The Flagler County School District is preparing to approve a $1.38 million contract for its share of school resource deputies (SRDs) and crossing guards for the school year starting on Aug. 12, a 16 percent increase over this year’s $1.19 million contract. The increases drew questions from School Board member Colleen Conklin, who was startled by a 68 percent increase in the cost of crossing guards and the increase in deputies’ costs even though the number of guards or deputies isn’t changing.
Flagler, Palm Coast & Other Local News
Michael Stephens, 48, Arrested on Sex Assault and Child Abuse Charges Involving Step-Daughter
Michael Travis Stephens, a 48-year-old resident of Sedgwick Trail in Palm Coast, is at the Flagler County jail on $125,000 bond after allegedly sexually assaulting his minor stepchild while she feigned sleep. Before his arrest, Stephens allegedly threatened to law enforcement that anyone going into his house would not leave alive.
Peter Johnson, Palm Coast Mayor Candidate: The Live Interview
Peter Johnson is a candidate for Palm Coast Mayor in the Aug. 20 primary. All registered voters in the city may cast a ballot in that non-partisan election regardless of party affiliation or location in Palm Coast.
Cornelia Downing Downing Manfre, Palm Coast Mayor Candidate: The Live Interview
Cornelia Downing Manfre is a candidate for Palm Coast Mayor in the Aug. 20 primary. All registered voters in the city may cast a ballot in that non-partisan election regardless of party affiliation or location in Palm Coast.
David Alfin, Palm Coast Mayor Candidate: The Live Interview
David Alfin is a candidate for Palm Coast Mayor in the Aug. 20 primary. All registered voters in the city may cast a ballot in that non-partisan election regardless of party affiliation or location in Palm Coast.
Trump Is No Longer the Greatest Danger to the Country. Biden Is.
Biden has a choice: certain defeat and a Trump win, or stepping aside and letting Democrats take the only kind of gamble that gives them at least a competitive chance to win in November, with either California’s Gavin Newsom or Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer at the top of the ticket–and with Whitmer clearly the better of the two. If the Democratic Party allows Biden to dig in, the party loses all legitimacy going forward.
Data Company Seeking Easements Discovers Flagler Beach Commissioners Won’t Be Cowed Into Submission
The Flagler Beach City Commission will not grant a data-center company a perpetual easement over almost a third of Veterans Park in the heart of the city as a landing point for undersea internet cables. The company was attempting to save money at the city’s expense. City commissioners explicitly called out the scheme, tabling the proposal until DC Blox returns with a feasible proposal to use South 6th Street as a landing site, without disrupting the city-owned parking lot there or compromising its future value to the city.
DeSantis Veto of Vacation-Rental Bill Opens the Way for Palm Coast Regulations with Flagler’s as Model
Facing pressure, Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed the measure a bill that deregulated local control of vacation rentals, saying the proposal would create “bureaucratic red tape” for local officials. Now, Palm Coast has another chance to write its own vacation-rental ordinance, or at least craft some city-specific regulations. City Council member Theresa Pontieri said this morning she intends to open the way for just such a proposal, with caution, as residents increasingly complain of rentals.
Tiger Bay Straw Poll: Richardson Trounces Danko; Derek Barrs and Lauren Ramirez Take Schools, Alfin Hangs On
Thursday’s Flagler Tiger Bay Meet and Greet at the Palm Coast Community Center drew some 300 people and almost every local election candidate on the Aug. 20 primary ballot. A straw poll consisting of some 225 votes yielded a few arresting results, such as County Commission candidate Pam Richardson’s trouncing of an absent Ed Danko, and a not-too surprising tight race for mayor in Palm Coast.
Two Years Later, Star Teacher Fired Over a TikTok Second Signs Settlement and Hopes to Resume Career
Two years after Flagler County schools ended her stellar 12-year teaching career over a 15-second TikTok video of her dancing with some of her sixth-grade students to the sound of Lizzo and an errant, barely audible four-letter word that many students sing or mouth a dozen times a day, Abbey Cooke has signed a settlement agreement with the state, neither admitting nor denying guilt, and preserving her teaching license.