David Halliday, one of Flagler Palm Coast High School’s most successful, if not its most successful, coach over the past 20 years, is one of eight finalists for the Coach of the Year in Track and Field award by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association. The Florida native reflects on a 30-year career that and a coaching philosophy summed up by the sort of humanism and commitment he tries to impart on his students and athletes.
Flagler Headliners
Flagler Beach Will Declare April Sisco Deen Month in Perpetuity as Scholarship Takes Historian’s Name
The Flagler Beach City Commission on Thursday is set to be the first city to declare April “Sisco Deen Month” in perpetuity, in honor of the archivist and long-time member of the Flagler County Historical Society, who died last August at 83. Deen was a Flagler Beach resident.
At Sisco Deen’s Memorial, Tales of When Jail Saved Him from Dissolution and a Jeep Shook Him Overboard
More than 130 people turned up at Cattleman’s Hall at the Flagler fairgrounds for the Quaker-style memorial and life celebration of Claude Sisco Deen, the veteran, archivist and self-made historian who exhumed much of Flagler County’s documented history and died at 83 on Aug. 31.
Sisco Deen, Giant Archivist and Historian of Flagler County from One of Its Original Families, Dies at 83
Claude Sisco Deen, Flagler County’s premier archivist and a leading historian of local families and culture, died Thursday evening in Palm Coast a little after sunset. He had been the research maven behind Flagler County’s centennial in 2017, was that year’s Flagler County Veteran of the Year, and built unparalleled databases of local family histories and historical documents.
Bob Snyder, Guardian of Public Health in Flagler for a Decade, Is Boy Scouts Council’s Golden Eagle Award Winner
Bob Snyder, the Flagler County Health Department administrator since 2015 and the county’s leader in public health, is the 2023 Golden Eagle honoree. He’s receiving the honor this evening at the annual Flagler County Boy Scout Golden Eagle Dinner at Hammock Dunes Resort.
Firefighter John Keppler Jr. Is Flagler’s Only Line-of-Duty Death. Florida and U.S. Honor Him. Flagler Does Not.
Even as John Keppler Jr., who died in 2002, has been previously honored by the state, Flagler County refuses to recognize his line-of-duty death–a recognition Keppler has received from two state memorials and one national memorial.
Roy Longo Honored for 504 Missions on Fire Flight, 30 Years as Flagler Rescue Paramedic, and that Dolphin
Roy Longo, who became a local hero after saving a dolphin in distress with a county ambulance in 1999, was honored for his 30 years of service tonight, the last seven as a medic on Fire Flight, the county’s emergency helicopter.
Visiting Flagler, State Board of Education Singles Out Wadsworth’s Anna Crawford, a Finalist for State Award
Wadsworth Elementary Principal Anna Crawford is one of three finalists for the 2019-2020 Innovative Principal Award, and was recognized, along with one of her sixth grade students, during a state Board of Education meeting in Bunnell.
Kiwanis Recognizes Armando Castaneda, Patrick Juliano and Jamal Prince as 2019 Firefighters of the Year
The Flagler-Palm Coast Kiwanis Club honored a firefighter from each of the county’s three departments: the Palm Coast Fire Department’s Patrick Juliano, Flagler County Fire Rescue’s Armando Castaneda, and the Flagler Beach Fire Department’s Jamal Prince.
Stephen Bickel, Tireless Physician for the Poor, is FHF Foundation’s Humanitarian of the Year
Flagler Physician Stephen Bickel is a moving force behind Flagler Cares, the Flagler Free Clinic and numerous other local initiatives focused on the under-insured and such needs as diabetes and HIV prevention.
Suspect Pulls Gun on Deputy Duenas, Who For 2nd Time in 9 Months Shows Grit and Restraint
Flagler Sheriff’s deputy Jonathon Duenas Wednesday evening was confronted with a man with a gun and immediately disarmed him, the second time in nine months Duenas faced a deadly situation he defused without harm.
For Sheriff’s Detective Annie Conrad, Flagler Officer Of the Year, Grim Duty Defined By Compassion
Flagler Sheriff’s Detective Annie Conrad, a 14-year veteran, played a central role in the conviction of Dorothy Singer in the killing of Singer’s husband.
Sheriff’s Chief Paul Bovino, Newly-Minted FBI Academy Graduate, On The Experience From Within
Paul Bovino is among the more charismatic and intimidating members of the Sheriff’s Office, a cop’s cop with outsize stage presence and a love of the job that radiates in most things he says and does.
Per Curiam: County Attorney Al Hadeed Is Awarded State Association’s Ethics in Government Honor
Flagler County Attorney Al Hadeed has been leaving legal footprints in Florida law going back to the 1970s, in defense of ethics and Sunshine Law standards.
At International Competition, FPC’s Teams Take Grand Champion and 1st, Bunnell Takes 2nd
An FPC team’s project designed to cater to those who cater to the sick in hospitals won grand champion, the project that built bat houses to combat the Zika virus won first place.
For Flagler County, A Powerful Note of Atonement For Injustices Toward Many Amid Celebration of a Century
Flagler County marked its centennial on Saturday and Monday with celebrations that included words of a proclamation acknowledging half a century of injustices toward minorities in the county.
