Some of the members of Flagler County’s newly appointed Industrial Development Authority wants to be more than just an industrial development authority. They want to be the county’s economic advisory council–reviving the sort of council the county killed in 2020 after years of meager results. Just as IDA members have mixed feelings about that, so did the Flagler County commissioners who appointed them.
Flagler, Palm Coast & Other Local News
Fact-Check: How Flagler County Misuses Numbers in Pitch of $110 Million Sports Complex
In a pitch to the Flagler County Commission on Monday, the county’s tourism bureau and its consultant backed up an analysis of a proposed $110 million sports complex with numbers that, while accurate in themselves, were entirely without context and, on close inspection, had little to do with Palm Coast, and in some regards contradicted the county’s rosy claims.
More Skepticism and Vagueness than Hard Data to Support Mammoth $110 Million Sports Complex in Palm Coast
A company pitching a proposed $110 million sports complex for west Palm Coast claims it could attract up to 400,000 a year even though the county as a whole doesn’t attract more than 100,000 total visitors a year, including those who flock to its beaches. Yet the Flagler County Commission, with some strong skepticism from one member and questions from others, continues to encourage its tourism office to further explore the possibility of just such a complex, which would require a $6 million a year “rent” payment from taxpayers.
Jorge Salinas, Flagler County’s Steadying Deputy Administrator Since 2020, and His Wife, Are Killed in Crash
Jorge Salinas, Flagler County’s deputy administrator since 2020, a steadying voice of the county administration and one of the more beloved people at the Government Services Building, was killed late Sunday night in a four-vehicle hit-and-run car crash on I-4, as was his wife and an unrelated motorcyclist.
Sirius Healthcare, Specializing in HIV and Hepatitis C, Joins Flagler Care’s Village at City Marketplace
Sirius Healthcare, established 15 months ago and headquartered in Orange City, is dedicated to enhancing the lives of individuals impacted by HIV, Hepatitis C, and other sexually transmitted diseases, as well as mental health and primary care services. Founded on principles of compassion and excellence, Sirius Healthcare focuses on improving health outcomes for vulnerable populations by empowering patients through education, support, and comprehensive care tailored to their unique needs.
In a Surprise, Flagler Commissioners Vote 4-1 to Indemnify Contractor of South-Side Library for Up to $1.25 Million
In one of the most unusual–if not unprecedented–moves on behalf of a building contractor, the Flagler County Commission this morning voted 4-1 to indemnify Ajax Construction for up to $1.25 million for non-structural-related contractual matters in its construction of the Nexus Center, the south-side library Ajax is building for the county.
Rampant Gaslighting About Freedom of Speech at Florida Universities
Our state government is authoritarian and proudly ignorant, hell-bent on destroying what makes universities great — freedom of expression, critical thinking, creativity, exposing students to ideas that may challenge them (or even upset them), unfettered research, scientific rigor, and advances in knowledge based on data. Why would a scholar want to pursue a career in such a fact-resistant, small-minded, censorious state?
Trump Threatens Peace in Gaza: The Good, the Bad, the Muggy
If you look past the puerility of Trump’s language there are real nuggets in the Gaza peace plan. But it exists as if history did not. Arab memory isn’t that shallow, nor that dumb. Still, Trump’s plan is the best thing to come out of the White House for the Middle East since 2001, as long as it is taken as a starting point for negotiations, not a poisoned take-it-or-leave it threat. Trump’s mobster threat that Israel will “finish the job” if Hamas doesn’t unconditionally surrender ensures failure from the outset, and continued failure of Israel’s offensive in Gaza, genocidal results aside. There is no job to finish. Only lives.
Keith Johansen, Serving Life for Murdering His Wife, Now Claims Stand Your Ground Would Have Exonerated Him
Former Palm Coast resident Keith Johansen, 43, who shot and killed his wife Brandi Celenza at their F-Section home in 2018, now claims a Stand Your Ground motion would have exonerated him and made trial unnecessary. Four years ago this month a jury found Johansen guilty of murdering Brandi, 25, in their home on Felter Lane while Brandi’s young son was in another room, waiting to go to the county fair.
Every Flagler/Palm Coast Development Past, Present and Future Now Mapped Out and Accessible Thanks to Toby Tobin
Imagine an interactive site where every housing development in Palm Coast, Flagler Beach, Bunnell and Flagler County, past, present, and future, is mapped out and available at a click. Every development’s details–number of homes, apartment units, commercial or industrial square footage–is listed, often with illustrations and links. Developers are listed. So are construction dates or projected buildouts. That map is now public and free to use, if not quite as free to its creator, who’s paying for it.
FC3, Flagler’s Cultural Council, Marks 3rd Year With Grant Showcase and Hopes Still Brighter Than Achievements
The Flagler County Cultural Council, the volunteer organization known as FC3 and designated local arts agency, marked its third year since that designation at its annual meeting Wednesday evening at the Palm Coast Community Center by featuring grant recipients, selecting winners of a high school photo contest and installing a new slate of officers. The fledgling council is still finding its footing, its “pillars” lifting more aspirations than achievements for now.
