Will Furry and Christy Chong are chair and vice chair of the School Board in title only. In a grab for Furry’s title they fought an ugly, vulgar nine-hour battle that mirrored their character. They won the battle. They lost the School Board, and whatever respect they imagined they still bore in this community. The future, like the true leadership of this board, belongs to Ramirez and Ruddy.
Flagler, Palm Coast & Other Local News
Flagler Beach’s Planned Sewer Plant Cost Increases 320% in 6 Years, to $47 Million, Shocking Commission
Shocked by the steep cost increase of its planned new sewer plant–a certain precursor of sharp rate increases–the Flagler Beach City Commission Thursday voted unanimously to table approval of a $47 million loan to finance the project until commissioners can question the design, explore potential cost savings, and possibly rebid the project. The project has been on the drawing board for over six years, crossing the desks of three city managers. The city is facing a 2032 deadline to have it done.
The Root Cause of Palm Coast’s Infrastructure Problems Is Beneath Your Feet
ITT built Palm Coast with a water and sewer piping infrastructure designed to serve 225,000. The city has half that population, leaving rate-payers saddled with the cost of upkeep of the aging infrastructure. Lacking population growth, utility budgets will continue to be strained, chasing too few taxpayers and ratepayers, as the system ages.
Re-Appointed Vice Mayor, Theresa Pontieri Rebuffs Mayor’s Attempt to Take Back Committee Roles He’d Abandoned
The Palm Coast City Council re-elected Theresa Pontieri as its vice mayor in a 4-1 vote Tuesday. The dissent was from Mayor Mike Norris. Norris wanted to be the council representative to the Flagler County Tourist Development Council and the Cultural Council. Pontieri rebuffed him on both counts, saying he’d “abdicated” those roles, whereas she was now elbow-deep in them, and was not prepared to relinquish them. A miffed Norris stuck to minimal committee assignments.
Palm Coast Council’s Theresa Pontieri Calls for Stronger Controls on City Utility to Protect Against Privatization
As more than a dozen states, including Florida, are encouraging the privatization of utilities, Palm Coast City Council member Theresa Pontieri wants new guardrails protecting the city’s water and sewer utility from being bought by a private company. Palm Coast bought the water and sewer utility in 2003 for $82.3 million. The utility is not for sale. Council members are not interested in a sale. No company has proposed buying the utility. But Pontieri is proposing that if the utility were to be considered for a sale, a non-binding referendum would be required first, as well as a supermajority of the five-member council before approval is ratified.
A Brief History of Palm Coast’s Water and Sewer Utility
Palm Coast’s first utility department was established in 1970 by ITT, the developer, when Palm Coast was the size of a small subdivision. ITT sold the utility to Florida Water Services in 1999, the year Palm Coast incorporated. Palm Coast bought the utility for $82.3 million in 2003.
In Milestone, SMA Breaks Ground on Flagler’s 1st Residential Treatment Facility for Men, Closing a Critical Gap in Care
SMA Healthcare, the behavioral health and addiction-recovery non-profit, broke ground Tuesday on what will be Flagler County’s first residential care facility for men in treatment for addiction and mental health issues. The 23,600-square-foot facility broke ground off Justice Lane in Bunnell, next door to the nearly 20-year-old Vince Carter Sanctuary, where SMA operates a 70-bed treatment facility for women. It will also be Flagler County’s first Baker Act receiving facility, ending the need to transport patients to Volusia County.
After 9 Hours, 103 Votes and Immeasurable Entitlement, Will Furry Grasps Vice Chair for School Board
In possibly the most embarrassing and cringeworthy meetings of a board that has not lacked for contemptible meetings over the last few years, the Flagler County School Board, after nine hours and 103 votes, elected Will Furry its vice chair, after Furry had been chair for two years, denying the position to Lauren Ramirez. A divided board the previous day–in the same meeting–had elected Christy Chong chair. For most of Tuesday night and early this morning, the board deadlocked in 2-2 votes over the vice chair nomination.
