Passing over military brass or heavy hands, the Palm Coast City Council last night narrowed its choices for city manager to two middle-of-the-road candidates steeped in local government experience: J. David Fraser, who’s managed several cities in the West, and Michael McGlothlin, a former law enforcement investigator and police chief in city management since 2019, most recently in Reddington Shores on the Gulf of Mexico. The two candidates will be interviewed in person at City Hall on Nov. 13 for a job that may earn them up to $250,000 a year. Interim City Manager Lauren Johnston’s current salary is $190,000.
Flagler, Palm Coast & Other Local News
80-Year-Old Woman Dies Following Crash on Belle Terre Parkway Triggered by Medical Episode
An 80-year-old Palm Coast woman lost her life in a crash on Belle Terre Parkway that appears to have been triggered by a medical episode Monday afternoon. The victim veered off the southbound lanes of Belle Terre into the northbound lanes, and crashed on the shoulder. It was the 17th road fatality of the year in the county.
Mystery Development Company Buys Marineland Dolphin Adventure for $7.1 Million, Outbidding Hutson
Marineland Dolphin Adventure, the world’s first oceanarium and for most of its 87 years a Florida tourist destination with a storied past, was sold at auction on Monday for $7.1 million to an apparent shell company that goes by the name of Delightful Development LLC. If the name augurs its future intentions for the 5.1-acre property, the site’s days as an oceanarium are approaching their end, and the 17 dolphins there, six of them born in Marineland, will have to find new homes.
If AI Were Picking Palm Coast’s Next City Manager: Carl Geffken, Thomas Thomas, David Fraser, In That Order
A Google Gemini evaluation of the six finalists for Palm Coast city manager resulted in a ranking of Carl Geffken, Thomas Thomas and David Fraser, in that order. The evaluations were based on the city’s recruitment brochure, their resumes, and their plans for Year One, which the city asked them to present in a short paper. Thomas jumped to second place after his Year One paper was evaluated. He’d have been in third without it.
Palm Coast’s Message to Flagler Humane Society: Help Us Help You
After a year of wrangles with the non-profit and a few pending questions ahead, the Palm Coast City Council has approved its annual contract with the Flagler Humane Society, increasing it to $125,000, from $90,000. But the city is pressing the society to be more forthcoming with its data and future plans for potential expansion.
The Palm Coast City Manager Candidates In Their Own Words: Videos and Vision Papers
The Palm Coast City Council at its evening workshop on Tuesday will further narrow its list of finalists for city manager to the handful it will interview in person. It will do so based on the last two tasks the council asked the remaining candidates to fulfill: a video response based on a set of questions submitted by the council, and a short paper outlining the candidate’s vision for his first year. (There are no women candidates remaining in the pool.) Here, in their own words, are each candidate’s videos and vision papers in full.
At Celebration of Life for Jorge and Nancy Salinas, a Couple’s Forever ‘Spirit and Joy’ Counter Brutality of Loss
“There is some sweetness in knowing that they passed after enjoying time together at Disney, and that they were together when they passed,” Jorge and Nancy Salinas’s daughter told the audience of some 150 people who’d turned up for the celebration of life for Nancy and Jorge Salinas Sunday afternoon at the Palm Coast Community Center. They were at Disney that October 4 barely a week ago, spending the day as they loved to spend it, and they were there in their last hours, before a hit-and-run driver caused their fatal crash on I-4.
With Shutdown, Democrats Finally Take a Clear and Critical Stand
Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill will add $4 trillion to the national debt and throw 20 million people off Obamacare over the life of the bill, which lets supplemental premium subsidies enacted during the Biden administration expire. It would more than double premium costs for Obamacare recipients. The cost of extending the subsidies over the next 10 years is $350 billion, or 8 percent of the Trump tax cuts. This is what the Democrats have been willing to shut the government over. It’s about time.
