Commissioner Bill Baxley’s proposal to raise salaries cut in 2014 back up to $9,600 a year got no support from a commission with two members–John Rogers and Bonita Robinson–running for re-election in March.
Flagler, Palm Coast & Other Local News
3rd Set of Human Remains Found in 4 Months as Dune Erosion North of Varn Park Uncovers Bones
For the third time since August, authorities in Flagler County have been led to what they believe to be human remains, this time apparently uncovered by beach erosion caused by Hurricane Matthew.
Staly Names Bisland Undersheriff as Transition Team, Including Big Donors, Gets to Work
Jack Bisland, an investigator at the State Attorney’s office, had been Jim Manfre’s chief of investigations briefly in 2013, but the two men quickly parted ways.
In Month of Spiking Violence Against Police, 2 Palm Coast Men Arrested Separately For Threatening or Battering Cops
Anthony Banks, 42, allegedly battered and threatened an FHP trooper following a car crash, and Jarret Register, 24, threatened to shoot a sheriff’s deputy in the chest after an altercation at Smiles bar. Both men were allegedly drunk.
Flagler Beach Holiday at the Beach Parade Set for Saturday: Late Participants Welcome
The Rotary Club of Flagler Beach is once again hosting the Holiday at the Beach parade this Saturday, Dec. 3, along resilient State Road A1A in the city and is welcoming last minute parade applicants this week. See the application below.
Palm Coast Man With Long Criminal Record Charged With Arson at Fenimore Ln House Fire
Vitaly Tsabak is accused of spending more than an hour stealing televisions, computers and other items from the house on Fenimore Lane in Palm Coast before setting it on fire Friday morning.
Crime Scene Declared at Suspicious Dawn Fire at Fenimore Lane House in Palm Coast
A fire broke out at dawn in the living room of a duplex at 164 Fenimore Lane in Palm Coast this morning. Firefighters were able to contain the fire to the living room. But it was almost immediately termed suspicious.
New School Board Chairman Trevor Tucker Calls For, and Gets, Half As Many Meetings
Relying on a faulty analogy with Duval County schools, Flagler County School Board Chairman Trevor Tucker wants the number of meetings cut from four to two per month, but wants these to be meatier than they’ve been. The board gave its guarded approval.
Human Remains Found in Wooded Area of Hunters Ridge, May Have Been There 1 or 2 Years
A resident of Hunter’s Ridge, the sparse, isolated development straddling the Flagler-Volusia County line, found human remains while searching for his drone this morning, not far from his home on Ashford Lake Drive.
Democrats Try to Stay Relevant After Barely Adding to Their Diminished Numbers in Florida Legislature
Democrats’ 41-member caucus faces a 79-member Republican majority in the Florida House, with 15 Democrats facing 25 Republicans in the Senate.
Investiture Day: School Board and County Commission Members Old and New Sworn In
Charlie Ericksen, Donald O’Brien and Dave Sullivan were sworn-in at the county commission, Colleen Conklin and Maria Barbosa at the school board in a pair of ceremonies that marked the more pronounced changes in local government resulting from the November election.
Flagler Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Jamie Burnsed’s Family House Burns in Morning Blaze
Jamie Burnsed, one of three battalion chiefs at Flagler County Fire Rescue, and one of its longest-serving firefighters, had lived at the property with his family for just about 10 years.
School Board Chairman Colleen Conklin On the Trump Election: “Words Matter”
In light of the swastika incident at Palm Coast’s Imagine School and many other hurtful or vile statements during the election campaign, the school board chairman calls on local leaders to denounce messages that erode trust and respect.
For George Hanns, 24 Years As Commissioner End With a Long Goodbye and a Biting Roast
The county administration gave George Hanns a farewell reception Monday afternoon, with some 100 people in attendance and touching moments mixing with humor and a colleague’s roast.
Along Palm Coast Parkway, Yet Another Tattoo Parlor, and Yet Another Assisted Living Facility
The two businesses may add upwards of 50 jobs in the city’s core commercial center along Palm Coast Parkway—an assisted living facility for dementia patients, and at least the third tattoo studio along the Parkway approved in recent years.
Palm Coast Man Charged With Felony Child Abuse For Allegedly Knocking 6-Year-Old Girl to Ground
Richard Kenney, 33, was arrested after briefly resisting deputies, and charged with a felony count of child abuse and domestic battery after deputies learned he had allegedly slugged a 6-year-old girl hard enough to knock her to the floor, then slapping his wife or ex-wife.
Man Charged With 2 Counts of DUI Manslaughter and Vehicular Homicide in Deaths of Kathleen and Carl Boos on A1A
William G. Schwarz, 52, of Ormond Beach, is being held on $400,000 bond at the Flagler jail. His blood-alcohol level was 0.252 at the time of the March 11 wreck involvinf four cars near Painters Hill.