16-Year-Old Arrested for Armed Robbery and Pistol-Whipping in Palm Coast’s P-Section
Dakoda Nodelman, a 16-year-old Palm Coast resident of Pitt Lane, is facing three felony charges, including armed robbery, following an incident at his home shortly after midnight on Nov. 16. He fired during the incident. No one was injured from the gunshot, but another individual sustained injuries from being pistol-whipped.
Facing Life in Prison, Man Wants to Represent Himself and Depose Step-Daughter Accusing Him of Rape
Kristopher Henriqson is a 47-year-old state and federal felon and Palm Coast resident facing accusations of having routinely raped and abused his stepdaughter since she was 9. He has turned down a deal to serve 45 years. He faces 11 felonies, including two capital felonies, and life in prison if convicted. Today, a judge granted his request to represent himself, and has indicated he wants to depose his allege victim, now 12. He would also have the right to cross-examine her at trial.
Commercial Vehicle Parking Allowance in Palm Coast’s Residential Driveways Is Now Law, Within Limits
The Palm Coast City Council voted 3-2 today to approve on second reading the ordinance that now makes it legal to park certain commercial vehicles–or vehicles with large advertising or other markings on their exterior–in residential driveways without covering them with tarps. The allowance extends to typical work trucks and pick-up trucks up to 20 feet long and 9 feet high.
Palm Coast Council Chooses Michael McGlothlin to Be 7th City Manager, Ending 20-Month Interim
The Palm Coast City Council this morning appointed Michael McGlothlin, a former city manager in Florida, North Carolina and Oregon who also spent a decade as a police chief, its next city manager. McGlothlin outlasted David Fraser, a candidate who built his career in the West. The formal vote was 5-0, following a 3-2 vote by ballot, when Mayor Norris, Council members Charles Gambaro and Theresa Pontieri were in the majority, with Ty Miller and Dave Sullivan in the minority. Both dissenters had no objections to joining the majority for the formal vote to ensure unanimity.
No Wrong Choice: Between Fraser and McGlothlin, Palm Coast Council Faces Difficult, Welcome Decision on City Manager
When the Palm Coast City Council meets Tuesday morning, it will almost certainly vote on a new city manager. It’ll be either David Fraser or Michael McGlothlin. neither of whom appears to have an inside track, both of whom seem to have an equal chance by the time the council votes. It’ll be among the more difficult council votes, a difficulty the council welcomes. At least three council members think there’s no wrong choice, whoever is picked.
2 Wounded in Shooting at Palm Coast’s Beach Village Apartments, Both Claim Stand Your Ground
A 22-year-old man and a 17-year-old juvenile injured in a shooting Sunday night at Beach Village Apartments in Palm Coast both claim Stand Your Ground, according to Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly. The shooting stemmed from an earlier confrontation between the 22-year-old and his girlfriend. Both the man and the juvenile suffered non-life-threatening wounds in the shooting. Two firearms were recovered. It is not yet clear whether both firearms were discharged, or whether the wounds resulted from a single gun.
Charles ‘Skeeter’ Cowart Back in Jail for 1st Time in 7 Years After Axe-Wielding Rampage at His Apartment
Charles Larkin Cowart, the 42-year-old West Flagler resident known as Skeeter, spent a decade and a half until 2018 in and out of jail, often resulting from bizarre behavior. Last Wednesday, Cowart was back in jail facing three felony charges, including two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, after allegedly splitting with an axe the door to his apartment where a teenage boy–his wife’s son–was staying, and allegedly nearly striking another man with his car. But the arrest report by Bunnell police may be problematic.
Behind BlackRock’s Deal to Buy Allete, Major Landholder in Palm Coast’s Town Center
The seizure of public utilities for the sake of profit may lead to a disaster for consumers — and the planet. Ratepayers across the U.S. are facing rising electric bills — a trend that could be turbocharged by Wall Street’s growing effort to capture the electric utilities we all depend on. A critical turning point in this development occurred in October when Minnesota state regulators greenlit the acquisition of Allete by asset management behemoth BlackRock. Allete subsidiaries own large portions of Palm Coast’s Town Center.
