Flagler County’s unemployment rate in July rose to 5 percent, from 4.8 percent the previous month, the highest jobless rate since July 2021, when it was still trending down from the Covid pandemic slowdown. Palm Coast’s unemployment rate of 4.9 percent also matches a four-year high. The housing inventory in the county–the number of houses available for sale–hit a 15-year high, according to the latest available figures.
Flagler, Palm Coast & Other Local News
Florida Cities and Counties Line Up to Defy New Pro-Developer State Law Known as SB 180
All over the state, local governments are pushing ahead on common-sense changes to their growth plans, wetlands protection, and impact fees. They’re doing so despite warnings from big, bad opponents that what they have in mind will violate a new pro-developer state law that limits city and county governments’ authority on new land-use or development regulations. It’s bad news for Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature.
Scaffolding Record, DeSantis Signs 12th Death Warrant of Year: David Pittman, Polk Murderer of 3
In what could be the 12th execution this year in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a death warrant for a man convicted of killing three members of his estranged wife’s family in 1990 in Polk County. David Pittman, 63, is scheduled to be executed Sept. 17 at Florida State Prison. Florida has already set a modern-era record this year with nine executions, and two more men are scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection this month.
The Truth About Flagler’s Public Libraries: Doing Far More Than You Realize, with Far Less Than Necessary
The Flagler County Public Library system remains one of the most–if not the most–efficient divisions of county government. Even with the staffing necessary at the new Bunnell library come December, the system’s personnel will have grown by just 20 percent in 20 years, while county government grew 37 percent, Palm Coast government grew 49 percent, and the county population grew by 84 percent. For all that, the library system continues to be the target of criticism without context or evidence, when it should be championed.
Palm Coast Fire Department’s Eventful Patrick Juliano Is Promoted to Battalion Chief
Patrick Juliano is one of the more recognizable faces–and forces–of the Palm Coast Fire Department, often managing, aside from his regular duties, to be the department’s spokesperson, to coordinate some of the city’s most solemn events, contribute to their soundtrack with or without other musicians and percussionists, and to perform his bagpipes on innumerable occasions.
A Taylor Swift Tribute Upstages Debby Boone, Gary Puckett and Many Others at Fitz’s 2025-26 Season
For all the great acts and big names filling this season’s lineup at Palm Coast’s Fitzgerald Performing Arts Center (previously, Flagler Auditorium), it’s “Blank Space – The Taylor Swift Tribute” that gets star billing on the Fitzgerald’s home page as the organization seeks to attract a younger crowd. This season’s lineup includes tributes to a number of classic rock bands and music artists from the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s.
Palm Coast Mayor Norris Files Dismissal Notice of His Lawsuit Against the City, Scrapping Rehearing or Appeal
Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris today filed notice in Circuit Court through his attorney that he was voluntarily dismissing his lawsuit against the city he represents and Council member Charles Gambaro, without prejudice–meaning that it cannot be refiled. Mt. Dora attorney Anthony Sabatini filed the notice early this afternoon, soon after being served a letter by the city’s attorney, warning that the city would pursue financial sanctions against Norris if the lawsuit remained active.
U.S. Rep. Randy Fine Raises County’s Hope to Federalize More Beaches and Secure $10 Million for Dune-Rebuild
If U.S. Rep. Randy Fine kept at arm’s length Palm Coast officials’ hopes for federal financial help with the city’s utility infrastructure on Wednesday, he left county officials much more hopeful that he will help them with beach-management and beach-funding possibilities. The county had two major asks. Fine said he’d help with both: clearing $10 million in FEMA money due from Hurricane Milton, and moving forward on a $4 million study, the first step in federalizing the rest of the county’s beaches.
Ex-Gang Member Michael Gilbert Back in Prison for 5 Years, Risking Another 5 Rather Than Settle
Sometimes, defendants’ self-defeating math puzzles everyone in court, prosecutors and judges included. But the defendants’ misfortune is not entirely of their own doing, especially when they are on probation, a system as if cynically designed to make probationers fail. Michael D’Angelo Gilbert is one such defendant.
