In a season that overlapped the coronavirus pandemic, most storms spun away from Florida, sparing communities double-barreled crises of responding to a major storm while contending with restrictions and safety concerns imposed by the coronavirus.
Flagler, Palm Coast & Other Local News
55-Year-Old Palm Coast Woman Is Killed as She Crossed U.S. 1 South of Royal Palms Parkway
A 55-year-old Palm Coast woman was struck and killed by a vehicle on U.S. 1 south of Royal Palms Parkway in Palm Coast late Saturday night, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The Pendulum Was Swinging Toward Reopening Schools. Then Came the Surge.
The national Covid-19 surge that is overwhelming hospitals in some states has stalled any further movement toward opening classrooms. Scores of schools are closing in hard-hit states, and major cities are shelving plans to reopen schools for the first time.
Supreme Court Refuses to Reinstate Death Sentences in Decision That Could Affect 2 Flagler Inmates
The decisions could apply to about 100 inmates, possibly including David Snelgrove of Palm Coast, who was removed from death row in January after his lawyer successfully argued for life without parole, and Cornelius Baker, whose hope for a new penalty-phase trial is still pending.
Audrey II Puts Bite in City Rep’s “Little Shop of Horrors,” Opening Outdoors on Thanksgiving Weekend
“Little Shop of Horrors” is City Repertory Theatre’s most expensive production in 10 years, and is intended in part to give theater-goers a break from pandemic fatigue even as the show easily invites allegorical leaps to the present-day.
Two School Districts Had Different Mask Policies. Only One Had a Teacher on a Ventilator.
Eleven states let school districts decide whether students and staff must wear masks. One Georgia middle school where masks were optional–only about half of the children wore them–became the center of an outbreak.
Oral Arguments on Alachua’s Mask Mandate Evoke Hijabs, Nazis, KKK, Crime and, Finally, Public Health
Oral arguments about Alachua County’s mask mandate before a three-judge panel of the First Circuit Court of Appeal Monday was a spectacle of audacious leaps and strange analogies that nevertheless illustrated the sharp and far from resolved divide between mask proponents and anti-maskers, including on the judicial bench.
Powered by Vacation Rentals, Flagler’s Tourism Revenue Is Up Significantly as State’s Drops 30%
Flagler County’s tourism-tax revenue has gone up three successive months between July and September, substantially so in August and September, in contrast with statewide tourism revenue, which plummeted 30 percent in the third quarter. Vacation rentals, the beach, and vacationers traveling shorter distances account for the county’s success.
Charles Swindell, Felon Who Threatened to Burn His Mother and Did Burn a Child, Arrested for Raping Girl
Charles G. Swindell, a 50-year-old resident of Palm Coast, has a long and violent history, particularly with his own family–his mother and his children. But he’s served relatively little time in jail for his felony and misdemeanor convictions since 2013. That may change with his most serious charge yet: raping a child entrusted to him.
‘That Covid Kicked My Butt’: Flagler Infections Reach 2nd-Highest Weekly Total, 32 in Schools
Flagler County has the 10th-lowest average in the last seven days among Florida’s 67 counties. But those are relative and deceptive numbers that appear better only in relation to much worse numbers elsewhere. In the absolute local numbers remain dismal–and dangerous–by any measure.