Georgia Turner, Flagler’s new tourism chief, had her debut before the Tourist Development Council Wednesday as the council approved grants totaling $170,000, including underwriting for two popular and growing local conferences that attract numerous out-of-towners.
Flagler, Palm Coast & Other Local News
Flagler School Board Adopts Uniforms on 3-2 Vote But Only Vaguely Defines What It Means
The Flagler County School Board’s 3-2 decision to institute uniforms in all schools Tuesday evening was only vaguely defined beyond what may be only a somewhat more stringent dress code than the one in effect now.
Downplaying Expectations, County Ratifies Offer to Jobs Council CEO, for $110,700
Don’t start looking for bottom-line job creation from the county’s new economic development department, commissioners are saying, even as the county’s tax-funded efforts will be judged overwhelmingly by net new jobs that can be attributed to their existence.
New Garbage Contract: Hazardous Waste Option and Lower Monthly Cost, to Around $19
Only very faint public objections were raised Tuesday to Palm Coast’s new 5-year contract with Waste Pro for garbage, which would add curbside hazardous waste pick-up and lower the overall cost, assuming fuel prices don’t rise.
The Live Poll: 53% Against Uniforms
Should the Flagler school board adopt a uniform policy? Out of more than 700 responses, the verdict is 53 percent against as the school board prepares to vote on the issue Tuesday evening.
Miranda Vows: Commissioner Milissa Holland and Undersheriff O’Brien Will Marry April 21
WNZF’s David Ayers exerted the confession about the upcoming wedding from David O’Brien, the undersheriff, who had done his best to keep the news of his wedding to Milissa Holland an open secret.
Hollingsworth Gallery Lets Its Members Rip in New Show; Art League Does The Open
Hollingsworth Gallery in Palm Coast opens its annual members show Saturday evening with new works that range from the overtly provocative to the contemplative. The Flagler County Art League opens with a humbler mix.
The Flagler Youth Orchestra in Concert Tonight at Palm Coast Methodist Church’s Festival
The annual youth festival features the 25-piece Harmony Chamber Orchestra, the Flagler Youth Orchestra’s top ensemble, in a free concert under the direction of Caren Umbarger, at 7 p.m. You can Tivo Tebow’s first three throws.
Palm Coast Observer Taking On News-Tribune As It Aims for Twice A Week By April
The Palm Coast Observer’s move would be a frontal assault on the Daytona Beach News-Journal’s diminishing hold on the Flagler market, where the paper has also been contending with competition from three new radio stations and online media.
Palm Coast Half-Marathon and 5K Run: Schedule and Road Closures
The second annual Palm Coast half-marathon and 5K run is scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 15, starting at 8 a.m. at European Village. A summary schedule and road closures.
Bunnell’s Barbara Korn and FPC’s Sarah Poppe Win School District’s Top Honors for 2012
The 2012 Teachers and Employees of the Year at the Flagler Auditorium Thursday evening featured every school’s nominees and a cheer-leading crowd with shrieking lung capacities.
14-Year-old Shot on Belle Terre Near Point Pleasant; “No Random Shooting,” Sheriff Says
The 14-year-old was riding in a car with his cousin early Saturday morning when another car pulled up and someone fired five to seven shots, injuring the 14-year-old in the hand.
No Surprise: Waste Pro Will Be Palm Coast’s Trash Hauler for Another 5 Years & $38 Million
Residents may see a negligible difference in their roughly $20-a-month trash bill, if that, as the city council, convinced by Waste Pro’s low bid, complies with what the city administration had wanted all along.
Crediting FPC, 2 Manfres Develop Energy-Saving Product With Broad Applications
FPC graduate Alec Manfre is the COO of Bractlet, a start-up company that received $40,000 from the Chilean government to develop an energy-saving device he and colleagues invented at Georgia Tech. Manfre’s sister Catherine, also an FPC graduate, heads the company’s marketing.
In Bunnell, Scrapping for Police Chief’s Pay And a Taxpayer-Funded Christmas Party
Bunnell City Manager Armando Martinez’s request for a $60,000 salary for the next police chief was batted down (to $50,000) while a proposal to pay for next year’s staff Christmas party with city scrap metal proceeds drew resistance.
Road Fatalities Rise Again in Flagler in 2011, to 24, As Pedestrian Kill Rate Exceeds Orlando’s
The more than 4 deaths per 100,000 population in Flagler means that the Palm Coast-Flagler County area was more dangerous for pedestrians than Orlando-Kissimmee, the most dangerous metropolitan region in the country.
Flagler Delegation Discovers Varieties of School Uniform Experiences in Osceola Visit
As the Flagler County School Board prepares for a vote on school uniforms next week, a dozen Flagler school officials visiting Osceola schools Tuesday found out that even there, uniforms are are merely dressed up dress code rather than the strict regulations usually associated with uniforms.
