Sounding like former Palm Coast City Council member Ed Danko, Charles Gambaro in the final budget hearing Wednesday asked his colleagues to adopt the so-called rolled-back property tax rate rather than the rate proposed, which was already lower than this year’s. Gambaro’s proposal would have equated to a saving of $13 for the homesteaded owner of a $200,000 house, but would have required an immediate $1 million cut in the general fund. That led to a clash with Council member Theresa Pontieri, and the rest of the council held to the original proposal in a 4-1 vote.
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Ex-Flagler County Paramedic Facing Rape Charge Claims Penetrating Patient Was ‘Medically Necessary’
James Melady, the former Flagler County Fire Rescue paramedic facing a rape charge involving an unconscious patient in his care during an ambulance ride, claimed today through his attorney that what he was doing to the patient was medically necessary, and therefore not actionable under Florida law. Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols was skeptical, and pressed him to seek a plea or potentially face up to life in prison.
Palm Coast Appears Ready to Loosen Some Prohibitions on Commercial Vehicles in Residential Driveways
Palm Coast government is moving toward relaxing prohibitions on commercial vehicles parked in residential driveways while still maintaining relatively strict regulations. In sum, small work trucks and vans typically used for services such as air conditioning, painting, pest control, plumbing and the like will be allowed to park in driveways, uncovered. So will trucks with racks, as long as the racks are modest and part of the truck’s tools. Only one truck would be allowed in a driveway.
County and City Leaders Push Back Against DeSantis Claims of ‘Waste, Fraud and Abuse’ in Property Tax
After months of financial abuse allegations lobbed by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration against local governments, city leaders pushed back Tuesday in a Florida House meeting focused on cutting property taxes. “Waste is in the eye of the beholder,” said Casey Cook, the Florida League of Cities’ chief of legislative affairs. “Nobody likes paying taxes, but safe isn’t free. Clean isn’t free.”
Nothing To See Here, Risk-Assessment Analysts Tell Palm Coast Council as ‘Forensic Audit’ Delirium Fizzles
A top-to-bottom “entity-wide risk assessment” of Palm Coast government, including its utility department, conducted in response to two-year-old calls for a “forensic audit,” yielded nothing more than a few issues commonly faced by most, if not all, municipalities. The assessment cost $50,000.
18-Year-Old Motorcyclist Dies on SR100 After Deer Strike Throws Him Off the Bike, and a Car Hits Him
An 18-year-old Palm Coast motorcyclist was killed Monday night after he was thrown from his Motorcycle in a collision with a deer, then was run over by a car on State Road 100 just west of Belle Terre Parkway.
Florida Is Misleadingly Invoking Slavery as It Readies to Kill All Vaccine Mandates in Schools
On Sept. 3, 2025, Florida announced its plans to be the first state to eliminate vaccine mandates for its citizens, including those for children to attend school. Dr. Joseph Ladapo, Florida’s surgeon general and a professor of medicine at the University of Florida, has stated that “every last one” of these decades-old vaccine requirements “is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery.” He is wrong.
30 New Laws Go In Effect Next Week, Including Steeper Penalties for Several Crimes and End of Business Rent Tax
The elimination of the business rent tax is projected to collectively save businesses–and cost the state–nearly $1.15 billion during the current fiscal year, which will run through June 30. That amount is projected to increase to $1.53 billion next fiscal year. Other laws include harsher penalties for people who flee police, harass utility workers and kill someone while driving drunk.
Contrition, Grimness and Encouragement from Flagler County’s Lawmakers Ahead of Another Messy, Miserly Session
Florida Sen. Tom Leek spoke contritely, then grimly, then encouragingly at Friday’s annual Flagler County legislative delegation meeting, ahead of the legislative session in January. The contrition was for the misbehavior of the legislature in the last session, the grimness was about another year of tight budgets, and therefore few legislative appropriations for local governments, and the encouragement was for local officials to make their pitches anyway, as long as they matched that with commitment of their own.
Flagler County’s Unemployment Rate Rises Again, to 5.4%, Highest Level in 4 Years; Florida’s Ticks Up to 3.8%
Flagler County’s unemployment rate rose for the third straight month and hasn’t declined since March, reaching 5.4 percent in August, the highest unemployment rate since June 2021, when it was 5.4 percent. Palm Coast’s unemployment was also 5.4 percent in August, according to figures released by the state’s Commerce Department Friday.
Donald Trump’s New McCarthyism
A modern-day political inquisition is unfolding in “digital town squares” across the United States. The slain far-right activist Charlie Kirk has become a focal point for a coordinated campaign of silencing critics that chillingly echoes one of the darkest chapters in American history. This is far-right “cancel culture”, the likes of which the US hasn’t seen since the McCarthy era in the 1950s.
