The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office and its jail were not responsible for the education of Brendan Depa, the former Matanzas High School student arrested over a year ago on a charge of aggravated battery of a school employee. Nevertheless, the jail, under the supervision of Chief Daniel Engert, has ensured that a team of volunteers and professionals have continued Depa’s education, with notable and continued successes.
Flagler, Palm Coast & Other Local News
Why Do Your Groceries Cost So Much? Price-Gouging, Not Inflation.
According to a new report by the Federal Trade Commission, the largest grocery retailers — which include Walmart, Kroger, and Amazon, which owns Whole Foods — used the pandemic as an excuse to raise prices across the board. The same is true for big agribusinesses like Tyson Foods and DuPont, which sell the lion’s share of meat products and seeds. These giant companies wrote themselves a blank check during Covid, which they now expect us to pay for.
Brendan Depa’s Sentence: Neither Vengeance Nor Mercy. Only Humane Justice.
On May 1 Circuit Judge Terence Perkins will sentence Brendan Depa on a charge that carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. The punishment will be nowhere near that: the sentencing guidelines don’t call for it, the incident doesn’t warrant it, and Perkins is not a hanging judge. The question is whether he will impose any prison time, and whether reason and justice, not mercy or vengeance, will prevail.
Palm Coast’s Alan Avellan Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison Over Secret Videos of a Child and Overt Sexual Acts
Alan Avellan Jr., the 38-year-old Palm Coast resident arrested last year on charges of casting pornographic videos to a television that children were watching in his house, was sentenced to three years in prison followed by eight years on sex-offender probation, and was designated a sex offender for life. He pleaded guilty to eight felonies that added up to a maximum of 70 years in prison, resulting from his abuse of children’s privacy and his own inappropriate acts in their presence.
Freudian Slip: City Rep’s ‘Hysteria’ Takes Farcical Look at Dali’s Meeting with “Father of Psychoanalysis”
British playwright Terry Johnson reimagined an actual, historically documented meeting between the 81-year-old Freud–father of psychiatry–and the 34-year-old Salvador Dali–the indomitable surrealist–into “Hysteria,” an intellectual farce that City Repertory Theatre’s John Sbordone calls “one of the funniest things that CRT has ever done.”
Majority of Palm Coast Council Candidates Oppose Pre-Election City Manager Hire, Others Fence-Sit, with Nuances
Six of the 11 non-incumbent candidates running for three Palm Coast City Council seats oppose the council’s decision to hire a new city manager before this year’s elections, which will turn over at least two of the council’s five seats, and possibly three, if Mayor David Alfin is not re-elected. Three candidates are on the fence about it, seeing strong arguments on both sides. Only one favors the hire outright.
17-Year-Old Runaway from Wisconsin and Companion Found in Palm Coast and Arrested for Car Theft
A 17-year-old adolescent reported missing out of Green Bay, Wis., and an 18-year-old woman from that state were found in Palm Coast and arrested for grand theft auto. The vehicle belongs to the adolescent’s father, who had been traveling, and who’d locked away the keys.
Ethics Commission Dismisses Conflict of Interest Claims Against Palm Coast Council’s David Alfin and Ed Danko
The Florida Ethics Commission last Friday dismissed a pair of complaints claiming that Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin and City Council member Ed Danko, the vice mayor, voted on matters in which they had a conflict, and did not disclose it. The commission found the complaints legally insufficient.
Lawsuit Blames Flagler Schools’ Failure to Address Brendan Depa’s Known Needs and Risks Before Attack on Aide
Brendan Depa, the now-18-year-old former Matanzas High School student captured on surveillance video attacking his teacher’s aide 14 months ago, filed suit today against Flagler County schools, accusing the district of failing to properly address his behavioral end mental disabilities, to properly train the staff in charge, or to provide legally required educational supports. The failures led to a grave but foreseeable, violent incident, the lawsuit states, injuries to the aide, and the prospect for prison for Depa.
Flagler County’s Tourism Revenue Dips 6.4% in Last 6 Months as Covid-Era Surge of Visitors Dissipates
Tourism tax revenue in Flagler County is down 6.4 percent in the first six months of the fiscal year–October through March–as vacation rentals and leisure-room occupancy in local hotels has fallen after what Tourism Director Amy Lukasik describes as the “record-breaking years of Covid, when Florida remained an open destination as other states and countries took safer and saner protections for their residents.