Voters’ Guide for Ed Haenftling Jr., Candidate for Florida 7th Circuit Court Judge, Group 5, Flagler County, vying to replace Judge Kim C. Hammond.
Flagler
Marc Dwyer, Candidate for Circuit Court Judge, Group 5 (Flagler County)
Voters’ Guide for Marc Dwyer, Candidate for Florida 7th Circuit Court Judge, Group 5, Flagler County, vying to replace Judge Kim C. Hammond.
Dennis Craig, Candidate for Circuit Court Judge, Group 5 (Flagler County)
Voters’ Guide for Dennis Craig, Candidate for Florida 7th Circuit Court Judge, Group 5, Flagler County, vying to replace Judge Kim C. Hammond.
Judge Them Before One of Them Judges You: The Race For Kim C. Hammond’s Seat
Six lawyers, including Bunnell’s Marc Dwyer and Sid Nowell, are vying to replace Circuit Judge Judge Kim C. Hammond, who’s retiring after 32 years.
Supervisor of Elections Scans Boards Through Emergency Meeting and 11th Hour Theatrics
An emergency meeting of the Flagler County Commission and some silly jockeying prefaced the certification of the county’s voting equipment.
It’s Raining Taxes: Despite Rising Revenue, County Considers Increase in Bed Tax to 4%
The increase to 4 percent would fuel the backlash against other local tax proposals and increases.
Merchants of Greed: How Florida Hospital and United Healthcare Bargain Over Your Body
On Aug. 15, half a million central Floridians, and thousands in Flagler County covered by United Healthcare, including children on medicaid, will be denied insured coverage at Florida Hospital’s facilities, including Florida Hospital Flagler.
Bankruptcy Boys: County Commission Candidates Claim “Fiscal Responsibility” Despite Dismal Finances
Both county commission incumbent Bob Abbott and challenger Nate McLaughlin have bankruptcies and foreclosures in their recent past even though they’re running on fiscal sanity.
Bunnell City Administration Will Occupy County Offices Rent-Free Through 2012
Bunnell will continue occupying a suite of county offices valued at $3,000 a month even though the old city hall is livable.
Free Backpacks and School Supplies, Free Immunization and Bike Helmets. Jam It Up Aug. 7.
The annual Back to School Jam offers 2,600 free backpacks and school supplies to children who need them, at Flagler Palm Coast High School on Saturday, Aug. 7., beginning at 10 a.m.
County Tax Rate Going Up 15.4% Even as Revenue and Government Services Stall
The proposed 2011 property tax rate would be the highest in at least 10 years, yet collapsing property values mean government revenue will not rise at all compared with this year.
Mia Bella’s Dancers: From Non-Existent to National Champions in Seven Months
Brie Valenti opened her Mia Bella dance studio last January at City Walk, and returned from a competition in Tennessee with two national trophies this week for her students and her choreography.
Dull and Duller: County Commission Candidates Out-Trivial Each Other at Forum
Bob Abbott and Nate McLaughlin were not convincing candidates in an hour-long chance to shine before a large audience. And one of them is supposed to be the incumbent.
After 11 Years and Feeling “Unwelcome,” Boys & Girls Club Is Quitting Carver Gym
A day after securing a least to run its program at Rymfire Elementary, the Boys & Girls Club voted to leave Carver Gym, where it says it’s unwanted and unappreciated.
Andy Dance’s Two Masters: Voting for a Tax at the Chamber, Against One at the School Board
Dance says a perceived conflict between his positions on two tax proposals is unfortunate, but he’s still exploring the school option.
Speaking of Sex In (and Out of) Flagler Schools: Butterfly Project Shows Adults How It’s Done
Teens educating teens about sex, the pitfalls of young romance, and the eternity of sexually transmitted diseases, while the school district explores how to go beyond abstinence only.
Coming Soon: A Rickshaw Service for Flagler Beach
It’s zero emission. It’s available in many big cities. And it’ll be offered in Flagler Beach in August.
Ormond’s River Grille Owner Closer to Taking Over Flagler Beach’s Pier Restaurant
The iconic Pier Restaurant’s lease is up in two years. The city owns it. The city will negotiate with a new owner immediately, to the displeasure of locally owned Flagler Fish Company.
Battling Referendums: School Tax Will Compete With Building Tax in November
In the wost of times, voters will be asked to approve a tax levy to continue existing funding on top of a new tax favored by the chamber of commerce for building commercial properties.
Palm Coast Arts Foundation’s Methods Assailed Again–Unjustly, Its President Says
“They didn’t come up with any substantial numbers, or at least verifiable numbers,” a tourist council member said of the Palm Coast Arts Foundation’s plans for a banquet center.
“It Stinks That Flagler County Is Losing You”: School Board Bids Delbrugge Farewell
In an emotional half hour that mixed bawdy humor with Hallmark-quality sorrow, the School Board said goodbye to Superintendent Bill Delbrugge Tuesday evening.
School Tax Rising for Second Year, Compensating for Crashing Property Values
The tax rate remains a third below where it stood in the mid-1990s, even though property values have fallen by a third just in the past three years.
Dirt-Bikes Crashing Around Bunnell Send 3 to Hospitals, Including an 11 Year Old
An 11 year old, a 16 year old and a 19 year old ended a late night of speeding around Bunnell on two dirt-bikes with broken limbs.