Condemning the Kirk Assassination, and Condemning What Kirk Stood For
It is possible to condemn the assassination of Charlie Kirk and still condemn the ideas he stood for, to decry the flags at half-mast for so-called values hardly distinguishable from those of Proud Boys. A glean of the successful agenda Kirk pushed shows to what extent nationalist Christian extremism has been re-normalized, with Kirk playing an essential role in that latest of Great Awakenings. It was not a healing voice.
Hell No: Boston Whaler Should Not Be Allowed to Exit Without a Fight from Flagler County’s Leadership
We cheered when Brunswick returned after closing once before, investing taxpayer resources and community goodwill in welcoming them back. Now, once again, we are faced with the prospect of a shuttered plant and broken promises. At what point do we as a community stand behind our leaders and say hell no, you can’t go?
Commissioners Dismayed Over County’s Impotence as They Write Off $10 Million in Seemingly Unpaid Ambulance Bills
Since 2018, the county has accrued on average $1.7 million a year in what the county considers to be uncollected bills, or $10.3 million through February 2024. It’s happened for years, if not quite by those amounts. For years, the County Commission has periodically written off the loss. But it’s not all unpaid bills: the majority of that “loss” is the difference between what Medicaid and Medicare reimburse, as opposed to what the county bills.
At Charlie Kirk Vigil on Courthouse Steps, Calls for Unity and Healing ‘Deep Divide in Our Country’
Well over a thousand people gathered in Bunnell on Wednesday to attend a candlelight vigil for the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The event was held outside the Kim C. Hammond Justice Center, with attendance high enough that sheriff’s deputies had to direct traffic in and out. Sheriff Rick Staly called for healing wounds, grief and “the deep divide in our country.”
It’s a World of Fraud and You’d Better Be Vigilant, Ex-US Prosecutor Roger Handberg Tells Flagler Tiger Bay
When Roger Handberg asked the capacity crowd at Flagler Tiger Bay Club’s season-opening lunch Wednesday for a show of hands from those who’ve been victims of a fraud or who knew someone who had, almost every hand went up. That was his point. “These schemes are all over the place,” he said. They indiscriminately target the vulnerable and those who think they’re untouchable. Handberg, until recently the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, gave the audience a tutorial on the psychology and variety of fraudsters, and on how to try to stay a step ahead of them.
Despite Rezoning for New Commercial Strip Near BJ’s, Live Local Act Could Still Bring Apartments There
The Palm Coast Planning Board on Wednesday recommended approval of a pair of land-use changes that will eliminate the potential for apartment buildings on 39 acres just west of the B.J.’s Wholesale shopping center on State Road 100. That land is slated for another retail-commercial strip similar to Airport Commons further west. Because of the Live Local Act that overrides local regulations, the zoning change doesn’t mean apartments couldn’t still be built there.
Four Years After Reopening, Boston Whaler Will Close Palm Coast Plant by Next Year, Affecting 300 Workers
The Brunswick Corporation announced late this afternoon that it was shutting down the Boston Whaler boat manufacturing plant it had reopened in Palm Coast/Flagler Beach just four years ago, dealing a severe blow to the city’s and county’s largest manufacturer and their local economy. Brunswick is consolidating the Palm Coast plant with the manufacturing facility in Edgewater by next February.
Man Fleeing Deputies Charged with Murder for Death of Woman in Collision; Sheriff Staly Vows Full Review of Chase
Stevens Brian Charles, 40, faces a second-degree murder charge, among at least 10 felony charges, in the death of a 71-year-old Ormond Beach woman Tuesday in a head-on crash on an I-95 exit on which Charles was intentionally driving the wrong way, fleeing from Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies. Sheriff Rick Staly has ordered a top-to-bottom review of the entire incident, the agency’s chase policy, and whether all procedures were followed.
Flagler Beach Kills Backyard Chickens Proposal as Commissioner Who Suggested It Joins Opposition
Flagler Beach will not allow backyard chickens after all. Commissioner Rick Belhumeur proposed the idea in July at a constituent’s suggestion, causing the city attorney to draft an ordinance. Belhumeur wasn’t alone in killing the proposal last week (it was unanimous), but he gave it the coup de grâce.
Palm Coast Scraps Ebike Speed Limit and Lowers Age Allowance to 11 as Council Refines Rules and Seeks More Input
Palm Coast will eliminate what had been a proposed speed limit for ebikes, the allowable age limit for riders was further reduced to 11 (it had started at 15 two weeks ago), and student IDs would be a permissible form of identification for riders, as opposed to government-issued IDs, according to the latest version of an ordinance the Palm Coast City Council is crafting.
