The Palm Coast Fire Department is mourning the loss of Zachary Shane Mahaney, a 43-year-old former firefighter who spent a year with the department until last June. He died by a self-inflicted gunshot on Sept. 25 or 26 in Ormond Beach after going missing from his parents’ home on Sept. 25.
Flagler, Palm Coast & Other Local News
A Majority of the Palm Coast City Council Now Opposes Its Own Debt Referendum, Yet It Remains on the Ballot
Newly appointed Palm Coast City Council member Charles Gambaro attempted to nullify a controversial proposed referendum on the Nov. 5 ballot. City Attorney Marcus Duffy counseled against it. That left the council in a startling position of defending a proposed referendum a majority of the council opposes. The ongoing debate is illustrative of the extent to which the proposed referendum has lost credibility and the way it is fracturing the council.
33-Year-Old Man With Mental Health Issues Again Arrested After Crash with Injuries and 5 MPH Chase on U.S. 1
Kyle McNary, a 33-year-old Palm Coast resident Baker Acted and arrested after a severe mental health breakdown in late August was again arrested on numerous charges after allegedly attacking his step-father and causing a severe vehicle crash on U.S. 1, after which he led police on a crawl of a chase at 5 miles per hour on the highway.
Fire Station 22 Will Survive as Historic Building, with 90-Space Community Center Parking To Be Built Around It
The Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday voted on a $3.3 million plan that would preserve the old fire station and look to “adaptively reusing the building to serve alternate functions,” in the words of city architect Eric Gebo, while creating 90 new parking spaces as overflow for the nearby Community Center. The 138 parking spaces at the Community Center have proved insufficient for the number and popularity of activities and events there. On average, seven meetings a month are turned away from the center for lack of capacity.
Palm Coast Council Appoints Charles Gambaro to Heighter’s Seat, Bypassing Boyer
Executing the closest approximation of a midnight appointment in the city’s 25-year history, the Palm Coast City Council, with three of four members in their last weeks of service, appointed Charles Gambaro this evening to the seat Cathy Heighter resigned suddenly in August.
Southern Recreation Center in Palm Coast Added as Fifth Early Voting Site
In preparation for a very high turnout during this Presidential Election, the Flagler County Supervisor of Elections will opened a new early voting site at Palm Coast’s Southern Recreation Center, at 1290 Belle Terre Parkway, Palm Coast, bringing the total of early voting sites to five in Flagler County. The addition is in expectation of a heavy-turnout election and in response to a growing population.
Palm Coast Could Have Its First Free, Public 18-Hole Disc Golf Course in a Planned W-Section Park
Palm Coast and Flagler County may soon have their first disc golf course. If the Palm Coast City Council approves a proposed agreement with a builder, the 18-hole course will be the central feature of a new 9-acre city park at the corner of White Mill Drive and Pine Lakes Parkway. The builder, Marbella Apartments, will build the park at its expense, but in exchange for $569,000 in park impact fee credits.
Same ‘Horrid’ Conditions, Different House: Parent of 5 Arrested 4 Years Ago for Child Neglect Charged Again After Toddler Wanders
Five years ago Nicolas Carter and his wife were arrested and charged with felony child neglect after authorities got complaints about the couple’s Espanola home. The couple was living with five young children in conditions lamentable beyond description. On Friday, Carter was arrested again on a similar charge, felony child neglect, and a misdemeanor charge of obstruction after one of his children–a toddler who was apparently born after the incident four years ago was seen wandering in the street, unattended. The house was in conditions similar to the one in Espanola.
The Fireman’s Son: Flagler County’s Even-Handed, Learned Judge Terence Perkins Retires
Circuit Judge Terence Perkins retires today after six years as Flagler County’s chief judge and 14 years as a judge in the Seventh Judicial Circuit, including stints as chief judge. In a long interview with FlaglerLive, Perkins reflected on a storied career that included a private practice at a firm he co-founded with colleagues, almost all of whom went on to become circuit or appellate judges, on the purpose of local judges, on his personal life, on the isolation and anguish judges feel at times, and on what’s next.
County Judge Andrea Totten on Circuit Judge Terence Perkins’s Retirement: ‘He Will be Profoundly Missed’
County Judge Andrea Totten has known Circuit Judge Terence R. Perkins–who is retiring today–for 13 years, starting from when she clerked for him as a staff attorney in the Seventh Judicial Circuit to when he championed her candidacy for a new county judge seat in Flagler County, to which she was appointed in 2019. Totten reflects on those years, providing a unique perspective on Perkins beyond the courtroom.