Flagler Cares’ Carrie Baird Is Among ‘Women Shaping Florida’s Future’ at State Awards, a First for Flagler County
Close to 200 people gathered at Tallahassee’s DoubleTree Hotel Wednesday evening to honor “women who are shaping Florida’s future, who are leading, innovating and lifting others up as they rise,” as Shevaun Harris, Secretary, Agency for Health Care Administration, a keynote speaker and one of the honorees, told the audience. One of the women was Carrie Baird, Chief Executive Officer of Flagler Cares, the 10-year-old, Palm Coast-based nonprofit. It was the first time that the leader of an organization in Flagler County was the recipient of the News Service of Florida’s annual Above and Beyond Award.
Flagler Beach Commission Votes 3-2 to Sell Ocean Palm Golf Course at a Loss, for $801,000, Citing ‘Painful’ Years
The Flagler Beach City Commission voted 3-2 Thursday to sell the nine-hole Ocean Palm Golf Club it bought in 2008. The sale price would be $801,000, or $100,000 less than what the city paid for it, when it acquired an additional 3 acres a decade ago. The course has been a perennial loss for the city even with the two golf management companies that have run the course since 2015. The buyer is the current lease holder, Ocean Palms Golf Club, owned by Jeff Ryan.
Celebration of Life and Other Services Scheduled in Memory of Jorge and Nancy Salinas
The family of Jorge Salinas and his wife Nancy Salinas have scheduled a celebration of life in honor of the couple’s memory at 2 p.m. at the Palm Coast Community Center on Sunday. It is the first of a week of services. Salinas, the deputy Flagler County administrator since 2020, and his wife lost their lives on Oct. 4 in a hit-and-run crash on I-4 that took the life of a third person as well.
Hutson Companies, Major Housing Developer, Bids $3.5 Million for Bankrupt Marineland Dolphin Adventure
The Hutson Companies, a St. Augustine developer of single-family homes and apartment complexes, has placed a $3.5 million bid for the bankrupt 5.1-acre Marineland Dolphin Adventure property in Marineland, suggesting that if the sale closes later this month, the famed attraction’s 87-year history may be coming to an end. An open auction is scheduled for Oct. 27 in Delaware. A stalking-horse bid, or agreement, is an opening bid that allows the company in bankruptcy to set a floor for potential future bids. But it gives the stalking horse an advantage.
Palm Coast Man Neglects to Take Infant Daughter to Hospital After She Ingested Edibles, Attending Football Game Instead
Kajuan Arthur Harris, a 29-year-old resident of Wheatfield Drive in Palm Coast, faces a charge of child neglect with great bodily harm, a second-degree felony, following the second hospitalization of his 5-year-old autistic daughter after she ingested a large quantity of marijuana edibles while she was in Harris’s care. He refused to take the child to the hospital, going to a football game instead and urging the child’s mother to let the child “sleep it off.”
For Flagler County’s I-95 Corridor, Long Duration Nor’Easter Brings High Winds, Potential Flooding and Erosion
The National Weather Service in Jacksonville is cautioning that a “long-duration nor’easter’ began today and will continue through Saturday, bringing wind and heavy downpours along the I-95 corridor, high tides 2 to 3 feet above normal and dangerous surf that will batter and damage Flagler County’s beaches, and potential coastal flooding. Calmer, dryer weather returns Sunday.
Palm Coast’s Ebike Ordinance in Effect: Limits Speeds, Restricts Riders’ Age to 11 and Up and Requires Photo ID
Palm Coast’s ebike ordinance is now in effect following the Palm Coast City Council’s approval Tuesday of a measure that sets speed limits at between 20 and 28 mph, depending on the bike, restricts riders to age 11 and up, and requires riders to carry government-issued identification at all times.
Sheriff’s Operations Center May Be Renamed for Rick Staly in Recognition of His 50 Years in Policing
The Flagler County Commission is considering–and will likely approve–renaming the Sheriff’s Operations Center in Bunnell as the Sheriff Rick Staly Law Enforcement Center in recognition of Staly’s 50 years of service in law enforcement. Sheriff’s Chief Mark Strobridge, a colleague and friend of Staly’s going back to their many years together at the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, conceived and proposed the idea. Commissioner Leann Pennington is championing it, if with some policy-related pause from Commission Chair Andy Dance and Commissioner Greg Hansen.