The U.S. Citizenship Test Shouldn’t Be Like Trivia Night at Tortugas
The new citizenship test “for aspiring Americans” is out. It is supposedly longer and harder than its predecessor. In fact, it’s not a civics test. It’s certainly not a citizenship test. It’s the sort of questions Jay Scherr baritones between nachos at his weekly trivia night at Tortugas, and it is riddled with errors while projecting an unrecognizably chauvinist America.
Flagler Beach a Putt Away from Selling Off Golf Course, But Ethics Complaint Takes Beaver Pelt to 3-2 Vote
Ocean Palm Golf Course, for 12 years a Flagler Beach city property and a quarry of millstones around commissioners’ necks, is one ordinance reading away from returning to private ownership. The 3-2 vote was marred by the report of a pending ethics complaint against City Manager Dale Martin alleging that he negotiated the sale out of public view. The state Ethics Commission is unlikely to find probable cause of wrongdoing.
Flagler Beach Takes Momentous Step to Annexing Veranda Bay as Developer Pledges Protections for Bulow Creek
In a momentous step that would reconfigure the city’s boundaries, character and political center of gravity, the Flagler Beach City Commission on Thursday evening voted 4-1 to approve on first reading the annexation of 514 acres on the west side of John Anderson Highway, a segment of the Veranda Bay development that’s been rebranded Summertown. The annexation would enlarge Flagler Beach’s current acreage of 2,291 by more than a fifth while the population of the annexed land at build-out at 2,400 homes, a few decades in the future, would more than double Flagler Beach’s current population of 5,500.
Jury Exonerates ‘Ed Boy’ Sampson of Shoving Pregnant Woman; He Would Have Faced Up to 30 Years in Prison
After a trial of barely three hours, a six-member jury–four women, two men, one Black–took 105 minutes this afternoon to find Edward “Ed Boy” Sampson, 30, not guilty of aggravated battery on a pregnant woman. On its face, it was not a significant case. But because of his criminal history, a conviction for Sampson would have doubled his punishment to up to 30 years in prison, with 15 of that mandatory, to be served day for day. Sampson would have been in his mid-40s or 50s before he would have seen another day’s freedom.
Sheriff Investigating Apparent Murder-Suicide of Elderly Couple in Palm Coast’s P-Section
Authorities on Wednesday found Julio Alonso, 85, and Martha Alonso, 74, dead of gunshots in an apparent murder-suicide at the house they’d lived in for 37 ears at 16 Pinelynn Lane in Palm Coast.
5 City Rep Theatre Actors Take on 39 Roles to Go ‘Around the World in 80 Days’
Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre is producing Mark Brown’s 2001 adaptation of Jules Verne’s 1872 adventure novel, “Around the World in 80 Days,” with just five actors playing all 39 roles, plus elephants, ships and trains all parading through CRT’s intimate black-box theater at City Marketplace. The play opens Friday.
Palm Coast Resident and Army Recruit Indicted On Sex Abuse Charges From When He Was 13
A Flagler County Grand Jury on Nov. 7 indicted 22-year-old Giovanni Gabriel Curtis, a Palm Coast resident and U.S. Army recruit, on a life felony rape charge involving a child younger than 12, when Curtis was himself 13. He also faces a molestation charge. He has confessed profusely to his mother, to a detective and to his victims, to whom he has also proffered unbidden apologies and regret.
Flagler Beach Manager Dale Martin Barely ‘Meets Job Standards’ Amid Scathing Outlier Evaluation
Flagler Beach City Manager Dale Martin, at the close of his second year, got a 1.32 out of 5 from Commissioner John Cunningham–who was elected last March–rating him “unsatisfactory.” Overall Martin lost ground compared to last year’s evaluation, going from an average of 3.65 to 3.17, and leaving him barely meeting job expectations. If Cunningham’s evaluation is excluded, his average rises to 3.53, still a decline from last year.
Marineland Survives! Judge Approves Sale to Dolphin Group and Singles Out FPC Student Voices for Praise
Ending a cascade of events that saw Marineland Dolphin Adventure all but sold to a commercial developer, a federal bankruptcy judge in Wilmington, Del., this morning approved the sale of Marineland Dolphin Adventure for $7.135 million to Apex Associates, a Green Cove Springs company owned by a philanthropic couple who pledge to preserve and broaden Marineland’s mission as an oceanarium. The bidders, Barbara and Jon Rubel, are backing Jack Kassewitz, a dolphin expert who is returning Felicia Cook to her former role as the general manager at Marineland.