Palm Coast Attorney Marc Dwyer on the End of Open Carry Ban: Correct Decision, Not Without Street Consequences
Palm Coast attorney Marc Dwyer is of two minds about last week’s decision by a Florida appeals court invalidating the ban on openly carrying firearms. On one hand, he found the ruling legally right and in line with history and current law since 2008. On the other hand, he says there’s “going to be an uptick in crime” as a result. Sheriff Rick Staly disagrees, seeing not much change ahead as a consequence of the decision.
Rymfire Elementary Student, 11, Arrested After Threatening to Bring “Guns” to School in Response to Bullying
GN, an 11-year-old Rymfire Elementary student who was apparently being bullied in chats, faces a second-degree felony charge of sending written threats of a shooting after sending the “picture of a gun to a group chat with other students” and the message, “See you at school tomorrow bye,” according to his arrest report.
Flagler Beach Tells County: No Joint Talks on Taxing District Unless You Revive Sales Tax for Beach Protection
The Flagler Beach City Commission has rejected a request from the County Commission to hold a joint meeting on establishing a special taxing district in the city. The tax revenue would have been earmarked for beach protection. If the county wants to talk, it should revive an earlier proposal to raise the sales tax by half a penny. Flagler Beach’s unequivocal message was a sharp rebuff to the three county commissioners who asked for the joint meeting–and who killed the sales tax proposal: Kim Carney, Leann Pennington and Pam Richardson.
Man, 68, Accused of Wielding Knife and Chasing 2 Juveniles and 18-Year-Old at Palm Coast Walmart
Thomas Edward Ohl, a 68-year-old resident of Wellington Drive in Palm Coast, faces four felony charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and child abuse following an incident Saturday night at Walmart, where he allegedly chased two juveniles and an 18-year-old with a knife picked out of a shelf, after he said they’d made fun of his disability.
State Regulators Reject Counter-Proposal by Customer Representative to Limit FPL Rate Increases
As they consider a proposed settlement that would increase Florida Power & Light’s base electric rates, state regulators will not take up a “counter proposal” offered by opponents. FPL wants base-rate increases of $945 million in 2026 and $766 million in 2027. The counter proposal would have resulted in increases of $867 million in 2026 and $403 million in 2027.
In Florida, We Want Guns in Our Streets, Not Rainbows
No doubt Gov. Ron DeSantis expects Floridians to be grateful for saving us from yet another woke attack on decency, probity, and speeding motorists. Meaning colorful crosswalks. Just as he has fought to expel books by Black and gay authors from our schools, the governor has ordered FDOT to paint over the flowers, the sunbursts, the fish, the musical notes, and the rainbows — especially the rainbows. At least a dozen schools in Tampa will see their “Crosswalks to Classrooms” school crossings destroyed, including one painted to look like a shelf of books. Florida’s government is particularly scared of books.
How to Avoid Seeing Disturbing Content on Social Media
Social media platforms are designed to maximize engagement, not protect your peace of mind. The major platforms have also reduced their content moderation efforts over the past year or so. That means upsetting content can reach you even when you never chose to watch it. You do not have to watch every piece of content that crosses your screen, however. Protecting your own mental state is not avoidance or denial. It’s a way of safeguarding the bandwidth you need to stay engaged, compassionate and effective.
Family of 4 In Flagler County Set to See 75% Premium Increase for Obamacare; 4 Million Floridians Will See Sharp Jump
Health insurance rates will increase sharply for the 4 million-plus Floridians who rely on so-called Obamacare plans or small employer health insurance coverage in the coming weeks, according to data released by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. For a family of four with a household income of $85,000 in Flagler County, the monthly premium for an average silver plan will rise to 1,192, from $680, a 75 percent increase.
America’s 250 Years of Political Violence: It’s Very Much Who We Are
The day after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed while speaking at Utah Valley University, commentators repeated a familiar refrain: “This isn’t who we are as Americans.” But it is. American politics has long personalized its violence. the U.S. was founded upon – and has long been sustained by – this very form of political violence.
Overflow Crowd Tells County Commission: No to Taxing District on Barrier Island, Yes to Sales Tax for Beach
In spite of near-unanimous opposition from an overflow crowd at the Flagler County Commission Thursday, the commission adopted by a 4-1 vote a controversial special taxing district covering all unincorporated property owners on the barrier island, including the Hammock, to help pay for beach protection. There was not one voice in support of the taxing district as an exclusive funding mechanism. There was not one voice opposed to a sales tax increase for that purpose, and many supported the taxing district in conjunction with the sales tax increase.