For 1,200 News-Journal Pensioners, a Bittersweet Victory in Appeals Court’s Overrule
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an Orlando district judge misread Florida law when he brushed aside a $26.5 million claim from the federal PBGC to cover present and future retirement payments for Daytona Beach News-Journal employees.
Superintendent Valentine Seeking to Close Failing Heritage Charter School By June
After two successive F’s from the state, Valentine informed Heritage Academy Principal Nicole Richards by letter that she’ll recommend the school board close the school, which has about 180 students, by year’s end. Heritage is likely to appeal.
FPC and Matanzas, Penalized By Lower At-Risk Graduation Numbers, Maintain B Rating
FPC and Matanzas had the numbers for an A, but were docked a letter grade because they graduated fewer at-risk students than the state requires.
Celico Way Is Dedicated On Late Deputy’s Birthday
King’s Way at Old King’s Road North was rededicated this morning as King’s Way Celico Way in honor of Frankie Celico, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Deputy felled by heart trouble on Sept. 9.
Col. Jack Howell, Teens-In-Flight Leader, Is Seriously Bloodied in Motorcycle Accident
Update 2, 5:17 p.m. Jack Howell is recovering at home, and AmVets raised over $1,600 for Teens-in-Flight at today’s fund-raiser. Update, 2:45 p.m.: Jack Howell checked out of Florida Hospital Flagler just before 3 p.m., with a broken finger, a lot of bumps, bruises and lacerations and a sprained ankle, but no more serious injuries. […]
Helga van Eckert Is Job Council’s Top Choice As a Council Member Sits Out the Decision
Flagler County’s newly formed jobs council voted to offer Helga van Eckert the top executive job at the county government’s economic development agency. Van Eckert beats out Chris Clifton, who came in second, and Bruce Register, who came in third.
Jobs Council Interviews 3 Vastly Different Candidates for Top Economic Development Job
None of the three candidates for the $100,000 job lacked in confidence, experience or enthusiasm, and each projecting enough qualities but sharply different temperaments to make a choice between them difficult. That choice may be made Friday.
Ex-Cops Begin Lineup To Challenge Sheriff Don Fleming, Who’s Declaring for a 3rd Term
Ray Stevens, an Ossining, N.Y. cop, and John Pollinger, a Jersey cop (like Fleming) before their retirements to Palm Coast, are the early filers in what promises to be a crowded field for the $120,000-a-year job.
Judge Sharon Atack Won’t Run Again This Year, Opening 2nd Flagler Judgeship in 2 Years
On the bench since 1995, Flagler County Judge Sharon Atack, 65, cited personal reasons for her retirement. November’s election to the seat will likely draw a large field of contenders and, Atack said, “at least one” woman.
Troy Victorino, Ringleader of Xbox Mass Murders of 2004 in Deltona, Loses Appeal
Troy Victorino, who with three accomplices murdered and mutilated six people in Deltona in August 2004–in part over a disputed Xbox game–lost an appeal today in which he’d claimed he’d received ineffective counsel and had his rights violated during his trial. He will remain on death row.
1 Architect, 1 Banker, 1 Health Consultant. Mix. Serve. Result: Thai Korner Restaurant.
Palm Coast’s Thai Korner Restaurant, open one year, is the result of an unlikely partnership between three vastly different latter-day restaurateurs willing to defy a climate murderous to new businesses.
Florida Appeals Court Rules In Defense Of Web Comments Defaming to Business
Xcentric, a website that allows Internet users to post opinions about businesses without regard to whether the “reviews” are true may be “appalling” in its invitation to slander businesses, but it doesn’t have to take the post down, a Florida appeals court ruled.
Garage Sale: NYT Sells 16 Papers To News- Journal For Less Than $10 Million Apiece
Each title went for barely $9 million, less than half the $20 million Halifax Media paid for the Daytona Beach News-Journal alone when it acquired that paper in April 2010–at discount from the $300 million price originally set by a federal judge in 2006.
More Candidates for Jobs Council’s Top Post Drop Out, Citing Expectation of Creating Jobs
Some candidates were worried that they’d be expected to create 200 jobs in their first year, though candidates have also been raising concerns over the checkered political history of economic development in Flagler County.
Two Hammock Teens Faked Their Abduction, Triggering an Amber Alert Overnight
Danielle Annis, 17, and Amanda Hunt, 15, residents of a home on Ocean Crest Drive in the Hammock in Palm Coast, faked their own abduction and stole their parents’ car Wednesday evening. Charges against them may be pending.
A Fight Over a Cat Escalates Into Violence, Police Chases and a 6th Jailing 3 Days Later
Gregory Wright, a resident of the Mondex, didn’t want a cat sharing his bed with his girlfriend because of dander, though that was only one pretext leading to an alleged series of violent outbursts, threats and a case of false imprisonment.
