After considering abandoning July 4 fireworks due to overcrowding and safety concerns, a committee appointed by the Flagler Beach City Commission to study the matter will recommend keeping the fireworks while proposing a series of management and policing approaches to better control crowds, minimize underage drinking and provide alternatives to driving and parking on the island.
Flagler, Palm Coast & Other Local News
When Even the Victim of Domestic Violence Wants a No-Contact Order Lifted, and the Judge Says No
Joel Buzzard, 49, of Bunnell, is on bail awaiting trial on a felony domestic violence charge involving a woman with two young children who, today, wanted his no-contact order lifted so they could see each other again. A judge said no, and Buzzard’s own attorney ordered him out of the courtroom when he had an outburst.
Big Box Store ‘Everyone in the County Will Be Happy About’ Coming to SR100 Near Airport
A developer is seeking to rezone 40 acres of agricultural land to industrial along State Road 100 near the county airport, land owned by Jay Gardner, the county property appraiser. He says the developer plans a big-box store anchoring a commercial development with restaurants and other out-parcel type businesses. Industrial uses are less clear.
In Flagler, Nor’easter’s Damage Is Limited to Some Dune Erosion, a Few Walkovers, Street and Yard Flooding
Flagler County made it through the weekend nor’easter with some heavy rains and the expected high waters and some flooding and minor damage to walk-overs and dunes, but no reported flooding into homes or any serious property damage. The forecast for rain had been for 4 to 8 inches. The county got roughly 5.
Corporal Punishment Is Child Abuse. Florida Law Must Stop Protecting It.
Under Florida law, child abuse is legal as long as the violence doesn’t amount to intentional, malicious harm. There is no age cut off. There are no limits on what means are used to brutalize a child. The law is a leftover from barbaric days.
Flagler County, Palm Coast and Flagler Beach Set Veterans Day Ceremonies for Nov. 11
The Guest speaker will be Mr. Randall Scott Morris, a U.S. Army veteran who served in the Vietnam War and who is also past President of the Flagler Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution.
2 Flagler School Board Members Object to Black Lives Matter Language and a ‘Hate Group’ Trolls District’s Library Books
The Flagler County School Board is not banning books–yet. But two board members–Jill Woolbright and Janet McDonald–are on the warpath, playing up isolated complaints about materials they find objectional on ideological grounds and mirroring similar attempts in other districts where a few voices have capitalized on largely manufactured controversies. The board members’ moves parallel a national extremist organization’s inquiry in Flagler and other Florida counties about the district’s book holdings, especially targeting racially-conscious and LGBTQ-themed books.
Matthew Wright Dies of Wound in Attempted Murder-Suicide, Gia Troutman, 23, in Critical Condition
Matthew Wright, the 25-year-old Palm Coast man involved in what appears to be an attempted murder-suicide Thursday afternoon, had spent most of his adult life in prison. He’d been out less than a year when he died Thursday of what authorities are reporting as a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, after shooting his girlfriend, Gia Troutman, four times.
Domestic Argument Between Man and Woman Leads to Apparent Attempted Murder Suicide on Bunker Knoll Lane
Flagler County Sheriff’s detectives are investigating a domestic altercation between a woman and her boyfriend on Palm Coast’s Bunker Knoll Lane that resulted in a shooting that left both severely wounded this evening. The shooting appears to have been an attempted murder suicide.
In Wrenching Hearing, Judge Opts for Closure More than Retribution in 5-Year Prison Sentence for Fatal Hit and Run
Joshua Carver had faced up to 30 years in prison for the hit and run collision that left 29-year-old Jonathan Rogers dead on the side of State Road 100 in February 2020. Circuit Judge Chris France sentenced him to five years in prison and five years on probation after hearing from families on both sides of a divide marked not by enmity but mutual loss.