Abril Cestoni, a Palm Coast resident and an employee at Publix in the Hammock, said she distributed 400 pamphlets to inform residents of what she considered to be problems with the local clergy. She said she was not showing signs of Covid-19 infection.
Flagler, Palm Coast & Other Local News
Flagler Beach City Manager Larry Newsom, On Sick Leave, Defends Responding to Rude Constituents Rudely
Flagler Beach City Manager Larry Newsom has been sick for over two weeks–it’s not Covid-19–and Fire Chief Bobby Pace is the interim manager for the next two to four weeks, but Newsom’s erratic interactions have caused issues with constituents and concern among officials.
AdventHealth Using Experimental Treatment of Plasma Infusions From Covid-19 Patients Who’ve Recovered
Recovered patients who are at least 15 days out from experiencing symptoms are eligible to donate plasma through OneBlood, whose Big Red Bus is routinely seen in palm Cpoast and Flagler, collecting blood.
Jimaya Baker, Alleged Ringleader in Near-Fatal Robbery, Faces New Armed Robbery Charge Involving Teens
Jimaya Leann Baker is the 18-year-old Palm Coast resident who is alleged to be the ringleader behind the armed robbery that resulted in the shooting and disabling of of Carl Saint Felix on White Star Drive in 2018.
‘When It Starts Getting Into Your Local Hospital, It Becomes Real’
Communities nationwide must fight their own coronavirus battles, leaving local hospitals to make do with limited staffing, testing, personal protective equipment and mechanical gear. The difficult conversations feel unceasingly cruel.
Flagler EOC Gets 500 Test Kits in Preparation for Drive-In Site at DSC Campus; County Cases at 35; Florida Deaths Near 300
Flagler County’s emergency management division secured the 500 test kits in addition to those at the health department, and it hopes to secure more. The drive-in location will still be by appointment, with a focus on first responders, health workers and those over 65.
Flagler County at Risk of Losing $6 Million in State Funds, Jeopardizing Army Corps Dunes Project in Flagler Beach
Flagler County is at risk of losing a $6 million state grant for the planned 2.6-mile beach-reconstruction project by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Flagler Beach. The federal government is $11.3 million of the $17.5 million project. The project is predicated on Flagler County assuming the remaining $6.1 million. Flagler government’s chief engineer, […]
Flagler Donors Show Their Love For Hospital “Heroes” as AdventHealth Opens Hubs for Covid-19 Contributions
Flagler Beach’s Wanda Dearth is among those organizing drives for cash, food, masks and other items for front-line health workers and others, while AdventHealth has launched a hub facilitating contributions.
Are You Really Recovered After Overcoming Covid-19? Doctors Can’t Guarantee You Won’t Re-Transmit
As with so many other aspects of the coronavirus, determining when a patient has recovered is fraught with uncertainties. Federal guidelines are limited. Physicians can’t offer seemingly recovered patients who aren’t retested any guarantees about whether they will be able to transmit the virus.
Drive-In Testing Location Coming to Flagler as Local Cases Reach 34, State Peak Expected on April 21
Previous models had shown the Coronavirus pandemic peaking in Florida the first week of May. The earlier projected peak would mean 3,000 fewer hospitalizations statewide, and a few hundred less ICU-level patients, as well as fewer deaths. But models can change.
Mission Critical? Cooper the Dog Has Been Dead 15 Months. Owner, 73, Is Arrested on a 2018 Bite Charge.
Some arrests in the midst of the coronavirus public health emergency are more absurd than others, especially in light of state and local judicial orders to limit all proceedings to essentials. Dottye Benton’s arrest Sunday night at her Palm Coast home is one of those.
Seeing Apex of Covid Crisis Still Ahead, Flagler Officials Will Not Yet Reopen Beaches Even For Limited Access
Flagler County government officials are under pressure to at least partially reopen the beaches on the Volusia model, where walking, swimming and surfing is allowed, but they cite several reasons why that would be ill-advised for a few weeks yet.