U.S. Rep. Randy Fine Tells Palm Coast During Sewer Plant Visit: Utility Infrastructure Is Primarily Your Responsibility
U.S. Rep Randy Fine, on a whirlwind tour of Flagler County that included an ATV trip along its battered beaches and an afternoon meet-and-greet at the Chamber of Commerce, this morning visited what has become a necessary stop in Palm Coast’s infrastructure calvary: the sloshing tanks and purifying basins of Waste Water Treatment 1. Costly as the expansion and modernization of the plant is to Palm Coast, he said utility infrastructure is primarily the city’s responsibility, not the federal government’s.
Jeani Duarte, a Council Candidate, Says Palm Coast’s Utility Plants Will Make Cannibals of Residents
Jeani Duarte, a candidate for the Palm Coast City Council in the 2026 election, on Tuesday evening accused the city of planning a sewer infrastructure that will turn residents into cannibals. Duarte often addresses the council at its workshops and meetings, often several times a meeting, often to make statements that are either inaccurate or “nonsensical,” as Circuit Judge Chris France twice termed a civil action she attempted against the city, before France tossed it.
A Disaster Expo at the Palm Coast Community Center Highlights Community’s Prepared Resilience
Flagler Cares, the social services non-profit and coordinating agency, secured a $143,000 Long-Term Recovery Grant from the American Red Cross for Flagler Volunteer Services as part of the recovery efforts following Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024, enabling a “disaster preparedness breakfast and expo” at the Palm Coast Community Center Tuesday that drew a full house.
Hurricane-Bound Erin, 1st Major Storm of Season, Not Expected to Affect Florida
Tropical Storm Erin, still churning closer to the African coast than the American or Caribbean, is expected to become a major hurricane by the weekend as it moves west. It is not expected to pose a danger to the Florida Peninsula, Flagler County included, Flagler County Emergency Management Director Jonathan Lord said today. But he added a word of caution: Erin is too far to rule out a more onerous turn.
Flagler County School Board’s Will Furry Says God Is Calling Him to Run for Congress Against Randy Fine
Will Furry, a Realtor in his first term on the Flagler County School Board, said he is running for the congressional seat held by Randy Fine. Furry will continue serving on the School Board until the end of his term in November. He cannot run for both seats. His fate will be decided in the Aug. 18, 2026 primary, when he would be one of a slew of Republicans challenging Fine.
Flagler Beach City Attorney Recommends New Ordinance Limiting Trespassing Authority in Public Spaces
Flagler Beach’s city attorney is recommending that the city adopt an ordinance clarifying when, where and why police may trespass an individual from public property, on the very rare occasions when they may, how much restraint police must exercise when interfering with a person’s speech (a lot), and what due process must be afforded the individual targeted.
Trespassing Persons on Public Property and Best Practices Dealing with Protestors: Flagler Beach City Attorney’s Memo
The full text of the memo written by Flagler Beach City Attorney Drew Smith and attorney Abby Osborne-Liborioon on Aug.6, in response to Flagler Beach Police Chief Matt Doughney’s request for clarity on the city’s authority to trespass individuals from public spaces.
With Cuts at Palm Coast Branch, County Pledges to Revisit Library Budget 3 Months After Bunnell Branch Opens
With Palm Coast officials worried that a planned 23 percent cut in library hours and a significant cut in staffing at the Palm Coast branch will hurt patrons and programming once the Bunnell branch opens in December, Flagler County officials are pledging that staffing will be adjusted next spring should usage figures show a need.
Veteran Who Robbed and Killed a Man at Graham Swamp in 2006 Seeks Full Release from Supervision
Brian Wothers, the 43-year-old military veteran who robbed and killed 26-year-old Jeffrey David Maxwell at Graham Swamp after partying with him earlier that night in 2006, is seeking release from all state supervision 17 years after he was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and committed to a state hospital. A circuit judge is not ready to grant that step just yet.