A Most Common Palm Coast Tale: A Burglary, But With a Christmas Sting
Rhiannon Gross lives in a modest house in Palm Coast’s R Section with her two-and-a-half-year-old son. She came home earlier this month to a house robbed of presents under the Christmas tree and of all her electronics and jewelry.
Palm Coast Seethes as Flagler Ends Hammock Dunes DRI’s Obligations to County and City
The Flagler County Commission closed the books on the 28-year-old Hammock Dunes “development of regional impact,” angering Palm Coast over developer dollars the city contends should still be paid for widening Palm Harbor Parkway.
“Celico Way” Will Have Only Second Billing as Palm Coast Resists Full Name Change
The name will appear below “Kings Way,” in smaller letters. Friends and supporters of the late Sgt. Frank Celico, the Flagler deputy who died in September at 33, wanted to rename the street near the Dunkin Donut where Celico spent many of his waking hours.
News-Journal Owner Halifax Media Buying New York Times’s 16 Regional Papers
The New York Times confirmed today that Halifax Media Group, owner of the Daytona Beach News-Journal since 2010, is buying the 16 newspapers in The New York Times Regional Group in what would represent a significant cultural and ideological shift away from centrism and liberalism for those 14 papers.
Of Art and Soul: Erin Walker’s Pottery Studio For All Creators Coils Into Palm Coast
The Art and Soul Studio at 25 Pine Cone Drive in Palm Coast is recreational paint-your-own-pottery shop for all ages and many occasions, including birthday parties and Wednesdays’ Wine-d Down, a bring-your-own-wine ladies night.
Citing Health and Other Priorities, Bunnell Police Chief Arthur Jones Will Resign in April
Bunnell Police Chief Arthur Jones will leave his post at the end of April after three years as a tempering force in a small but tumultuous department, and as the city’s first black police chief.
Flagler’s Unemployment Rate Remains Stubbornly At 14% As Florida’s Improves
Flagler County’s unemployment rate remains Florida’s second highest, after Hendry’s 15.1 percent, while job creation in the state, while slow, continues. Gov. Rick Scott took credit for the job creation.
Palm Coast Accepts Garbage Hauling Bids But Doesn’t Open Them Publicly
The method continues a pattern that’s been less than transparent since fall when the city manager recommended renewing the contract with Waste Pro and skipping the bidding process.
Elderly Palm Coast Man Is Killed in St. Johns Wreck, His Wife Is in Critical Condition
Richard Mayor, an 83-year-old resident of Palm Coast, was killed Thursday evening in a single-car wreck on U.S. 1 in St. Johns County. His wife, Carol, 78, is in critical condition at Shands Hospital in Jacksonville.
Speeder’s Stop on I-95 Nets 1.7 lb of Cocaine and Trafficker’s Arrest on $150,000 Bond
Edward La Troy, a 34-year-old resident of Miami, had been ticketed for speeding less than three hours earlier by a Florida Highway Patrol trooper when the Flagler County Sheriff’s Carmine Celico stopped him and summoned a K9 that sniffed out the drugs.
Warned Of Animal Filth Months Ago, a Mondex Woman Is Jailed on Child Neglect Charges
The house where four young children lived was strewn with dog waste and infested with roaches. Deputies had first investigated the scene in late July.
“Between Us Girls”: Jobs Council Hears Drones, Stunners and Enthusiasm in 7 CEO Interviews
Flagler County’s economic development council conducted seven phone interviews over four hours this afternoon, hoping to pare down its list to three or four candidates who’d be interviewed in person.
Flagler’s 7 Governments Gather to Hear How Well Their Economic Development Is Doing
Despite enduringly high unemployment and a year of fraying rather than unity among local governments, the county hosted an intergovernmental summit Tuesday that piled back-patting on exclamation marks.
Palm Coast Would Underwrite Small Business Loans With Tax Dollars as New Incentive
The city’s loan-guarantee program would set aside $55,000 for existing, for-profit businesses looking to expand–or survive. The program is part of a series of economic development initiatives centered around the seven-month-old Business Assistance Center.
Matanzas Graduation Rate at 90%, FPC at 83% As Charter School Drags Flagler’s Down
When the numbers from heritage Academy, a charter school, are excluded, the Flagler school district’s graduation rate improves to 84.4 percent. The district’s single-year drop-out rate was 1.7 percent.
Christmas Shopping With a Cop: Children and Deputies on Target Thursday
Thanks to generous donations, some 40 Flagler County children will be holiday shopping with Sheriff’s deputies the evening of Dec, 15 at the Target store on State Road 100, where children will be arriving with cop cars blaring sirens and whirling their lights.
Despite 4 to 7 Inches of Rain, Palm Coast And Flagler Are Still Facing Drought
An area of Bunnell saw the most rain in the last 24 hours, at just over 7 inches, parts of A1A, Palm Coast and the Mondex saw water-covered roads, but no property damage or home flooding. This rain event aside, the drought persists.