County Commission’s Kim Carney Peddles False and Misleading Claims in Opposition to Sales Tax for Beach Protection
Speaking to a capacity crowd at a budget hearing Thursday evening, Flagler County Commissioner Kim Carney, who has complained of misinformation getting peddled around about county business, dispensed false and misleading information of her own on a central issue dividing the commission: the imposition of an additional sales surtax to help pay for a long-term beach-protection plan.
Over Mayor’s Objections, Palm Coast Signals It’ll Extend Agreement with Cultural Council to Manage $100,000 in Grants
Overcoming numerous unsubstantiated accusations about the Flagler County Cultural Council by Mayor Mike Norris, the Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday agreed to let the volunteer organization continue administering the city’s $100,000 cultural grants program for another year. It did so in the wake of friction between the City Council and FC3, as the cultural organization refers to itself.
Shock, Sadness, Anxiety: Flagler County Leaders Grapple with Charlie Kirk Assassination, and Worry About What’s Next
Flagler County leaders from across a broad spectrum were reacting with shock, sadness, anxiety and concern to the assassination Wednesday of Charlie Kirk, the right-wing activist, charismatic speaker and incendiary provocateur, who was shot while doing what he did best: engage with university students while manifesting the nation’s oldest tradition of free expression.
Canadians, Like Others, Are Snubbing Travel to The U.S. This Summer
Global attitudes towards the United States as a tourism destination are plunging. Travel pressures, exchange rate shifts and increasing economic uncertainty have all damaged the reputation of the American travel sector. Canadian travellers are increasingly turning to domestic destinations instead of heading south. In July, Canada recorded its seventh consecutive month of declining travel by Canadians to the U.S..
Palm Coast Council Isn’t Thrilled by USTA Florida’s Approach Shot to Taking Over Southern Rec Center Management
The Palm Coast City Council is not ready to hand over the Southern Recreation Center, newest of the city’s many jewels crowning its parks and recreation provinces, to USTA Florida for management over the next six years. The city will keep talking with USTA. But the council isn’t thrilled by the cost-benefit analysis of the proposed contract, finding it too much of a one-sided benefit to USTA while the city would still lose money at the center, as it does now, only it would also lose control. The contract’s vagueness raised questions. And the council worried about the respect USTA would show pickleball.
Palm Coast Would Limit Ebike Speeds to 10 MPH on Sidewalks, Ban Riders Younger Than 13 and AirPods While Riding
Palm Coast is about to have strict new ebike regulations. Based on a proposal the city attorney presented to the City Council Tuesday, and the feedback he received from council members, ebike speeds will be limited to 10 miles per hour on all sidewalks, ebike riders must be 13 or older, ebike riders younger than 16 will be required to wear a helmet, ebike riders of any age may not wear AirPods or headphones while riding, and must–also at any age–carry a sate-issued, photo identification card.
Nudity! Sex! Literary Chimps! Lady Day! City Repertory Theatre Readies New Season With Reboots
Nudity and sex will be taking center stage when City Repertory Theatre opens its 15th season on Sept. 19 at its black box venue in Palm Coast. More precisely, nudity and sex will be taking center stage again at City Rep, when the cutting-edge, never-hesitant-to-be provocative community theater brings back the characters Princeton and Kate Monster, and – in full (frontal) view of the audience – they proceed to engage in boisterous, noisy… well, you know. But they’re puppets.
Bunnell Gives Final Approval to 6,100-Home Haw Creek Development That Will Dwarf City’s 1,000 Households
What Bunnell Vice Mayor John Rogers is calling a “city within a city” with “no compatibility with the size, the character or the infrastructure” of the city will start taking shape west and south of Bunnell as a divided City Commission on Monday gave final approval to the 6,100-home development known as the Reserve at Haw Creek. As was the case two weeks ago, when the commission approved a series of regulatory steps, it did so with the same 3-2 split. Commissioners Pete Young, Dean Sechrist and Mayor Catherine Robinson voted in the majority, Rogers and Commissioner David Atkinson were opposed.
Ft. Lauderdale Joins Miami in Challenging Transportation Department’s Erasing of Street Art and Memorials
Days after the city of Miami Beach filed a similar case, Fort Lauderdale has challenged the legality of directives by the Florida Department of Transportation to remove art and markings on streets. Fort Lauderdale filed its challenge Monday at the state Division of Administrative Hearings, arguing that the department did not go through a legally required rule-making process. Such directives went to local governments across the state and have drawn heavy attention, in part, because they required removing LGBTQ-themed rainbow crosswalks.