At Flagler Cares, A Play Therapy Room That Allows Children to Express the Unspeakable
Imagine a 5 or 6-year-old child, maybe an abused child or one who’s just endured unspeakable trauma. The child has been incapable of expressing feelings as other children might. The child’s parents have been unable to connect. Play therapy enables the child to express those feelings as nothing else might. That’s the purpose of the play therapy room at Flagler Cares, “a place to play, a place to heal,” as the plaque outside the room put it.
Opposition Grows to Florida’s SB 180, a Gift to Developers Posing as a Storm-Recovery Law
A nonprofit smart growth advocacy organization, 1000 Friends of Florida, is the latest entity calling for the Florida Legislature to repeal portions of a new law designed to expedite post-disaster rebuilding. The measure has become the most controversial new measure signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis this year. The problem? Language barring new local land-use or development regulations considered “restrictive or burdensome,” even if they are completely unrelated to storm recovery.
Flagler Beach Officer Who Wrongfully Arrested Man Outside Funky Pelican Will Serve 3 Days’ Suspension
An independent investigation of Flagler Beach Police Sgt. Austin Yelvington found him to have violated the city’s arrest procedures last March when he arrested a man who stood outside the Funky Pelican restaurant at the pier, holding a sign supporting homeless veterans. Yelvington is to serve a three-day suspension without pay. The other Flagler Beach police officer involved in the arrest, Emmett Luttrell, was found to have followed procedures and was not penalized.
20-Year-Old Man Is Killed After Stepping Into Traffic on I-95 South of Palm Coast Parkway
A 20-year-old man on foot who may have had a medical episode was struck and killed by two cars as he stepped into northbound traffic on I-95 in Palm Coast early this morning, just south of the intersection with Palm Coast Parkway.
County and Palm Coast ‘Task Force’ Will Explore Cost of Animal Shelter Separate from Flagler Humane Society
Even as they compulsively speak of “DOGE”-dictated government efficiency and stress over limited budgets, Flagler County and Palm Coast’s governments are setting up a joint task force to study the possibility of building or operating a multi-million animal shelter separate from the Flagler Humane Society, which since 1982 been the only full-service animal shelter in the county.
Palm Coast Man and Ex-Volusia County Schools Employee Charged With Raping Neighbors’ Child in Z Section
Kermit Carl Booth, 72, a former resident of Palm Coast and a former employee of the Volusia County school district, faces two capital felony charges of raping a girl when she was between 6 and 9, in a case dating back to 2006 to 2009 in Palm Coast’s Z Section. Booth was arrested in North Carolina last Friday and released on a startlingly low bond, prompting outrage from Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly. A Flagler County judge had set bond at $500,000 when signing the arrest warrant.
Flagler County Government Favors Merging Animal Control with Palm Coast, Ending Humane Society Contract
Flagler County government is working toward consolidating animal control services with those of Palm Coast. That would sever the county’s $300,000 contract with the Flagler Humane Society, which currently provides those services to the county. The Flagler County Commission and the Palm Coast City Council in a joint meeting on Wednesday did not make a decision to that end, but agreed by consensus to draft a joint agreement (or ILA, an interlocal agreement) that would define the scope and cost of the services Palm Coast would provide.
Against Sharp Opposition from Hargrove Grade Businesses, Council Approves Heavy Industry Rezoning for Concrete Plant in 3-2 Vote
Facing down sharp opposition, especially from business owners on Hargrove Grade, the Palm Coast City Council in a 3-2 vote Tuesday approved on first reading the rezoning of 37 acres at the western edge of Hargrove from light industrial to heavy industrial ahead of the construction of a concrete mixing plant there. The city’s planning board rejected the rezoning in June, citing pollution that could affect businesses on Hargrove, and the negative effects the plant could have on acreage along Hargrove owned by AdventHealth: the board did not want to discourage the hospital company from building a medical park there.