Palm Coast Location of Sheriff’s District Office Is Out: Flagler Commission Moves Building Back to Bunnell
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Operations Center will not be built in palm Coast after all, but will rise on Commerce Boulevard in Bunnell, next to a planned branch library, the County Commission decided Monday.
Weekend Rise: Florida Cases Reach 12,350, Flagler at 31, With 5 Hospitalizations; Surveillance Testing in Miami
As of Sunday evening, just 409 people had been tested in Flagler, including 68 at AdventHealth Palm Coast, but health department officials were saying 550 test kits were expected sometime next week.
We Need A Lot More Covid-19 Transparency From the CDC
The CDC is hiding potential disparities in who gets tested for coronavirus. To start, the CDC should expand its dashboard, and publicly report metrics using demographic categories like sex, race, ethnicity, primary language, and disability status.
It’s Hardly Shocking the Navy Fired a Commander for Warning of Coronavirus Threat. It’s Part of a Pattern.
In dismissing the commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the Navy once again punished the messenger, a frontline leader brave enough to tell the unvarnished truth to superiors about a threat to his sailors.
At AdventHealth, 15 Ventilators and Plans for 66 ICU Rooms; Local Officials Prepare for Surge and Promised Tests Don’t Show
As confirmed Flagler County Covid-19 cases reach 28 Friday evening, local health officials are now stopping short of using reassuring language, saying the worst is yet to come, while various shifts point to the increasing severity of the pandemic.
Mittelstadt Signs 3-Year, $154,200 Superintendent Contract After School Board Splits 3-2 Over Details
The board had approved the contract on Tuesday, but with less unanimity than all five board members wanted: the unusual 3-2 vote split over a clause that two board members said was not giving Mittelstadt the job security she should have in an election year.
Man Shoots Himself In the Mouth With Deputies at the Door to Arrest Him on Domestic Assault Charges
Gary Hills, 68, of 71 Sandy Beach Walk in north Flagler, had allegedly held his wife hostage overnight after beating her, holding a gun to her head and threatening to kill her, the dog and himself, before shooting himself just as deputies were knocking at his door Wednesday morning.
Coronavirus Kills Longest Economic Expansion On Record With 701,000 Job Loss in March, Much Worse to Come
The longest economic expansion on record, a 113-month streak that netted 22 million jobs between October 2010 and February 2020, is over. The economy shed 701,000 jobs in March and the number of unemployed persons grew by 1.4 million.
HIPAA Heist: Lethal Privacy In the Age of Coronavirus
Misapplications and misinterpretations of the federal medical privacy law known as HIPAA are conspiring to kill more of us than otherwise would die from the coronavirus. And officials are taking advantage of the law to cloak their failures.
Florida Covid-19 Cases Increasing By More Than 1,000 a Day; Flagler’s at 24, With 4 Hospitalized
Floridians, public health and emergency management officials are contending with rapidly accelerating indices of crisis, from infection numbers to hospitalizations to unemployment figures that are triggering a different sort of emergency even for those unaffected by the virus.
Flagler’s 1st Covid-19 Fatality: Flagler Beach’s Dorothy Strickland Dies at Halifax Hospital; Was Denied Test Locally
Dorothy Strickland, 70, died Wednesday afternoon of Coronavirus at Daytona Beach’s Halifax hospital after she had been told she didn’t meet testing criteria in Flagler County. Her last two weeks were an ordeal.
Sheriff Prepares Shift to Enforcement of Quarantine and Stay-Home Orders Amid Questions; Restrictions in Effect Friday
What will enforcement of mandatory stay-home orders look like in Palm Coast and Flagler, for residents and coronavirus-infected individuals? Sheriff Rick Staly and Emergency Management Chief Jonathan Lord have been pouring over the orders in preparation.
DeSantis Orders Stay-at-Home Across Florida, Limiting Activity to All But Essential Services for 30 Days; Palm Coast Holds Virtual Town Hall
Speaking from his office shortly after 1 p.m. today, Gov. Ron DeSantis today said he is issuing an executive order requiring all Floridians to stay at home except to seek “essential services” for the next 30 days.