For George Hanns, 24 Years As Commissioner End With a Long Goodbye and a Biting Roast
The county administration gave George Hanns a farewell reception Monday afternoon, with some 100 people in attendance and touching moments mixing with humor and a colleague’s roast.
Musical Chairs Continue as Flagler Will Have 5th Different Criminal Court Judge in 7 Years
Circuit Judge Matthew Foxman, in Flagler less than a year, is being reassigned to Volusia County, and will be replaced by Judge Dennis Craig, a Flagler resident who’d previously presided over civil and family court law.
Flagler Youth Center Director Cheryl Massaro Appointed to Federal Juvenile Justice Board That Advises Congress and the President
Cheryl Massaro, for 11 years the director of the Flagler Youth Center, has served on the local and state juvenile justice advisory boards, and will now be responsible for representing Florida and other states for two years on the Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice.
In a First, Blind High School Student Is Matanzas-FPC Football Game’s Radio Commentator
Trent Ferguson, 18, a student at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine, will be the color commentator on WNZF Radio of the Matanzas-FPC match at 7 p.m. Friday, a unique experiment for the radio station that may not end there.
51 Years Later, Honor Is Resurrected for Flagler Sheriff Homer Brooks’s Line-of-Duty Death
Homer Brooks was first elected Flagler County Sheriff in 1956. A News-Journal reporter, Tony Holt, uncovered the circumstances of his death in 1965, leading the sheriff’s office to add Brooks’s name to the list of Flagler cops who died in the line of duty and honor Brooks today.
Bunnell Commission Honors Two Boys, 10 And 12, For Helping Save 88-Year-Old Woman
The Bunnell City Commission Monday evening awarded its Outstanding Citizen Award to two young city residents, Russell Rouson, 10, and Steven Dozier, 12, for alerting police and helping to save the life of an 88-year-old woman who had hurt herself in her home in June.
Deputy David Malta, Class of ’87, Is Latest Long-Timer to Retire from Sheriff’s Office
David Malta, the latest in a long string of veterans who have left, retired or been forced out of the agency, started his career under Sheriff Bob McCarthy. His retirement was foreordained, however, because of a Florida Retirement System program he joined five years ago.
Teens in Flight’s Jack Howell Shortlisted For Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation Award
Col. Jack Howell of Palm Coast was nominated for the national award for his work with Teens in Flight over the past 10 years, an organization that trains young pilots whose parents were killed or injured in conflicts since 2001.
Linda Solomon, Dervish Painter of Joy and Ex-Flagler Artist of the Year, Dies at 74
Solomon continued dancing and painting dancers, as well as musicians, mystical landscapes and more, throughout much of her years-long battle with ovarian cancer, which took her life on March 7.
Palm Coast Deputy Fire Chief Jerry Forte In Dramatic Rescue of Drowning Man
Palm Coast Deputy Fire Chief Jerry Forte was in the W-Section when the drowning of a 71-year-old resident on Whispering Pine Drive was called in. He rushed to the scene and pulled the man out of the pool.
At Salvo Art Project:
Rachel Thompson, Artist of the Year
“I am just art, I am art, I was born that way,” Thompson says. An opening reception sponsored by the Gargiulo Art Foundation at Salvo Art Gallery marks Thompson’s Artist of the Year honor Saturday.
Forbes Magazine Lands Alec Manfre, a 2007 Graduate of FPC, on Its 30 Under 30 List of Energy Trailblazers
Forbes chose Alec Manfre, CEO of Bractlet, for his company’s innovative ability to yield huge energy savings to massive buildings. Manfre, 26, credits his teachers at FPC for his start.
Miller Clayton, 7, Honored By County, City and State for Life-Saving Bravery in House Fire
Miller Clayton took his little brother to safety out of their burning home on Kentucky Avenue in November. The awards were from the county and city firefighters unions and State CFO Jeff Atwater’s offce.
Sgt. Michael van Buren is Named Flagler County Deputy of the Year for 2nd Time
Sgt. van Buren was cited for saving a 4-year-old child from a locked car in July heat and controlling and averting a suicide-by cop with an armed woman in Palm Coast in September.
The Live Profile
Jim Guines, Smokin’ Shock to the System and Now 83, Will Be Celebrated Sunday
Jim Guines, the forceful and unpredictable member of the Flagler County School Board for 11 years until 2007, will be at the center of a community tribute Sunday at Flagler Palm Coast High School, at 3 p.m.
Two Sisters and a Solar-Electric Boat, on a 9-Day Journey for a Cause on ICW, Dock in Palm Coast
Nancy and Paula Frainetti are spending nine days aboard a solar-aided electric boat from Miami to Jacksonville to raise awareness and money for breast cancer–and for electric boating.
FHP’s Cpl. Pete Young, Flagler’s Longest-Serving Cop By Far, Earns Singular Medal
With 500 traffic homicide investigations and into his 5th decade in law enforcement, Pete Young is the longest-serving uniformed cop in Flagler-Palm Coast. He has no plans to stop.