Woman Who Posed as Nurse at AdventHealth Palm Coast for 18 Months, Seeing Almost 4,500 Patients, Is Arrested
Autumn Marie Bardisa, a 29-year-old resident of 7 Pinto Drive in Palm Coast who impersonated an emergency room nurse at AdventHealth Palm Coast’s two hospitals, was arrested on 14 felony charges on Tuesday and is being held at the Flagler County jail on $70,000 bond. Bardisa worked at the hospitals from July 3, 2023 to Jan. 22, 2025, when she was fired. During her employment, she had documented contact as a nurse with 4,486 patients, according to the investigation.
Back from the Brink, Ray Stevens Is Running Again for the Palm Coast City Council Seat He Resigned
The former Palm Coast City Council member is going to run in the 2026 election to reclaim the seat he resigned when he took severely ill just weeks into his term, after winning the District 3 seat runoff with 58 percent of the vote (and making past the primary by two votes). Stevens resigned in late February, when he was in the hospital, in critical condition, and told to get his affairs in order. He plans to run to complete the two years that would remain in his term, then not run again in 2028.
Advocates Blast FPL’s Request for Nearly $10 Billion Rate Hike as ‘Greed’
Consumer activists said Tuesday that the proposed $9.8 billion rate hike that Florida Power & Light (FPL) is asking for is excessive and should be rejected by state regulators. In February, FPL, the state’s largest public utility servicing approximately 12 million people, submitted a four-year request for the Public Service Commission (PSC) to set new rates once its current base rate agreement expires at the end of this year. FPL is, with rare exception, the only power provider in Flagler County and its cities.
Flagler Commission Ratifies $195,000-a-Year, Open-Ended Contract with County Attorney Michael Rodriguez
The Flagler County Commission unanimously approved an open-ended contract with Michael Rodriguez, the county attorney replacing Al Hadeed starting Aug. 11. One commissioner had a few quibbles but there were no changes to document Rodriguez negotiated with the administration. The commission voted to hire Rodriguez on July 17.
Two Defendants in Disturbing Cases Get a Taste of Terence Perkins as Senior Judge: No Bond for You
Retirement isn’t dulling the admonitory edge of Circuit Judge Terence Perkins in his role as senior judge. In a pair of rulings today, Perkins denied bond to two men, one accused of brutalizing his wife after she denied him sex, the other awaiting sentencing on a jury conviction for a hit-and-run crash that left the victim mangled and unable to work for months.
Atlantic Awakens: Hurricane Center Eyes Two Weather Systems with Tropical Storm Potential
The National Hurricane Center is monitoring two weather systems for potential tropical development over the next seven days, including one near the southeast Atlantic coast. This system now has a 40 percent chance of tropical cyclone formation on Friday or Saturday, up from 30 percent. Another system, currently in the eastern, tropical Atlantic, has a 50 percent chance of tropical storm formation in seven days.
Sheriff Recognizes 911 Dispatcher Megan Flores and Deputies Manka and Held Who Saved 9-Year-Old Boy
On May 8 Flagler County 911 dispatcher Megan Flores got a call about a 9-year-old boy who wasn’t breathing. She dispatched deputies and paramedics while continuing to issue instructions to family members by phone. When Sheriff’s deputy Christopher Nguyen arrived, he immediately used his automated external defibrillator (AED) as deputies Kyle Manka and Sierra Held assisted and cared for two other children at the scene. By the time the boy was on his way to the hospital, he was conscious and breathing.
County’s Greg Hansen Accuses Kim Carney of ‘Sabotaging’ Beach Protection Plan; She Accuses Staff of Stumbling
What started as a position statement on beach policy quickly degenerated into accusations–Commissioner Kim Carney accusing the administration of inaction, Commissioner Greg Hansen accusing Carney of “sabotage,” Commissioner Pam Richardson accusing Hansen of making things up (he wasn’t). The discussion uncovered the rifts that led to the collapse of the commission’s long-term beach-management plan, and the county with few options ahead and underscored the inescapable: Flagler County and its cities have no plan to save their beaches beyond a cluster of temporary and thinly funded stopgaps.