Boil-Water Advisory In Bunnell as Water Plant Has a Problem For 3rd Time in 2 Months
Overnight Sunday, the water plant shut down again for about half an hour, the water pressure in pipes fell from 60 pounds per square inch to below 22 pounds, some customers may have gone without water for a while.
A Start-Up Contest Conceived By Palm Coast’s Office Divvy Crowns Snappy Marketing Winner
Snappy Kraken, a company that launched only last April partly from palm Coast, won from among 30 entrants for its innovative and automated do-it-yourself approach to marketing campaigns.
Two Kindergarten Students of Mixed Races Come Home From Imagine School With Swastikas on Their Skin
School officials say clear video from the school bus captured the incident, in which a middle school student is said to have drawn swastikas on at least two kindergarteners’ skin. A motive has not been disclosed.
With “The Rainmaker,” Palm Coast’s City Rep Theater Reads Into America’s Most Reassuring Mythologies
“The Rainmaker” is at heart a sentimental comedy that reprises some of the oldest mythologies of America’s Great Plains optimism: the faker and the husband-hunting rube whose mutual combustion unravels their greater selves.
Revered School District Administrator Is Baker Acted Outside Government Services Building
Hearts are breaking at school district offices at the Government Services Building in the wake of an unsettling incident Wednesday afternoon involving Shawn Schmidli, one of the district’s most admired and prized administrators.
“Shoddy Police Work” Helps Bunnell Man Facing Life in Prison Turn Trial In His Favor
Grant Gieger, 30, accused of armed burglary and other violent charges, was found guilty on minor charges instead as the case against him appeared to fall apart because of “shoddy police work,” according to his attorney.
Man Injures Flagler Beach Police Officer in Escape Attempt After Arrest
David Scott, who’d been put on three years’ probation over a violent incident in February, smashed a patrol car’s window and injured a Flagler Beach police officer after an arrest over a probation violation.
Musical Chairs Continue as Flagler Will Have 5th Different Criminal Court Judge in 7 Years
Circuit Judge Matthew Foxman, in Flagler less than a year, is being reassigned to Volusia County, and will be replaced by Judge Dennis Craig, a Flagler resident who’d previously presided over civil and family court law.
Bunnell Police Will Borrow $70,000 From Its Utility to Buy 2 Cop Cars as Department Grows
The city will borrow $70,400 from its own water and sewer fund, buy two patrol cars from a Polk County dealer and repay the fund over five years from the general fund, at 1.5 percent interest.
Sea Change With Immediate Notes of Assertiveness as New Mayor and Palm Coast Council Are Seated
Palm Coast Mayor Milissa Holland wasted no time taking the reins after her swearing in, as did now-senior council member Steven Nobile, who wants a more assertive and involved council.
Farewell Reception Set for Commissioner George Hanns as Quarter-Century Service Ends
County Commissioner George Hanns, a Democrat who once always counted on sure-fire popularity, was first elected in 1992 during the (Bill) Clinton sweep, and was voted out last week during the anti (Hillary) Clinton sweep.
At Flagler Library, Matthew and Arrogant Campaign Vehicles Aggravate An Old Problem
The Flagler County Library Board of Trustees has been chronically wrestling with parking and free speech issues at election time, but it’s shifting the burden to the county commission in hopes that a countywide ordinance might settle the issue in future elections.
Palm Coast Man Held on $100,000 Bond After He’s Caught in Live Facebook Video Brutalizing Girlfriend With Machete
Ricardo Lazo, 46, of 600 Shady Oaks Drive in Palm Coast, is accused of beating his girlfriend with a machete and threatening her life. Parts of the confrontation were captured in a Facebook video chat by his son, who used the chat to get a friend to call 911.
Bringer of Joy: Flagler Youth Orchestra In Concert at Auditorium Wednesday With Holst, Handel and Synergy
This is the Youth Orchestra’s 12th season and the first of of its full-orchestra performances this year, with 275 students in five ensembles and the faculty quartet performing some 14 works.
At Flagler Airport, Veterans Day Framed by Traveling Vietnam Memorial and Freedom Fest
The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall, a 3/5-scale replica of Maya Lin’s original Vietnam Memorial in Washington, stretched almost 300 feet along the tarmac at the airport as Veterans Day ceremonies kicked off Freedom Fest, a weekend-long event.
Suspect Who Once Eluded SWAT Team Escapes Again and Jumps In Bunnell Water Tank
Monti, 42, of Palm Coast, was being arrested on a domestic battery charge at the courthouse, where he was answering to another charge, when he fled police and jumped in a filtration tank at the Bunnell water plant.
Manfre and Staly Bury Hatchet: “He Will Add to Progress I’ve Made and Make the Place Better”
Flagler County Sheriff-Elect Rick Staly met with Sheriff Jim Manfre Wednesday as the two men agreed to a transition plan while restoring what had previously been a cordial professional relationship.