Local Samaritans Successfully Outbid Developer with $7.1 Million Pitch for Marineland Dolphin Adventure
A $7.135 million bid by a philanthropist couple looking to save Marineland Dolphin Adventure became the successful bidder at a reopened auction for the property Monday, displacing a developer’s $7.1 million bid. The successful bid by the couple, Barbara and Jon Rubel of Green Cove Springs, is the latest twist in a frantic three and a half weeks of efforts to save the 87-year-old oceanarium following what had appeared to be a done deal favoring Delightful Development. The final sale hearing is scheduled for Tuesday at 10 a.m. before federal Bankruptcy Judge Laurie Silverstein in Wilmington, Del.
Flagler Cares Launches ‘Keep the Holiday Lights On’ Program as Hedge Against Power Disconnection
Flagler Cares, a one-stop health and social care organization, has launched its Second Annual “Keep the Holiday Lights On” campaign, inviting the community to come together to support local families in need this holiday season.
‘Ed Boy,’ Target of Murderers in a Trial 9 Months Ago, Is Now a Defendant Facing Up to 30 Years Over a Shove
Edward Gerard Sampson, better known as Ed Boy, shoved a woman and was charged with aggravated battery, a charge that would normally result in a minor penalty, possibly some jail time or probation. But the woman was pregnant, and Sampson is a habitual offender who was released from prison in May. Those factors combined now mean that if the jury convicts him at his trial this week, Sampson could spend the next 30 years in prison for that shove.
15-Year-Old FPC Student Charged as Adult Sentenced to 18 to 36 Months in Lock-Up Over Gun Incidents
After carrying a 9 mm handgun with him all day at Flagler Palm Coast High School last Sept. 4, Sean Junior Goska, 15, who was on probation for a series of felonies but nevertheless attending school, went to McDonald’s with a few friends and pulled the gun on one of them. On Friday, in a plea, he was sentenced to 18 o 38 months in a juvenile prison followed by two years of house arrest and three years on probation.
Cold-Weather Shelter for Homeless and Others Open Monday and Tuesday Night
The Sheltering Tree will open the Flagler County cold-weather shelter Monday and Tuesday night, Nov. 10 and 11, as temperatures are expected to fall to the mid-30s Monday and Tuesday night, in inland Flagler County, and wind chills are expected to make it feel more like it’s in the 20s.
The Paradise Where Millions of Floridians May Go Hungry and Lose Their Insurance
The federal government could pay for SNAP, Head Start, flood insurance, heating assistance, WIC, and all the rest of it if the regime weren’t so busy wasting your money on Trump’s expensive whims, such as bailing out his friend, the right-wing fruitcake president of Argentina, to the tune of $40 billion. Or retrofitting his Qatari gift-jet as Airforce One, which reportedly could cost us about $1 billion.
TDS
In France, a former president just got imprisoned for taking money from an Arab despot. Donald Trump just accepted a $400 million gift from another Arab despot in the shape of a 747. He has raided nearly $1 billion out of the country’s missile defense modernization budget so he can retrofit the plane in gold and gaud. If the secret project is completed before Trump is scheduled to leave office, which is doubtful, the plane will fly at most for a few weeks, then get parked as a re-gift to the Trump library in Miami, on land stolen from the public trust and handed over to Trump at no cost, Qatari style.
Jeff Gray, Activist Wrongfully Arrested Outside Funky Pelican, Demands $200,000 in Pre-Suit Offer
Jeff Gray, the 55-year-old St. Augustine activist wrongfully arrested outside the Funky Pelican restaurant in Flagler Beach on a trespassing charge last March, is seeking $200,000 in compensation from the city, or he said he will sue. The $200,000 claim may not be all that Gray will seek.