Flagler Beach Planning Board Rejects Veranda Bay/Summertown Annexation in Striking Reversal of Former Welcome
In a striking reversal from its unanimous recommendation approving Veranda Bay’s annexation into Flagler Beach last year, before the threat of a lawsuit suspended further regulatory steps, the Flagler Beach Planning Board Tuesday denied recommending approval on a series of 4-1 votes. For Veranda Bay, it is the latest blow in a six-year slog through sustained public opposition, litigation, official courtship, second thoughts and now uncertainty.
Derek Barrs Is Finally Confirmed as Administrator of Motor Carrier Safety Administration After Fractious Senate Maneuvers
The U.S. Senate in a strict party-line 51-47 vote Tuesday night confirmed Derek Barrs, the former Flagler County school board member, administrator of the federal Transportation Department’s Motor Carrier Safety Administration, seven months after President Trump nominated Barrs to the post.
Flagler County’s Development Authority Board Wants to Wade Into Economic Development, Conjuring Grim History
Some of the members of Flagler County’s newly appointed Industrial Development Authority wants to be more than just an industrial development authority. They want to be the county’s economic advisory council–reviving the sort of council the county killed in 2020 after years of meager results. Just as IDA members have mixed feelings about that, so did the Flagler County commissioners who appointed them.
Fact-Check: How Flagler County Misuses Numbers in Pitch of $110 Million Sports Complex
In a pitch to the Flagler County Commission on Monday, the county’s tourism bureau and its consultant backed up an analysis of a proposed $110 million sports complex with numbers that, while accurate in themselves, were entirely without context and, on close inspection, had little to do with Palm Coast, and in some regards contradicted the county’s rosy claims.
More Skepticism and Vagueness than Hard Data to Support Mammoth $110 Million Sports Complex in Palm Coast
A company pitching a proposed $110 million sports complex for west Palm Coast claims it could attract up to 400,000 a year even though the county as a whole doesn’t attract more than 100,000 total visitors a year, including those who flock to its beaches. Yet the Flagler County Commission, with some strong skepticism from one member and questions from others, continues to encourage its tourism office to further explore the possibility of just such a complex, which would require a $6 million a year “rent” payment from taxpayers.
Jorge Salinas, Flagler County’s Steadying Deputy Administrator Since 2020, and His Wife, Are Killed in Crash
Jorge Salinas, Flagler County’s deputy administrator since 2020, a steadying voice of the county administration and one of the more beloved people at the Government Services Building, was killed late Sunday night in a four-vehicle hit-and-run car crash on I-4, as was his wife and an unrelated motorcyclist.
Sirius Healthcare, Specializing in HIV and Hepatitis C, Joins Flagler Care’s Village at City Marketplace
Sirius Healthcare, established 15 months ago and headquartered in Orange City, is dedicated to enhancing the lives of individuals impacted by HIV, Hepatitis C, and other sexually transmitted diseases, as well as mental health and primary care services. Founded on principles of compassion and excellence, Sirius Healthcare focuses on improving health outcomes for vulnerable populations by empowering patients through education, support, and comprehensive care tailored to their unique needs.
In a Surprise, Flagler Commissioners Vote 4-1 to Indemnify Contractor of South-Side Library for Up to $1.25 Million
In one of the most unusual–if not unprecedented–moves on behalf of a building contractor, the Flagler County Commission this morning voted 4-1 to indemnify Ajax Construction for up to $1.25 million for non-structural-related contractual matters in its construction of the Nexus Center, the south-side library Ajax is building for the county.
Rampant Gaslighting About Freedom of Speech at Florida Universities
Our state government is authoritarian and proudly ignorant, hell-bent on destroying what makes universities great — freedom of expression, critical thinking, creativity, exposing students to ideas that may challenge them (or even upset them), unfettered research, scientific rigor, and advances in knowledge based on data. Why would a scholar want to pursue a career in such a fact-resistant, small-minded, censorious state?