Flagler Airport Pilot Flies Historic Cuba-Bound Flight From the United States
Local pilot Galin Hernandez’s historic flight to Cuba over Labor Day was among the first of its kind from the American mainland, though it took off from Hollywood.
Wimbledon Champ Reilly Opelka Coming Home to Palm Coast Tennis Center Friday
The public is invited to the Palm Coast Tennis Center this Friday (Sept. 18), from 11 a.m. to noon, to welcome home 2015 Wimbledon Junior tennis champion Reilly Opelka. The Tennis Center is located at 1290 Belle Terre Pkwy.
Gov. Scott and Florida Cabinet Honor 3 From Flagler: John Seth, Rick Staly and Ed Wolff
Rick Staly until spring was the undersheriff in the Jim Manfre administration, John Seth is the long-time band director at Flagler Palm Coast High School, and Ed Wolff is the county’s teacher of the year.
Rick Look, Long-Time Flagler Sheriff’s Chief Deputy and Cop’s Cop, Dies at 65
Rick Look had been chief deputy for over seven years until three years ago under Sheriff Don Fleming, had two Purple Hearts and 42 years in law enforcement until his last four years’ battle with illness.
Flagler’s Circuit Judge J. David Walsh, Master of Judicial Temperament, Retiring in February
Circuit Judge J. David Walsh, who addresses the state’s too-harsh sentencing guidelines in an interview, was appointed to the bench in 2001 by Gov. Jeb Bush, and has been in Flagler County since 2012.
Sheriff’s Cmdr. Steve Brandt Is Crime Stoppers’ Flagler Officer of the Year
Steve Brandt, an 21-year veteran of the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office promoted just two weeks ago to Commander, was named just days later Flagler County Officer of the Year by Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida.
Rev. Beth Gardner, Leading Voice For Flagler’s Homeless, Is Leaving Bunnell’s Methodist Church After 15 Years
Rev. Gardner, who will lead a parish in Lakeland starting in July, transformed the church into the county’s most progressive advocate for the homeless, housing a cold-weather shelter and keeping awareness about homelessness on the forefront of county and city agendas.
Last Patrol: Undersheriff Rick Staly Looks Back On 40 Years as a “Cop’s Cop,” and Forward
Undersheriff Rick Staly, who retires this week, took his last road patrol last Friday, an unusually quiet evening he spent driving and reflecting on his career and how law enforcement has changed since his first days as a cop in 1974.
No Ice-Bucket Challenge Here: Staring Death Down, Ex-Teacher Fights ALS Her Way
Mary Ann Dominessy Reese, 62, of Plantation Oaks in Flagler Beach, was diagnosed with ALS in December. She has since started an awareness campaign that spread blue and white ribbons to the 50 states, Canada and England, and been raising money through such fund-raisers as last Saturday’s dinner for 120 people in her community.
Flagler Students From 6 Schools Collect 62 Awards at State Future Problem Solvers Competition
Some 35 Flagler County students have been invited to the competition’s International Conference this summer in Ames, Iowa. A list of the winners is included.
Dustin Sims of Flagler Palm Coast High School Named Florida’s Assistant Principal Of the Year
For the first time in recent memory–and possibly in the district’s history–a Flagler County educator has won his category’s top honor in Florida.
FPC’s Dustin Sims Is One of Three Finalist For State Assistant Principal of the Year
The Assistant Principal of the Year receives a cash prize of $2,500 and a weekend resort stay at the Walt Disney World Resort and theme park admission also courtesy of Disney Youth Programs.
Buddy Taylor’s Tyler Irigoyen, 13, Gets Shining Award For Bravery on Day of Fatal Crash
Immediately after Elisa Marie Homen was fatally injured in a crash with a school bus last month,13-year-old Tyler Irigoyen went to work, ushering his 50-some schoolmates to safety and tending to the injured bus driver before first responders arrived.
For Flagler Cop Sam Bell, Stopping
Bad Guys Didn’t End With Desk Duty
Flagler County Sheriff’s deputy Sam Bell was sidelined from regular duty after a drunk driver caused his knee injury, but twice in the past three weeks he helped lead to the arrest of two suspects.
Sheriff’s Deputy Erik Pedersen Reconnects 94-Year-Old Mondex Woman To the World
When Flagler County Sheriff’s deputy Erik Pedersen discovered that 94-year-old Ann Parker was without a phone in her Mondex home, he bought her one and refused payment.
The Gifted Chemistry of Mentorship: Remembering FPC’s Sylvia Brady
Sylvia Brady, the long-time and popular chemistry teacher at Flagler Palm Coast High School and 1984 Teacher of the Year, died on Friday, age 73. Inna Hardison, former editor of Palm Coast Lifestyles Magazine and current co-owner of Ha Media in Palm Coast, wrote the following profile of Brady in 2009, when Brady was on the verge of retirement.
Sgt. Larry Jones, One of Flagler Sheriff’s First Black Deputies, Retires After 30 Years
Jones’s career has straddled the best and worst of the county’s history. When he was hired in October 1984, Jones was only the fifth African-American deputy hired in Flagler County, which only a few years earlier had been the last county to desegregate its schools in Florida.