Flagler County Appropriates $50,000 in Emergency Aid to Local Food Pantries to Help Counter SNAP Cut
Flagler County government will be appropriating $50,000 from its reserves to be split among the county’s food banks, based on the volume of clients they serve, county officials announced this morning on Flagler Broadcasting’s Food-A-Thon. County Commissioner Kim Carney made the announcement alongside County Administrator Heidi Petito and Deputy County Administrator Percy Sayles. The appropriation follows in the wake of the St. Johns County Commission on Tuesday voting to appropriate $200,000 in emergency funds.
Sailboat Runs Aground in Flagler Beach, Close to Pier’s Construction Zone
A 30-foot sailboat from Hilton Head, S.C., ran aground just north of the Flagler Beach pier shortly after 9 p.m. Thursday. A crew of two-a man and a woman in their late 30s, early 40s–were aboard the boat. Neither was injured. But the boat’s keel has been damaged, making the boat inoperable.
St. Johns County Will Give $200,000 to Food Pantries for Food Stamps Emergency and Suspend Utility Disconnections
The St. Johns County Commissioners on Tuesday unanimously supported County Administrator Joy Andrews’s recommendation to appropriate $200,000 from the county’s emergency reserves to local food pantries through its Health and Human Services Department. The commission also supported suspending water utility disconnections for non-payment through the end of November. No similar plans have been discussed at any of Flagler County’s local governments.
Appeals Court Upholds 5-Year Prison Sentence for Brendan Depa in Matanzas Teacher’s Aide Attack
The Fifth District Court of Appeal on Tuesday upheld the five-year prison and 15-year probation sentence against Brendan Depa, the former Matanzas High School student whose video-captured beating of a teacher’s aide unconscious in February 2023 drew worldwide attention. In a long interview, Gene Lopes, a teacher and mentor of Depa’s who just visited him, describes his progress in prison and his plans after prison.
Chick-Fil-A Opening 2nd Palm Coast Location Next Tuesday Near BJ’s, But No More ‘First 100’ Giveaway
Ten years after the fanatically popular brand’s first local restaurant opened off Palm Coast Parkway, Chick-fil-A is set to open its second restaurant next Tuesday–Veterans Day, curiously, but at half past the sixth, rather than the 11th, hour–off State Road 100, in the BJ’s Wholesale shopping center. Glenn Efford, an old hand with the company who opened the previous Palm Coast Chick-fil-A (and has been opening restaurants for two decades), is the owner-operator of the new one as well.
For WNZF and Grace Community Pantry, a Food-A-Thon with Urgency as Food Stamps Vanish For Thousands of Families
With the government shutdown, there’s obviously something very different about this year’s Food-A-Thon, the fourth organized by Flagler Broadcasting’s David Ayres since 2022. There’s a food crisis in the country as the Trump administration, defying a judge’s order, has stopped providing food stamps benefits known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, compounding a decrease in food aid from the USDA even before the shutdown. The Food-A-Thon is broadcasting Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on WNZF and three other local radion stations.
Home Builders Association’s Lawsuit Over Impact Fees is ‘Legally Insufficient,’ Palm Coast Argues in Response
Palm Coast government has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit the Flagler Home Builders Association filed against the city in October, arguing that the lawsuit is legally insufficient. The association is challenging the city’s new schedule of steeply higher development impact fees. Motions to dismiss are often filed as a first step in response to a civil action. Barring terribly flawed arguments and legal grounding by the party filing the suit, motions to dismiss are just as often denied. But they block out the grounds where the battle will be fought. and signal where a settlement may take shape.
Not Just Yet: Palm Coast Tables Ordinance Relaxing Commercial Vehicles Allowance in Driveways for Further Tweaks
The proposed change allows for pickup trucks and vehicles like the typical work van to park for more than work calls or for lunch in residential driveways even if the vehicles have commercial markings and advertising. The hang-up this time is the length and height of vehicles. The proposed ordinance would allow vehicles of up to 18 feet in length and 10 feet in height to park in driveways, which Mayor Norris coonsiders too short and too high.