Trump Threatens Peace in Gaza: The Good, the Bad, the Muggy
If you look past the puerility of Trump’s language there are real nuggets in the Gaza peace plan. But it exists as if history did not. Arab memory isn’t that shallow, nor that dumb. Still, Trump’s plan is the best thing to come out of the White House for the Middle East since 2001, as long as it is taken as a starting point for negotiations, not a poisoned take-it-or-leave it threat. Trump’s mobster threat that Israel will “finish the job” if Hamas doesn’t unconditionally surrender ensures failure from the outset, and continued failure of Israel’s offensive in Gaza, genocidal results aside. There is no job to finish. Only lives.
Keith Johansen, Serving Life for Murdering His Wife, Now Claims Stand Your Ground Would Have Exonerated Him
Former Palm Coast resident Keith Johansen, 43, who shot and killed his wife Brandi Celenza at their F-Section home in 2018, now claims a Stand Your Ground motion would have exonerated him and made trial unnecessary. Four years ago this month a jury found Johansen guilty of murdering Brandi, 25, in their home on Felter Lane while Brandi’s young son was in another room, waiting to go to the county fair.
Every Flagler/Palm Coast Development Past, Present and Future Now Mapped Out and Accessible Thanks to Toby Tobin
Imagine an interactive site where every housing development in Palm Coast, Flagler Beach, Bunnell and Flagler County, past, present, and future, is mapped out and available at a click. Every development’s details–number of homes, apartment units, commercial or industrial square footage–is listed, often with illustrations and links. Developers are listed. So are construction dates or projected buildouts. That map is now public and free to use, if not quite as free to its creator, who’s paying for it.
FC3, Flagler’s Cultural Council, Marks 3rd Year With Grant Showcase and Hopes Still Brighter Than Achievements
The Flagler County Cultural Council, the volunteer organization known as FC3 and designated local arts agency, marked its third year since that designation at its annual meeting Wednesday evening at the Palm Coast Community Center by featuring grant recipients, selecting winners of a high school photo contest and installing a new slate of officers. The fledgling council is still finding its footing, its “pillars” lifting more aspirations than achievements for now.
Flagler County Home Builders Sue Palm Coast Over Impact Fees, Seeking Immediate Invalidation of Sharp Increases
The Flagler County Home Builders Association (HBA), five local builders and an individual jointly filed the 69-page, four-count suit in Flagler County Circuit Court late Wednesday afternoon. The suit challenges the City Council’s unanimous adoption last June of sharply higher impact fees for fire services, parks and transportation. The lawsuit is not seeking damages, monetary or otherwise. It is seeking the immediate and permanent invalidation of the ordinances that enacted the higher impact fees. It is an extraordinary challenge. It is neither unprecedented nor unheeded, though with extreme rarity.
Bunnell Maid on Probation for Theft Accused of Defrauding and Stealing from Clients in C-Section
Kayla Conner, 38, of Bunnell, was on probation for a 2024 conviction for felony theft when she was arrested again last week on accusations that, as a housekeeper, she defrauded her employer of $776 for cash, or to pay her wireless fees, or to pay for pet supplies, and stole a Pandora bracelet worth up to $800, and pawned off numerous jewelry items for cash.
Open-Carry Leaves Flagler County’s Government Attorneys Grappling with Ruling’s Application to Public Spaces
A Sept. 10 appeals court ruling that made it legal to openly carrying guns in Florida has created some confusion for Flagler County’s local government attorneys on the law’s applicability in certain public places such as government buildings and parks in light of a loophole in law that appears to leave long guns unregulated, and the permissibility of carrying guns in certain public spaces unclear.
Creekside Music and Arts Festival Set for Weekend Is Postponed to February as Precaution Against Storms
The Creekside Music and Arts Festival scheduled for this weekend–Oct. 4 and 5–at Princess Place Preserve in Flagler County is being rescheduled to February due to an inclement forecast of lightning and storms ahead. The festival, the largest cultural festival on the county’s calendar, both in attendance and vendors, is rescheduled to February 7 and 8. It is the second time in eight years that the festival has had to be postponed due to weather. In 2017, in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, it was moved to November.
FWC Employee Fired Over Charlie Kirk Instagram Post Sues Accuses Agency of 1st Amendment Violation in Lawsuit
A biologist has filed a federal lawsuit challenging her firing by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission because of a post on a personal social-media account after the murder of Charlie Kirk. Brittney Brown, who worked for the commission studying shorebirds and seabirds in the area of Tyndall Air Force Base in the Panhandle, alleges in the lawsuit that her firing on Sept. 15 — five days after Kirk was shot during an appearance at a Utah university — violated her First Amendment rights.