One Killed, Two Critical in 2-Vehicle Crash on U.S. 1 in at CR 200 in South Flagler
A 59-year-old Palm Coast resident was killed and two people were in critical condition following in a two-vehicle crash Wednesday morning on U.S. 1 at County Road 200, in the community of Favoretta, just north of Plantation Bay.
Covid-19 Study Projects Florida Will See 5,568 Deaths By August, Peaking on May 3; Florida Extends School Closures Through May 1
The number of deaths in Florida and the nation from Covid-19 will rise rapidly in April despite social distancing rules in place–but would rise even more if those measures were not in place, the study’s author warns.
3 Flagler Public Library Staffers Develop Covid-Like Symptoms, Shutting Down All Services at Palm Coast Branch
The dozen staffers at the Flagler County Public Library on Palm Coast Parkway had been conducting brisk curbside business until three of them developed symptoms, requiring a shut-down out of caution, and until further notice.
When DeSantis Shut Reporter Out of Coronavirus Briefing, He Shut Out All Floridians
Gov. Ron DeSantis denying Mary Ellen Klas, a Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times reporter in Tallahassee, access to his coronavirus press conference on Saturday was vindictive, petty — and illegal. It denied access to the Floridians who look to these media outlets for vital information.
Flagler’s Covid-Emergency Officials Want More Testing and Uniform Orders But Can’t Say When Either Will Happen
Flagler County’s first-ever virtual news conference revealed the fissures between the state’s patchwork approach to stay-at-home orders and local officials’ desire for more. And it underscored a persistent lack of sufficient testing that would enable health officials to conduct broader surveillance testing and better grasp the true extent of infections locally.
Overdose Death of Tara Sanfilippo, 28, Caps Two Dozen Police Responses to House on Belleaire Drive in 2 Years
The house at 39 Belleaire has been the subject of a law enforcement response an average of once a month for the past two years–no fewer than 24 responses since April 2018, responding to disturbances, servicing warrants, a Baker Act, probation checks and an overdose just months ago.
What Takes So Long? A Behind-The-Scenes Look At The Steps Involved In COVID-19 Testing
Even for people who are able to get tested for the coronavirus, and there’s still a big lag in testing ability in hot spots across the U.S., there can be a frustratingly long wait for results — not just hours, but often days. Here are some answers why.
Flagler Cases Rise to 13, Including 17-Year-Old Girl; Florida’s Near 5,500; Social Distancing Extended To May 1
Despite the rising numbers, Flagler County continues to be among the counties where testing has lagged, with a mere 143 tests conducted in total, many of them through the Flagler Department of Health and some at AdventHealth Palm Coast.
‘Red Dawn Breaking Bad’: Officials Warned About Safety Gear Shortfall Early On, Emails Show
A high-ranking federal official’s messages on the quickly rising urgency in February provide a sharp contrast to President Donald Trump’s statements at the time that the threat the coronavirus posed to the American public remained “very low.”
Palm Coast Mayor and City Manager Launch 1st of Weekly, Virtual Town Halls in Response to Covid Emergency
Mayor Milissa Holland and City Manager Matthew Morton will answer some of the most frequently asked questions about COVID-19 and residents will have the opportunity to submit questions in real time, through Palm Coast Connect.
California’s Experience: Public Health Officials Warn That Unenforced Stay-At-Home Orders Don’t Work
One week into the lockdown, epidemiologists tracking rates of transmission in California and the United States worry that California’s shelter-in-place order is less effective in controlling new infections without stronger enforcement. Local lawmakers and public health officers share their concern and some are exercising their policing powers.
DeSantis Suspends Vacation Rentals for 2 Weeks and Adds Louisiana to Quarantine List, With Cop Checkpoints
To enforce the Louisiana restrictions, DeSantis said he would authorize the Florida Highway Patrol and local enforcement agencies to establish checkpoints at Florida entry areas along roads such as Interstate 10. The restrictions would not affect commercial drivers.