Flagler County Home Builders Sue Palm Coast Over Impact Fees, Seeking Immediate Invalidation of Sharp Increases
The Flagler County Home Builders Association (HBA), five local builders and an individual jointly filed the 69-page, four-count suit in Flagler County Circuit Court late Wednesday afternoon. The suit challenges the City Council’s unanimous adoption last June of sharply higher impact fees for fire services, parks and transportation. The lawsuit is not seeking damages, monetary or otherwise. It is seeking the immediate and permanent invalidation of the ordinances that enacted the higher impact fees. It is an extraordinary challenge. It is neither unprecedented nor unheeded, though with extreme rarity.
Bunnell Maid on Probation for Theft Accused of Defrauding and Stealing from Clients in C-Section
Kayla Conner, 38, of Bunnell, was on probation for a 2024 conviction for felony theft when she was arrested again last week on accusations that, as a housekeeper, she defrauded her employer of $776 for cash, or to pay her wireless fees, or to pay for pet supplies, and stole a Pandora bracelet worth up to $800, and pawned off numerous jewelry items for cash.
Open-Carry Leaves Flagler County’s Government Attorneys Grappling with Ruling’s Application to Public Spaces
A Sept. 10 appeals court ruling that made it legal to openly carrying guns in Florida has created some confusion for Flagler County’s local government attorneys on the law’s applicability in certain public places such as government buildings and parks in light of a loophole in law that appears to leave long guns unregulated, and the permissibility of carrying guns in certain public spaces unclear.
Creekside Music and Arts Festival Set for Weekend Is Postponed to February as Precaution Against Storms
The Creekside Music and Arts Festival scheduled for this weekend–Oct. 4 and 5–at Princess Place Preserve in Flagler County is being rescheduled to February due to an inclement forecast of lightning and storms ahead. The festival, the largest cultural festival on the county’s calendar, both in attendance and vendors, is rescheduled to February 7 and 8. It is the second time in eight years that the festival has had to be postponed due to weather. In 2017, in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, it was moved to November.
FWC Employee Fired Over Charlie Kirk Instagram Post Sues Accuses Agency of 1st Amendment Violation in Lawsuit
A biologist has filed a federal lawsuit challenging her firing by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission because of a post on a personal social-media account after the murder of Charlie Kirk. Brittney Brown, who worked for the commission studying shorebirds and seabirds in the area of Tyndall Air Force Base in the Panhandle, alleges in the lawsuit that her firing on Sept. 15 — five days after Kirk was shot during an appearance at a Utah university — violated her First Amendment rights.
Paul Renner Isn’t Interested in UNF Presidency
Don’t expect a former House Speaker and current candidate for Governor to swoop in as President of the University of North Florida. UNF’s President Moez Limayem is the sole candidate in the running for the presidency of the University of South Florida, creating a likely opening at the Jacksonville school and stoking speculation about whether Renner might want the job.
A Safe Haven Baby Box Is Blessed at Palm Coast Fire Station 25 as Door to Hope, Mercy and Second Chance
Some 90 people stood in diluvian rain outside of Palm Coast’s Fire Station 25 this afternoon for the blessing of the city’s first Safe Haven Baby Box, a $41,000 gift to the city from the local Knights of Columbus, the Palm Coast Kiwanis Club and others who worked nearly two years toward the installation of the box. “It’s a tangible reminder that in moments of crisis, that there is hope,” Palm Coast Fire Chief Kyle Berryhill said. The founder Monica Kelsey, was also among the speakers.
At 1st Public Input Session on Palm Coast Charter Review, a Small But Engaged Crowd Makes Half a Dozen Suggestions
The first of four workshops designed to let Palm Coast residents describe how they want to see the city’s charter changed drew just 17 people Monday evening, 13 if you didn’t count four of the five members of the Charter Review Committee who attended, and a few less if you didn’t count the alternates picked for the committee. But the two-hour discussion was generally thoughtful and informed, engaged, varied, and–with occasional exceptions–free of the strident polemics and mistrust that routinely fill public-comment segments before the City Council.
Flagler Beach Approves Flat Tax Rate and $87 Million Budget, But Not Before 2 Commissioners Kill Engineer’s Job
The Flagler Beach City Commission last week approved its tax rate and $87 million budget for the coming year. The commission approved both items at its second and final budget hearing last Thursday, though not before two of the four commissioners at the meeting–Rick Belhumeur and John Cunningham–risked leaving the city without a budget if the city manager didn’t scrap his plan to hire a second city engineer. That second city engineer position was scrapped.
Three Months Later, Flagler Beach Commissioners Finally Agree on Design of $2.6 Million ‘Beachwalk’ by Pier
After twice rejecting the design for the rebuilding of the Flagler Beach boardwalk and the structures under the A-frame at the pier, the Flagler Beach City Commission approved the preliminary drawings for both in what will be a $2.6 million reconstruction, with new concrete pilings beneath and a large deck and breezeway above. If the cost remains close to $2.6 million, it will be a surprise.