Palm Coast Relieves Itself 3 Years Late as Much-Needed $31 Million Sewer Plant Expansion Doubles Capacity
Almost three years late and 55 percent over the original budget, Palm Coast’s expansion of its Waste Water Treatment Plant Number 2 is now operational but for a punch-list, doubling the plant’s capacity to 4 million gallons per day and relieving the city’s older, overburdened WWTP1 in the Woodlands, which is getting its own expansion. When presented to the City Council in January 2020, the expansion was scheduled for completion by November 2022, for $20 million. Not including design, the project’s construction cost rose to $30.9 million.
Keep Your ICE Raids Out of Our Schools
Immigration raids have escalated — often under questionable pretenses. This spring, immigration agents tried to enter two elementary schools in Los Angeles. At the door, agents said they wanted to determine students’ well-being and claimed to have authorization from the children’s caretakers. Administrators denied them entry — and when they spoke with caretakers later, they learned that agents had lied about receiving permission.
County Attorney Al Hadeed, Now a Flagler Sheriff’s Deputy, Is Regaled Into Retirement
The sheriff’s naming of County Attorney Al Hadeed an honorary sheriff’s deputy was among the surprises at Hadeed’s retirement party Thursday evening at the Government Services Building. There were numerous local tributes, a proclamation, the dedication of a bench in Hadeed’s name at Princess Place Preserve, recognitions wrapped in gifts and held-back tears and choked-up memories and overhead screens projecting a lifetime of pictures.
Palm Coast Council’s Charles Gambaro Announces Congressional Run Against ‘Outrageous’ Randy Fine
Palm Coast City Council member Charles Gambaro late Thursday announced he will challenge U.S. Rep. Randy Fine in the 2026 primary for the 6th Congressional District seat Fine won in a special election last April. With Council member Dave Sullivan’s plan not to run in the 2026 election, Gambaro’s decision creates the second open seat on the council–an opening that gives the embattled mayor a chance to make a play for a majority aligned with him.
U.S. Job Creation Stalls to Lowest 3-Month Total Since Covid, Bankruptcies Spike 27% in Florida’s Middle District
The national economy added 73,000 jobs in July and 106,000 in the last three months combined, the poorest quarter in job creation since the massive job losses of April 2020 as Covid shut down much of the economy. The unemployment rate edged up to 4.2. It has hovered between 4 and 4.2 percent for the past 14 months. In a related trend, personal and business bankruptcy filings rose nationally 11.5 percent in the last 12 months, and 27 percent in the Middle District of Florida that includes Flagler County, from 18,471 last year to 23,442 in the last 12 months. A bankruptcy attorney says the trend is here to stay.
Hires of Palm Coast Utility and Development Directors Termed Capstones of Mark Strobridge’s Brief Tenure
Flagler County Sheriff’s Chief Mark Strobridge considers the long-needed appointments of directors to two of Palm Coast government’s most important departments–utilities and growth management–as the capstone to his unusual tenure as an assistant city manager on loan to Interim City Manager Lauren Johnston. The city on Wednesday announced the appointments of Brian Roche as director of the Utility Department, and John Zobler as Community Development Director, a position vacant since Jason DeLorenzo was named chief of staff in September 2022. DeLorenzo left the city earlier this month.
Two Turtle Nests Halt Flagler Beach Pier Construction Until September as Workarounds Prove Impractical
The Flagler Beach pier demolition and reconstruction project is coming to a halt next Wednesday. Two new turtle nests burrowed in the path of the large trestle under construction are stopping work on the $16 million project. It will resume in about two months, after the turtles have hatched. The due date for the newest turtle nest is not before Sept. 10.
Committee’s 15-13 Vote Sends School Board’s Derek Barrs Nomination for Transportation Post to Full Senate
Flagler County School Board member Derek Barrs is a step closer to resigning the seat and leaving Flagler County to become the administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on Wednesday voted 15-13, strictly along party lines, to send the nomination to the full Senate, where Barrs is expected to be confirmed.