Flagler’s 20-Point Margin For Trump a 28-Year High as Blue-Collar Counties Power Trump
Not since George Bush defeated Michael Dukakis had a Republican presidential candidate performed so well in Flagler County, a stark difference reflected across many other, larger blue-collar counties.
Joel Fallon, Owner of Granny Nannies, and Co-Pilot Seriously Hurt in Plane Crash Over Plantation Bay
Joel Fallon, owner of Granny Nannies of Flagler and St. Johns counties, was at the controls of a Beech single-engine plane built in 1969 with co-pilot Josh Rosa, owner of Flagler Air Exchange, a business at the Flagler County Airport.
Staly Is Flagler’s New Sheriff, Bexley New Court Clerk, Republicans Sweep County Commission, Klufas Wins Palm Coast Seat, Barbosa Wins School Board, Hutson, Renner Win
Election results are showing the making of a historic Republican sweep in Flagler County as early but significant tallies show Rick Staly winning sheriff, Tom Bexley winning clerk of court, and all three Democrats in county commission races well behind.
Matanzas Student Arrested After Becoming Aggressive Toward School Deputy at Lunch
An 18-year-old Matanzas High School student was arrested today at school after a lunch-hour confrontation that started with a student and escalated to involve school staffers and school resource deputies.
This Time It’s Formal: Palm Coast Council Fires Holland Park Contractor Over Delays
The Palm Coast City Council this morning took an unprecedented step on a contract so large: it aborted its contract with Tumbleson White Construction, the contractor hired in January 2015 to renovate Holland Park.
Three Men Burglarize AT&T Store Off Palm Coast Parkway, Crash and Evade Copter Search
A Publix employee coming to work at 2:30 a.m. detected the burglars and called 911, but the three suspects got away after crashing their car, evading a more than half-hour search by air and ground in the C-Section.
Gov. Scott on Frank Meeker’s Commission Seat Replacement: “We’re Working On It”
Ten men, all Republicans, applied in the 107 days that have elapsed since Commissioner Frank meeker’s death. Rep. Paul Renner says he expects an appointment in late November or early December.
Miles Smith, 32, Troubled W-Section Resident at Center of Dead Puppy Feud Last March, Found Dead
The cause of death has not been determined. No firearm was involved. Last March Smith was at the center of a controversy involving the suspicious death of a puppy that had once belonged to his neighbors.
Repairs on Speed: A1A Reopens to Governor’s Applause as Businesses Cheer With Relief
The remarkably swift emergency repairs to the road on a state government emergency contract to Halifax Paving turned what could have been a death knell to many businesses into a setback, now overcome.
Not What Flagler’s Battered Beaches Need: Elevated “Super-Tide” Again Places Properties and Dunes in Danger
A super-tide expected Saturday along the beaches, with 5 to 7-foot breakers and water levels 1 to 1.5 feet above tide levels, concerns county officials who have been scrambling to protect breached dunes and properties damaged by Hurricane Matthew.
Dunkin’ Donuts on Palm Coast Parkway Will Reopen Early Next Year
The Dunkin’ Donuts that burned on June 9 at 1310 Palm Coast Parkway is expected to reopen in February or March, occupying the same 3,667 square foot space and combining Dunkin’ Donuts with Baskin Robbins ice cream.
Rick Staly, Flagler County Sheriff Candidate: The Live Interview
Rick Staly is the Republican candidate for Flagler County Sheriff. He faces Democrat Larry Jones and Independent Thomas Dougherty in the election culminating on Nov. 8.
Farewell Ovation to Jon Netts, Last of Founding Mayors as Palm Coast Enters New Era
Palm Coast gave Mayor Jon Netts its farewell Thursday evening in an hour-long ceremony that included gifts, speeches, the naming of a fire truck after him and a lot of talk about going sockless.
Larry Jones, Flagler County Sheriff Candidate: The Live Interview
Larry Jones is the Democratic candidate for Flagler County Sheriff. He faces Republican Rick Staly and Independent Thomas Dougherty in the election that culminates on Nov. 8. Jones defeated incumbent Sheriff Jim Manfre in the Democratic primary.
Jennifer Stagg, Flagler’s Embattled Emergency Planner, Survives Firing as Hearing Exposes Deeper Problems
Jennifer Stagg, will be suspended five days without pay, but her hearing exposed deeper problems at the county’s emergency management operations that have little or nothing to do with her.
6,400 Students Vote in Flagler Schools, and It’s Clinton By a Hair, Beating Trump 44-43%
In Flagler schools, Hillary Clinton beat Trump by a 74-vote margin, out of 6,406 votes cast, or by 1 percentage point. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate, got 5.6 percent.