12-Year-Old Indian Trails Middle School Boy Arrested on Felony Charge After Threatening to Stab a Student
On September 15, it was an 11-year-old boy at Rymfire Elementary. On Sept. 25, it was a 12-year-old at Indian Trails Middle School: same method–threats made in a group chat away from school, images of weaponry sent to make the point–same result: an arrest and a felony charge. The two boys had been arguing in the chat that afternoon. Then NG sent the picture of a box of 15 knives and a brass knuckle and made threatening statements
It Is Happening Here
Where would America be without hyperbole? From the chutzpah of the City Upon a Hill speech aboard the Arbella to the skirmish-turned Boston “massacre” to American Carnage a few years ago to the ongoing beatification of Charlie Kirk, it’s fair to say that without hyperbole, America would be more like a sprawly humble Saskatchewan than the Galactic Empire it’s become. But America’s slouch toward fascism is no hyperbole. Sinclair Lewis once mused that it can happen here. Today, it is happening here.
Flagler County Government Prepares to Settle 4-Year-Old Lawsuit Over Sears Building, But Won’t Recover All Losses
Flagler County government is nearing a final settlement of a four-year-old lawsuit it filed against several parties after its ill-fated $1.125 million purchase of what was then known as the Sears building on Palm Coast Parkway. The county previously settled with two of the four parties, recouping $900,000 (or $843,000, depending on which document you consult). The pending settlement would recoup an additional $125,000, netting a loss of $100,000 (or $157,000).
In Marineland, Boyfriend-Girlfriend Are Now Majority of Town Commission, and Team Up to Appoint Mayor (Boyfriend)
After a two-vote election put Joseph Pinder on the Marineland Town Commission, his girlfriend and Commissioner Jessica Finch nominated him mayor in place of Dewey Dew, and the nomination carried by the couple’s two votes. While perfectly legal, the situation is still unprecedented, and it underscores the strange status of a town hanging to its designation as a town by a thread and a $192,000 budget overwhelmingly dependent on one taxpayer’s money–Jim Jacoby, who is the mayor’s uncle.
Looking Beyond the Turning Point of Charlie Kirk’s Death to the Soil We’re Tilling for the Next Generation
Charlie Kirk’s assassination feels like more than another entry in America’s long and tragic list of political violence. It feels like a hinge point, writes former School Board member Colleen Conklin. But history suggests scars can be the beginning of strength. If the pattern holds, today’s youth may yet rise to become the next Greatest Generation. Now is the time to cultivate compassion stronger than ideology, courage rooted in empathy, the ability to separate people from their ideas. What then grows could astonish us.
Snubbing Near-Unanimous Public Opposition, Bunnell Commission Approves Rezoning 1,259 Acres to Industrial
Snubbing near-unanimous public opposition just as it had snubbed it when approving a mammoth 6,100-home development last month, the Bunnell City Commission on Monday approved on a 4-1 vote the first reading of an ordinance that will rezone 1,259 acres just east and south of the city’s core from agricultural to industrial, including heavy industrial, in what could potentially change the complexion of the city. Commissioner John Rogers was the lone dissenter.
Routine Palm Coast Meeting Turns Into Tense Clash Over Tax Rate as Gambaro Seeks ‘Rollback’ at 11th Hour
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.
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.
Man, 76, Killed in Head-On Crash Going Wrong Way on U.S. 1, 3rd Local Road Death in 4 Days
A 76-year-old man lost his life late Tuesday night (Sept. 23) in a head-on collision on U.S. 1 south of Seminole Woods in Palm Coast. He is the third person killed in a crash on Flagler County roads in the last four days.
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.
Palm Coast Council Rejects Call to Cancel City’s Advertising Contract with FlaglerLive Over Charlie Kirk Articles
The Palm Coast City Council today rejected a call by a former council candidate to cancel the city’s long-standing advertising contract with FlaglerLive in retaliation for a news article published soon after the shooting, and a subsequent opinion column that denounced activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination, but also many of his views. A majority of council members cited the site’s vast readership, its advertising reach for the city and its ROI, or return on a relatively modest investment to reject the call to cancel–at least not before an update on the numbers.
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.
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.
71-Year-Old Woman Dies, 61-Year-Old Man Injured in Head-On Collision on SR11 South of Cody’s Corner
A 71-year-old South Daytona woman lost her life in a head-on collision Saturday morning on State Road 11, south of County Road 304–also known as Cody’s Corner–in Flagler County. According to the Florida Highway Patrol and Flagler County 911’s dispatch notes, the woman was driving an SUV north on 11 when she “failed to maintain her lane” and swerved into the oncoming lane.
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.”
2 of Marineland’s 3 Residents Approve $192,000 Budget and Familiarly High Tax Rate
After a brief and precedent-breaking Christian prayer by its mayor, Dewey Dew, the Town of Marineland this evening approved on first reading its tax rate for the coming fiscal year–the highest in the county, as it has been for years–and its $192,252 budget. There are no homeowners in town.
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.
Council Candidate Jeani Duarte Again Makes Baseless Claims, This Time About Charter Review Committee
Jeani Duarte, a candidate for a Palm Coast City Council seat who last month claimed the city’s utility system was pushing residents toward cannibalism, made baseless claims about the city’s Charter Review Committee, its members and its moderator as she addressed the City Council. She was not challenged.
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.