As Mayor Norris Misrepresents Ethics Complaint Dismissal, Council Focuses on Charter and Governor Action
The Florida Commission on Ethics tossed out a complaint filed by four Palm Coast City Council members against Mayor Mike Norris, citing “legal insufficiency.” Norris had said as much in a social media posting last Friday and at a town hall meeting Monday, misinterpreting the order as a victory. To the council members, the ethics commission’s decision is one more reason to revise the city charter to add disciplinary clauses that would enable a council majority–or a supermajority–to deal with a rogue or derelict member.
16 Years in Prison for Justin Maddox, 32, in Overdose Death of Jeremy Kocorowski, 40
Indicted on a capital murder charge for his role in the drug-overdose death of 40-year-old Jeremy Kocorowski of Bunnell in March 2024, Justin Maddox, 32, of Palm Coast, was sentenced today to 16 years in prison in a plea deal that reduced the charge to manslaughter. “Addiction is a disease,” the victim’s mother told the court in a statement she read after the sentencing. “But exploiting someone who’s struggling is not. it is predatory. It is lethal. And in this case, it was murder.”
On Flagler County School Board, Competing Views Underscore District Tensions Behind Vouchers and ‘Choice’
At the end of a 15-minute hearing on Tuesday to approve Flagler County schools’ tentative property tax and budget for the coming fiscal year–a budget that includes the siphoning of $17 million to subsidize private school “vouchers” for almost 2,000 students, with the district’s dollars–School Board member Janie Ruddy delivered a brief speech decrying the erosion of public dollars for public schools, and addressing its consequences. Will Furry followed with a rejoinder, illustrating district tensions at the heart of the voucher and “choice” program. Both statements follow in full.
Citing Costs, Flagler Beach Commissioners Reject Design of New ‘Beachwalk’ on and Around Pier for 2nd Time in 4 Weeks
The design of a new “Beachwalk” and “Promenade” beneath and around the Flagler Beach pier drew raves from city commissioners. But what started as a $1.5 million project has ballooned to at least $2.8 million, with several design elements that were not part of the original concept as commissioners understood it, including a covered portion of the 4,200-square-foot promenade. Commissioners have tabled the project and asked for a third redesign.
Janie Ruddy Rips Vouchers, Will Furry Defends Them as School Board Sees Erosion of Nearly 2,000 Students to Hand-Out
The Flagler County School Board in a 15-minute meeting this evening approved the tentative school property tax for the next fiscal year, a small decline from last year that continues a 20-year trend of cutting the school tax rate every year but in the three years of the Great Recession. Board member Janie Ruddy pointedly noted the discordance between falling tax rates and local needs, and between the expansion of vouchers–public funding for private education–at the public schools’ expense. Will Furry, who chairs the board, countered with a defense of vouchers.
At Mike Norris ‘Mayoral Town Hall,’ an Impressive Crowd Starring Cast of Familiar Faces, Fictions and Grievances
Palm Coast Mayor Norris’s self-vaunted, well-attended and uneventful “Mayoral Town Hall” at the VFW hall on Old Kings Road Monday evening was almost identical to a grousing public comment segment at a City Council meeting, but stretched to two hours, and with a larger audience primed by pizza, beer and wine on the mayor’s personal generosity. The two-hour event drew 154 people, based on a head count just before the halfway mark.
Mayor Norris Files for Rehearing in Lawsuit He Lost Over Gambaro Appointment and Distorts Ethics Decision
Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris through his attorney filed a motion for rehearing of his lawsuit against the city and Council member Charles Gambaro, who Norris still claims was illegally appointed despite a court order to the contrary. Separately, Norris, in a truculent social media posting replete with errors and mischaracterizations late Friday, claimed that the Florida Commission on Ethics “has officially dismissed” the complaint the City Council filed against him, and did so “due to insufficient legal standing.”
100 Cats Rescued from R-Section Home in Palm Coast Will Have Their Own Adoption Event
In a powerful show of compassion and teamwork, almost 100 cats were rescued this week from a single home in Palm Coast, thanks to a coordinated effort by city employees, local organizations, and dedicated animal lovers.