Paul Renner Isn’t Interested in UNF Presidency
Don’t expect a former House Speaker and current candidate for Governor to swoop in as President of the University of North Florida. UNF’s President Moez Limayem is the sole candidate in the running for the presidency of the University of South Florida, creating a likely opening at the Jacksonville school and stoking speculation about whether Renner might want the job.
A Safe Haven Baby Box Is Blessed at Palm Coast Fire Station 25 as Door to Hope, Mercy and Second Chance
Some 90 people stood in diluvian rain outside of Palm Coast’s Fire Station 25 this afternoon for the blessing of the city’s first Safe Haven Baby Box, a $41,000 gift to the city from the local Knights of Columbus, the Palm Coast Kiwanis Club and others who worked nearly two years toward the installation of the box. “It’s a tangible reminder that in moments of crisis, that there is hope,” Palm Coast Fire Chief Kyle Berryhill said. The founder Monica Kelsey, was also among the speakers.
At 1st Public Input Session on Palm Coast Charter Review, a Small But Engaged Crowd Makes Half a Dozen Suggestions
The first of four workshops designed to let Palm Coast residents describe how they want to see the city’s charter changed drew just 17 people Monday evening, 13 if you didn’t count four of the five members of the Charter Review Committee who attended, and a few less if you didn’t count the alternates picked for the committee. But the two-hour discussion was generally thoughtful and informed, engaged, varied, and–with occasional exceptions–free of the strident polemics and mistrust that routinely fill public-comment segments before the City Council.
Flagler Beach Approves Flat Tax Rate and $87 Million Budget, But Not Before 2 Commissioners Kill Engineer’s Job
The Flagler Beach City Commission last week approved its tax rate and $87 million budget for the coming year. The commission approved both items at its second and final budget hearing last Thursday, though not before two of the four commissioners at the meeting–Rick Belhumeur and John Cunningham–risked leaving the city without a budget if the city manager didn’t scrap his plan to hire a second city engineer. That second city engineer position was scrapped.
Three Months Later, Flagler Beach Commissioners Finally Agree on Design of $2.6 Million ‘Beachwalk’ by Pier
After twice rejecting the design for the rebuilding of the Flagler Beach boardwalk and the structures under the A-frame at the pier, the Flagler Beach City Commission approved the preliminary drawings for both in what will be a $2.6 million reconstruction, with new concrete pilings beneath and a large deck and breezeway above. If the cost remains close to $2.6 million, it will be a surprise.
12-Year-Old Indian Trails Middle School Boy Arrested on Felony Charge After Threatening to Stab a Student
On September 15, it was an 11-year-old boy at Rymfire Elementary. On Sept. 25, it was a 12-year-old at Indian Trails Middle School: same method–threats made in a group chat away from school, images of weaponry sent to make the point–same result: an arrest and a felony charge. The two boys had been arguing in the chat that afternoon. Then NG sent the picture of a box of 15 knives and a brass knuckle and made threatening statements
It Is Happening Here
Where would America be without hyperbole? From the chutzpah of the City Upon a Hill speech aboard the Arbella to the skirmish-turned Boston “massacre” to American Carnage a few years ago to the ongoing beatification of Charlie Kirk, it’s fair to say that without hyperbole, America would be more like a sprawly humble Saskatchewan than the Galactic Empire it’s become. But America’s slouch toward fascism is no hyperbole. Sinclair Lewis once mused that it can happen here. Today, it is happening here.
Flagler County Government Prepares to Settle 4-Year-Old Lawsuit Over Sears Building, But Won’t Recover All Losses
Flagler County government is nearing a final settlement of a four-year-old lawsuit it filed against several parties after its ill-fated $1.125 million purchase of what was then known as the Sears building on Palm Coast Parkway. The county previously settled with two of the four parties, recouping $900,000 (or $843,000, depending on which document you consult). The pending settlement would recoup an additional $125,000, netting a loss of $100,000 (or $157,000).
