A 14-year-old student who last year was either expelled or withdrawn from in-school attendance at Buddy Taylor Middle School over disciplinary issues was arrested today and charged with a second-degree felony for allegedly threatening to shoot up the school. An investigation found he’d had no means to carry out the act, and that he’d been joking about it in chats.
Flagler, Palm Coast & Other Local News
School District Will Develop Policy on Stocking Narcan to Counter Overdoses, With Broad Availability
The Flagler County School Board directed its administration to develop a policy and procedures that will make Narcan, the agent that neutralizes drug overdoses, broadly available in schools, enabling more than just school nurses to administer it if and when necessary. The district has not experienced a drug overdose among students or staff on campus in recent memory.
Mom Who Drew National Headlines Over Boy’s Beating Is Arrested for Selling Cocaine Near Day Care
Ashley Ruffin, the 32-year-old Palm Coast mother of four, drew headlines after her arrest and pleas of innocence in the alleged beating of a boy. She claimed she was defending her son. On Monday, she was arrested on a first-degree felony charge of selling cocaine near a child care center in Bunnell, where she is living in subsidized housing.
Bunnell’s Sizemore Welding Will Buy Former Sheriff’s Operations Building Ahead of Expansion
Duane Sizemore of Sizemore Welding–Bunnell’s largest manufacturer–confirmed that his company will be buying the former Sheriff’s Operation Center off State Road 100, for just over $3 million. The 36,000 square foot facility will be expanded by 15,000 square feet, and will receive a $96,000 incentive from the city.
Planned Hospital on US 1 All But Dead, Mayor Says, as Advent, Baptist and Halifax Vie to Buy Flagler Health
Flagler Health+’s plans to build a hospital on a 70-acre parcel west of U.S. 1 and Palm Coast Parkway appear to have died. And the St. Augustine-based company is on the market, with AdventHealth, Halifax Health and Jacksonville-based Baptist Health competing to buy it, according to Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin.
Yes, There May Be Hope in Breakthrough Over Dune Hold-Out, Attorney Seeks to Reassure County
Scott Spradley, the attorney Flagler County retained in a bankruptcy case against Cynthia d’Angiolini, the lone hold-out against a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project to rebuild dunes in the city, sought to reassure county officials that she now has “incentive” to sign the necessary easements.
Flagler’s Cold-Weather Homeless Shelter Facing Staffing Challenge as 4-Night Freeze Coincides With Christmas
Flagler County’s all-volunteer organization that runs the county’s only cold-weather shelter is facing a steep staffing challenge this week as the National Weather Service is warning of an unusually long, bitter cold spell starting Friday night and coinciding with the Christmas weekend, when many shelter volunteers are away, visiting family. The shelter is planning to open four nights in a row.
Sheriff’s Office’s Ultra-Modern Operations Center Is Dedicated, Ending 4 1/2 Years of Nomadic Existence
Sheriff Rick Staly dedicated the $20 million, 51,600 square foot Sheriff’s Operations Center off Commerce Boulevard before hundreds today, ending four and a half years of borrowing space from the courthouse, among other locations, and closing an unhappy chapter in the county’s history.
Palm Coast’s Lee Ann Daley, 46, is Killed in Head-On Crash Caused By Man Going Wrong Way on US1
Lee Ann Daley, a 46-year-old Palm Coast resident, was killed in a head-on collision on U.S. 1 in Palm Coast when a driver going the wrong way struck her car a little before 9 p.m. Friday.
DeSantis Picks 4 Judges for Revamped 5th District Court of Appeal, Which Hears Flagler Cases
DeSantis named Florida Gaming Control Commission Chairman John MacIver, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Paige Kilbane, Duval County Circuit Judge Adrian Soud and Putnam County Judge Joseph Boatwright to serve on the appellate court, which will hear cases from a large swath of North Florida and Central Florida.