Marineland Mayor Angela TenBroeck is on her way to Dubai, where she’s been invited to address the United Nations’ climate change summit. The summit includes representatives from nearly 200 countries and thousands of businesses, non-governmental organizations and advocates for a cleaner, cooler planet. TenBroeck will be on on a series of panels addressing clean water, workforce, economic development, hunger alleviation and justice for indigenous people.
Flagler, Palm Coast & Other Local News
Ex-Bunnell Church Leader and Pastor Alfonso Joseph Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison for Sex with Minor
Alphonso Joseph, the 50-year-old Palm Coast resident and former pastor at several Bunnell churches, was sentenced this afternoon to five years in prison followed by 10 years on sex-offender probation after pleading guilty to having sex with an underage boy.
Muddled Flagler School Board Has Only Vague Ideas Who Would Handle Legal Needs If Its Attorney Were Fired
School Board Attorney Kristy Gavin isn’t fired yet, with a Dec. 31 deadline looming. But the school board’s 50-minute discussion on what sort of legal representation it needs accented a chasm between two veteran board members focused on pragmatism and bottom lines on one side, and, on the other, the board’s three newest members’ willingness to improvise as they go, with little heed for consequences. The district administration is left to pick up the pieces.
Sheriff Hopes New Facial Reconstruction of Murder Victim Found Near SR11 in 1980 May Lead to Identification
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit has received a new facial reconstruction depicting the victim of a 1980 cold case. On May 28, 1980, skeletal remains were found near a canal/culvert on State Road 11 about 2 miles south of the Bunnell, Florida city limits.
Suddenly Faced With Attorney’s Exit, Palm Coast Council Seeks New ‘Robust’ Law Firm for 1st Time in 17 Years
For the first time in 17 years, the Palm Coast City Council is having to shop for a new law firm: Neysa Borkert, the city attorney, is leaving Dec. 15. It’s not a position the city wanted to be in. The council at a special workshop this morning agreed to issue a request for proposal and hunt for a law firm able to mirror the city’s current legal services.
Judge’s Artful Pressure Convinces 22-Year-Old Who Molested Siblings to Plead Rather Than Risk Life in Prison
It took a lot of work on Circuit Judge Terence Perkins’s part this morning. But in the end, the judge convinced Ja’vere Justin Lumpkins, who just turned 22, to take the deal: six years in prison, instead of a high likelihood of life in prison if he was convicted at a trial that was set for next month. Lumpkins faced several counts of sexually assaulting two of his half-sisters, which alone could send him to prison for life. The minimum sentence he’d face on conviction would have been 21 years in prison.
Flagler Beach Photography Club’s Lori Vetter Bowers Lands Shot in State Association’s 2024 Calendar
Flagler County will be featured in the Florida Association of Counties 2024 calendar “Skylines of the Sunshine State” for the month of November with a stunning image of the canals in Palm Coast that was shot by photographer Lori Vetter Bowers, a member of the Flagler Beach Photography Club.
In Rare Rebuke, Judge Rejects Plea Agreement and Asks for Jail Time in Dog Abuse Case
Willie Gardner, 30, was ready to plead to four felony counts of cruelty to animals involving negligence toward pitbulls, but Circuit Judge Terence Perkins rejected the plea negotiated between the defense and the prosecution, asking for jail time.
Palm Coast Man, 19, Accused of Beating Teen and Smashing Car’s Windshield
Christian Anthony Betancourt, a 19-year-old resident of Farmbrook Lane in Palm Coast, faces a felony count of throwing deadly missiles at an occupied vehicle following a Nov. 21 confrontation at the Fairfield Inn hotel on Old Kings Road in Palm Coast. Betancourt was allegedly upset that he’d been found cheating on his girlfriend.
Zealotry Takes the Gavel at the Flagler County School Board
It’s an indication of the Furry-Chong-Hunt majority’s churlishness that the school board member with the most experience, the most education, the most legislative, parliamentary and institutional knowledge by far (Colleen Conklin, who is in her last year), is being passed over as chair on Tuesday for Will Furry, her polar opposite in every respect, and a rookie.