In Marineland, Boyfriend-Girlfriend Are Now Majority of Town Commission, and Team Up to Appoint Mayor (Boyfriend)
After a two-vote election put Joseph Pinder on the Marineland Town Commission, his girlfriend and Commissioner Jessica Finch nominated him mayor in place of Dewey Dew, and the nomination carried by the couple’s two votes. While perfectly legal, the situation is still unprecedented, and it underscores the strange status of a town hanging to its designation as a town by a thread and a $192,000 budget overwhelmingly dependent on one taxpayer’s money–Jim Jacoby, who is the mayor’s uncle.
Looking Beyond the Turning Point of Charlie Kirk’s Death to the Soil We’re Tilling for the Next Generation
Charlie Kirk’s assassination feels like more than another entry in America’s long and tragic list of political violence. It feels like a hinge point, writes former School Board member Colleen Conklin. But history suggests scars can be the beginning of strength. If the pattern holds, today’s youth may yet rise to become the next Greatest Generation. Now is the time to cultivate compassion stronger than ideology, courage rooted in empathy, the ability to separate people from their ideas. What then grows could astonish us.
Snubbing Near-Unanimous Public Opposition, Bunnell Commission Approves Rezoning 1,259 Acres to Industrial
Snubbing near-unanimous public opposition just as it had snubbed it when approving a mammoth 6,100-home development last month, the Bunnell City Commission on Monday approved on a 4-1 vote the first reading of an ordinance that will rezone 1,259 acres just east and south of the city’s core from agricultural to industrial, including heavy industrial, in what could potentially change the complexion of the city. Commissioner John Rogers was the lone dissenter.
Routine Palm Coast Meeting Turns Into Tense Clash Over Tax Rate as Gambaro Seeks ‘Rollback’ at 11th Hour
Sounding like former Palm Coast City Council member Ed Danko, Charles Gambaro in the final budget hearing Wednesday asked his colleagues to adopt the so-called rolled-back property tax rate rather than the rate proposed, which was already lower than this year’s. Gambaro’s proposal would have equated to a saving of $13 for the homesteaded owner of a $200,000 house, but would have required an immediate $1 million cut in the general fund. That led to a clash with Council member Theresa Pontieri, and the rest of the council held to the original proposal in a 4-1 vote.
Ex-Flagler County Paramedic Facing Rape Charge Claims Penetrating Patient Was ‘Medically Necessary’
James Melady, the former Flagler County Fire Rescue paramedic facing a rape charge involving an unconscious patient in his care during an ambulance ride, claimed today through his attorney that what he was doing to the patient was medically necessary, and therefore not actionable under Florida law. Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols was skeptical, and pressed him to seek a plea or potentially face up to life in prison.
Man, 76, Killed in Head-On Crash Going Wrong Way on U.S. 1, 3rd Local Road Death in 4 Days
A 76-year-old man lost his life late Tuesday night (Sept. 23) in a head-on collision on U.S. 1 south of Seminole Woods in Palm Coast. He is the third person killed in a crash on Flagler County roads in the last four days.
Palm Coast Appears Ready to Loosen Some Prohibitions on Commercial Vehicles in Residential Driveways
Palm Coast government is moving toward relaxing prohibitions on commercial vehicles parked in residential driveways while still maintaining relatively strict regulations. In sum, small work trucks and vans typically used for services such as air conditioning, painting, pest control, plumbing and the like will be allowed to park in driveways, uncovered. So will trucks with racks, as long as the racks are modest and part of the truck’s tools. Only one truck would be allowed in a driveway.
Palm Coast Council Rejects Call to Cancel City’s Advertising Contract with FlaglerLive Over Charlie Kirk Articles
The Palm Coast City Council today rejected a call by a former council candidate to cancel the city’s long-standing advertising contract with FlaglerLive in retaliation for a news article published soon after the shooting, and a subsequent opinion column that denounced activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination, but also many of his views. A majority of council members cited the site’s vast readership, its advertising reach for the city and its ROI, or return on a relatively modest investment to reject the call to cancel–at least not before an update on the numbers.