Palm Coast Data Battles Eviction Lawsuit and Calls “Fraud” on Landlord and Former Owners, Casting Pall on 600 Jobs
Both the lawsuit and Palm Coast Data’s answers combine to paint a grim picture for one of Palm Coast’s largest employers, months after losing a major account and now facing yet another major blow from the coming economic consequences of the public health emergency.
Hospital Prepares for “Surge” as Flagler’s Covid Cases Jump to 11; Palm Coast Offers Community Center for Overflow
With infection numbers rising locally and across the state and indications of less rigorous adherence with social distancing rules, Jonathan Lord, the county’s emergency management chief, hinted that more stringent restrictions could be ahead.
Flagler Was Among U.S.’ 100-Fastest Growing Counties in Last 10 Years; Population of 115,000 Aged Sharply
Now with a population of 115,000, more than 12,000 of the net new arrivals over the decade were in the 65-and-older group, with implications for local health care, social services, schools, even politics.
Appeal Court Upholds 4-Count Felony Convictions Of Kimberle Weeks, Who Will Now Have To Serve Jail Time
State Attorney Jason Lewis had aggressively prosecuted Kimberle Weeks as a crude, arrogant official who had abused her position and flouted the law, insulting other people in office while ironically casting herself as an anti-corruption crusader.
Half-Measures Harm: Lock-Down Flagler and Florida Now. Test Everyone.
The only option to buy time and minimize coronavirus deaths until universal testing is available is to enforce a lock-down, without which voluntary half-measures will only prolong harm to the economy and increase the death toll.
No-Go Orders On Flagler’s 18 Miles of Beaches: Some Defiance in County, ‘Stellar’ Compliance in Flagler Beach
A few people were defying the coronavirus-inspired order to stay off Flagler’s beaches in the mistaken belief that their were on their own private property, but on the whole people were complying well.
DeSantis Faces Sharp Criticism for Not Ordering Sheltering In Place as Virus Mutates Partisan Divide
DeSantis has issued a series of executive orders aimed at voluntarily limiting face-to-face interactions but has avoided a more hardline statewide approach, citing concerns about intensifying the virus’ negative impact on the state’s economy.
School District Has 1st Covid-19 Case; Flagler Has 5; All Over 65 Told to Stay Home 14 Days; Testing Not Necessary for Most
A Flagler County school district employee has tested positive for Covid-19 as local health officials continue to stress that testing for is not necessary for most, even those showing flu-like symptoms that don’t involve respiratory difficulties, but staying in place is necessary.
Concerns About Hammock Beach Resort’s Activity as Governor Orders Air Travelers From ‘Hot Spot’ Quarantined
Hammock Beach residents have written the Palm Coast mayor and called into the city, claiming visitors and groups at the resort are still gathering and potentially placing local residents at risk. The resort says the claims are inaccurate, and that it is taking all precautions in line with rules and recommendations.
Flagler Cases Up to 4; Woman Treated for Covid-19 at Advent Is Released, But Her Son, an FPC Student, Tests Positive
Tuesday was proving to be a day of mixed signals, with resilience and fortitude competing with challenges and more dispiriting numbers as various segments of society were rapidly adapting to life under different degrees of restrictions and still often unclear expectations.
Flagler Beach Police Officer Tests Positive for Covid-19, City Manager Larry Newsom in ‘Self-Isolation’
A 45-year-old Flagler Beach police officer has tested positive for Covid-19. In an unrelated development, Flagler Beach City Manager Larry Newsom fell ill and has been in self-isolation at his home since this morning. The police department is monitoring itself but is not in isolation.
Giorgio Del Mastro, 68, Is Killed in I-95 Crash With Wandering Bull; 5 Injured, 7 Vehicles Involved
Giorgio Del Mastro, 68, a resident of Ontario, was killed late Saturday night after the BMW he was driving collided with a wandering bull on I-95 just south of the intersection with State Road 100 in Palm Coast.
Flagler Covid-19 Cases Up to 3 as Health Department Kicks In ‘Contact Tracing’ and Palm Coast Hunkers Down
The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Flagler is now three, Department of Health figures indicate in the daily, midday update, up from one the evening before, as the department is tracing down who patients have had contact with, and where.