4 Front-Runners Emerge as Palm Coast City Council Pares Down List of City Manager Candidates
Palm Coast City Council members have pared down their list of some 112 applicants for city manager to 42, with nine of those favored by at least three council members, and four of them favored by four. No candidate has so far won the backing of all five. The council this evening will short-list the pool. Mayor Mike Norris previously suggested that the council focus on candidates with at least three votes.
Duke Energy Wants Florida to Prepare for Power-Hungry Data Centers
With artificial intelligence and other technology driving massive increases in demand for electricity, Duke Energy Florida on Friday filed a proposal aimed at preparing for the possibility of data centers being built in the state. The proposal, filed at the Florida Public Service Commission, came as the issue is also part of a broad Florida Power & Light rate case.
How Peter Johnson’s ‘Bullshit’ Trespass Led to Sunshine on FC3 Cultural Board and Its Accountability to Palm Coast
The trespassing of Peter Johnson, a former candidate for mayor, underscored what had become an uneasy and contentious relationship between the Palm Coast City Council and FC3, as the Flagler County Cultural Council likes to refer to itself. Palm Coast is requiring more accountability and openness. And it led to an opinion by the county attorney’s office that FC3 should henceforth operate under sunshine, meaning that its meetings must be advertised ahead of time and be open to the public, and that its members refrain from communicating with each other on FC3 business outside of those meetings.
Florida’s DOGE Should Investigate the Money Wasted on ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
Gov. Ron DeSantis decided to blow millions in taxpayer money on a tent-and-fence camp in the middle of a major nature preserve. Believe it or not, he did it without doing one single thing to check its impact on our endangered panthers, our clean water, or our recovering Everglades. Instead, he just rushed to build it as fast as possible, spending $218 million. He had to truck in everything the staff and inmates needed, from portable toilets that repeatedly overflowed to blinding lights that ruined one of the few dark-sky places left in our state.
DC Protests Demand End to Trump’s Military ‘Occupation’
Thousands marched in Washington, D.C., Saturday to protest President Donald Trump’s continued deployment of National Guard troops and the increased federal law enforcement on the streets of the nation’s capital.
More Than Third of Flagler County’s Renters Are Under Water as Florida Rents Increased 39% in 4 Years
A University of Florida study found that rent for multifamily units in Florida rose by 39 percent between 2019 and 2023, as 1 million households entered the state. In Flagler County, 4,478 renting households out of 12,000 total renting households–or 37 percent–are in that category. Among the most low-income, cost-burdened renting households in the county, 72 percent are occupied by one or two people. The majority are younger than 54.
Ex-School Employee Kermit Booth Extradited to Flagler to Face Charges of of Sexually Assaulting Neighbor Until She Was 9
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly on Friday flew to North Carolina to personally bring back Kermit Booth–the former Palm Coast resident facing two capital felony charges for the sexual assault of a child–extradited from North Carolina, where he’d been held after his second arrest on the same charges.
He Faced a Minimum of 4.2 Years in Prison for Hit and Run. He Got Less Than 1 Year in Jail After Paying Victim $150,000.
A $150,000 settlement paired with a $100,000 insurance settlement can go a long way to convince the victim of a hit and run to turn advocate for his assailant and ask the court not to send him to prison. The prosecutor put it more bluntly: “It creates the perception that justice can be bought.” That’s what appears to have happened between Joao Fernandes and Tristen Thompson, who until last month had spent the previous year as adversaries, with Fernandes facing several years in prison on top of a civil suit from Thompson over a 2024 hit and run on Belle Terre Parkway that left Thompson in a heap of injuries.
Armed Burglar Wrecks Sharps Liquors in Flagler Plaza After Being Denied Drinks, and Faces Life Felonies
A 38-year-old man whose recorded behavior at the time of his arrest suggests questionable mental competence is at the Flagler County jail on 12 felony charges, two of them punishable by life in prison, following an alleged armed burglary and a trashing rampage through Sharps Discount Liquors in Palm Coast. He is being held on $236,000 bond. The trashing left the area behind the counter entirely covered in broken bottles shoved off the shelves, along with a whole other segment of the store where the man had systematically upended, broken or wrecked everything in his way.
Court Backs Florida DCF Ban on Religious Ideologies in Domestic Abuser Intervention Programs
A federal appeals court Thursday backed the Florida Department of Children and Families in a First Amendment dispute about a state regulation barring “faith-based ideology” in a program that people convicted of domestic violence are required to attend.