOP’s Presidential Contenders
What were once considered far-right policies are now common talking points among the GOP candidates. That includes support for building a wall along the Southern U.S.-Mexico border and ending birthright citizenship for American-born children of undocumented immigrants — a protection that is enshrined in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Flagler’s Top Prosecutor’s Advice to New Cops: Be Truthful, No Tattoos, and Don’t Be ‘a D*ckhead’
Five new recruits for the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office and Flagler Beach police got a blunt, unfiltered briefing on how to testify in court from Assistant State Attorney Jason Lewis. It was a rare look, witnessed by FlaglerLive, at the dynamic between prosecutors and cops on the usually confidential fringes of court cases, and at how prosecutors prepare, guide and at times admonish police before they take the witness stand, since a cop’s testimony can make or break a case.
At Least 3 Locations in Flagler Beach Are Target of Anti-Semitic Graffiti; Police Looking for Offender
At least three business locations in downtown Flagler Beach were the target of anti-Semitic graffiti in Flagler Beach between Sunday and Monday. Flagler Beach police have surveillance footage of the individual, and are looking for the public’s help to identify him.
Flagler Beach Commission Approves $35,000 New Year’s Eve Fireworks Plan
The Flagler Beach City Commission this evening approved a a $35,000 New Year’s Eve plan to launch midnight fireworks from the pier, ending a four and a half year fireworks drought in the city. The vote, and the enthusiasm, was unanimous.