The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a case of fraud, or phishing, targeting the Flagler County school district and one of its vendors. The district may have lost as much as $700,000 intended for one of the contractors building the Matanzas High School addition. If it is a case of phishing, the likelihood of recovering the money is not high, especially since the district may not have been timely either in discovering the fraud or in reporting it.
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Bob Snyder, ‘Giant During Covid,’ Steps Down from Flagler County Health Department He Led for 11 Years
Bob Snyder, who’s led the Flagler County Health Department since 2013, was the co-architect of the county’s response to the Covid pandemic and more recently ensured that the department’s funding more directly reflect the county’s population, after decades of imbalance, stepped down and opted for retirement Sunday, six months before he was planning to do so.
For $3 Million Rebuild of Splash Pad at Holland Park, Palm Coast Turns to Trusted Contractor
Palm Coast government is turning to a trusted contractor, Daytona Beach-based Saboungi Construction–fresh from its ramped up transformation of Waterfront Park–to repair the desolate splash pad at Holland Park, a two-year-old blight on the city’s prized park system and an eyesore at the flagship park almost since it opened in May 2021.
Judge Exonerates ‘Christian’ Teacher Who Refused to Refer to Trans Student by His Preferred Pronouns
An administrative law judge Monday backed a Miami-Dade County teacher who reportedly told a transgender student that, “I’m a Christian, and my God made no mistakes” while refusing to call the student by preferred pronouns.
Here Are the 3 Lawsuits Against the District the School Board Will Discuss Behind Closed Doors Tuesday
When the Flagler County School Board meets behind closed doors early Tuesday afternoon, a meeting that may at least in part be in violation of state law, it will discuss three pending lawsuits against the district, and potential settlements in two of them, including an employment discrimination lawsuit scheduled for trial in federal court in December.
Flagler School Board Wants ‘Standing’ Closed-Door Meetings Every 3 Months. That Would Be Illegal.
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
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
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
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
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.