Sheriff Staly Recalls the Great, the Good and the Bad of 50 Years in Law Enforcement as Community Pays Tribute
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly was honored Tuesday at the Sheriff’s Operations Center just renamed for him, in a tribute to his 50 years in law enforcement. The event, attended by some 150 people, included elected officials from every major local government except the school board, two other sheriffs, a congressman, a pair of constitutional officers (other than Staly), and County Judge Andrea Totten.
Serenity Falls: 18-Hole Mini Golf Course Coming to Palm Coast’s Town Center Opposite Epic Theatres
Serenity Falls Mini Golf, owned by Roland Delbois of Palm Coast, is to be located on 2 rectangular acres at 1208 Central Avenue, almost directly opposite Epic Theatres, closer to Brookhaven Way. Delbois’ Serenity Falls corporation, established in January, bought the parcel from Palm Coast Holdings/Allete in mid-April for $523,000. The 18-golf course’s design will have a tropical look, will serve beer and wine, and will have a party pavilion.
Wednesday, Star Chihuahua and ‘Soul’ of Flagler Beach’s Hang 8 Dog Surfing Event, Has Died
Wednesday, the white-collared, shade-wearing daredevil showgirl of a Chihuahua who’s been the face of the Hang 8 Dog Surfing competition in Flagler Beach since its first swell in 2022, has died. She was around 10 or 11 years old. She’d developed congestive heart failure a year and a half ago, and took a turn for the worse before the weekend. It is not just a dog’s loss, but the sort of loss that could impact one of Flagler County’s fast-developing and popular annual events and attractions.
Town Center Developer Sues Palm Coast, Accusing City of Breaking Promise on Water and Sewer Capacity
The developer of Palm Coast’s Town Center is suing the city for breach of contract, alleging that Palm Coast government has failed to guarantee water and sewer service for Town Center holdings it was planning to sell. Palm Coast Holdings, the successor to Florida Landmark Communities and a subsidiary of Duluth, Minn.-based Allete Corp., sued Palm Coast in Circuit Court in Bunnell on Oct. 23. They are asking a judge to enforce the city’s promise of providing water and sewer service to Town Center, or require it to pay unspecified damages.
Man Who Stole Coquina Rocks from Tuscany Subdivision Hawks Them on Facebook, Tipping Off Victim and Cops
Thomas Cameron Dupree, 37, was arrested on three felony charges after allegedly stealing numerous coquina rocks from a construction site at the Tuscany subdivision in Palm Coast then posting several pictures of the rocks on Facebook to sell them, tipping off his victim, who arranged a “buy.” Dupree was arrested in a sting operation.
Palm Coast Charter Review So Far: A Preamble, a Bill of Rights, Penalties for Misbehaving Council Members
No health benefits for Palm Coast City Council members, no pay increases beyond inflation, fines and penalties for misbehaving members (mayor included), prohibitions on meddling with city staff: those, along with a proposed preamble and a Bill of Rights are among the proposals the Palm Coast Charter Review Committee members appointed by the City Council have been discussing.
Flagler Beach Annexation of Veranda Bay Hits Another Obstacle; County Eyes a 215-Acre Buy
As the Veranda Bay development on the outskirts of Flagler Beach nears another attempt at annexation into the city, county government is throwing two new, seemingly contradictory wrinkles in the mix: a new, legal obstacle to annexation, and a hail Mary pitch to acquire over 200 flood-plain acres from the developer to protect Bulow Creek and minimize construction in flood zones. It’s not clear how raising a legal issue against the developer could win his support for a land sale.
Food Stamps Cruelty But for a Gavel
A federal judge ridiculed the Trump administration’s lie that it could not logistically use billions of dollars in emergency funds to continue providing food stamps, and today ordered the government to release the funds. The administration will doubtless appeal. Either way, it should not have gotten this far: the battle over food stamps exposes the mendacity of an administration’s cruel stand in a shutdown that may yet force millions to lose health insurance.
Palm Coast Invites Residents to Take an Economic Development Survey the Council Did Not Review
Palm Coast government is inviting residents to play a role in shaping the city’s economic future by participating in “Prosperity 2035,” a community-driven vision plan developed in partnership with the Northeast Florida Regional Council (NEFRC). But the city did not develop the survey. Nor did the City Council review it or discuss it at a meeting.