Black Community Will Protest Against Ceding Carver Gym Either to Bunnell or to Other Clubs
It’s no longer merely about keeping Carver Gym open, but about keeping it in the hands of the community it serves, and out of the hands of Bunnell and the Boys and Girls Club.
On Again: Sheriff Agrees to Terms for Moving to Old Courthouse; $6 Million, Anyone?
The county readies to spend $143,00 for design work that would ease the sheriff’s way to the old courthouse, but the move is still short $6 million.
Chalking Up Crime-Fighting to Sidewalk Art
Sidewalk chalk artists are summoned to the campus of Flagler Palm Coast High School the evening of Aug. 3 for a contest and much more.
Botox for Historic Holden House, Age 92
The $23,400 renovation will restore one of the county’s oldest buildings’ original color and windows and lend the Flagler historical society’s headquarters even more of a museum feel.
Flagler and Volusia Unemployment Rising Again, Florida’s Dipping for 3rd Month
Flagler’s 15.4 percent unemployment rate makes it the second-worst in the state after Hendry County’s 16.1 percent.
Dan Warren, Conqueror of St. Augustine at Its Bleakest, Still Heroic After All These Years
Dan Warren, who took on and broke the KKK’s grip on St. Augustine in the pivotal summer of 1964, was in Flagler Beach for an evening of conscience-rousing Thursday.
What Bunnell Could Learn from the County’s Courtesy Notices on Government Meetings
County government usually goes out of its way to comply with the spirit as well as the letter of the open-government law. It didn’t when it came to Bunnell’s meeting on Carver Gym.
Flagler Manatee Committee Report Concludes: Against Speed Zones. Just “Education.”
No surprise: a local committee stacked with boating advocates is recommending against most manatee-protecting speed-zone recommendations on the Intracoastal by a state conservation agency.
Sheriff’s Budget: Few New Deputies, No Raises, More Bottled Water and Drug Money
The 2011 budget, reflecting the enduring recession, is almost the same as it was this year, leaving the number of deputies on patrol virtually static.
Mandatory Mediation on Home Mortgage Foreclosures To Start in Flagler July 19
Mediation is designed to reduce the caseload on the court system and help people stay in their homes. Whether it actually works is open to question.
Beyond Sunshine: Maneuvers Over Carver Gym Reopen Wounds Flagler Claims to be Mending
Bunnell Commissioner Jenny Crain-Brady’s well-intentioned but half-secret meeting over Carver Gym undermined the very trust she claims to be building toward keeping the gym open.
Classic Landon: County on Notice that Palm Coast Will Annex Airport. County Begs to Differ.
Palm Coast made it seem as if bringing the National Guard to Flagler was mostly its doing. That would be news to the county government. But more is at stake between the two.
National Guard Targets Flagler, But Reserve Center Depends on Congressional Funding
The $21 million, 80,000-square-foot facility near the county airport isn’t likely to be built until 2014. It’ll house 21 soldiers.
Bunnell’s Crain-Brady Leads Half-Secretive Meeting of 4 Gov’t Agencies on Carver Gym
The meeting on July 8 was intentionally not noticed according to the Sunshine Law even though it was an essential part of the decision-making process on Carver Gym’s future.
Conservation in Contempt: How Palm Coast Opened the Way to Urbanizing Bulow Creek
Under the guise of having to rezone land it recently annexed, the Palm Coast City Council enabled the highest-density zoning possible in the sensitive Bulow Creek watershed.
Tax Wave Hits Flagler Beach First: Rate Going Up 22% (But It’s Not As Bad As It Sounds)
In Flagler Beach as elsewhere, big increases in property tax rates will be offset by big decreases in property values, resulting in a wash for most taxpayers.
How Marineland Got Public Dollars To Build a (Mostly) Private Marina
Marineland will spend $500,000 in public dollars to build a marina that will mostly benefit a private developer, though it will also help redevelop the town.
FPC Football Coach Steve Allen Resigns Weeks Before First Scrimmage
Allen had a fractious history with the athletic director and the administration, but that was nothing new.
Raging Skies Redux: The Fireworks in Palm Coast’s Town Center
Palm Coast’s July 4th celebration starts in Town Center at 7 p.m. and culminates with a fireworks show at 9 p.m.
Soaked, Whipped, Rushed, Magnificent, Flagler Beach Fireworks Go Off After All
After a day of rain and uncertainty, the fireworks went off before one of the smallest crowds in memory.
Fireworks Set For 9 p.m. in Flagler Beach, Not 9:30; Latest Video from the Pier’s Arsenal
The decision to move up the fireworks to 9 p.m. instead of 9:30 was dictated by a brief window of opportunity.
The Gods Must Be Crazy: Rain Slams But Doesn’t Stop Flagler Beach Parade
Clouds thicker than menace mobilized offshore, then struck, but the Flagler Beach Independence Day parade held on anyway.
Flagler Beach’s Independence Day Fireworks No Longer a Solo Act
Flagler Beach’s traditional Independence Day fireworks display will be held on July 3rd, and will be followed by another celebration in Palm Coast’s Town Center on July 4.
Miss Flagler County 2010 Essay Winner: Recession or Not, Blessings Point to Rebound
As a nation and a culture, whether in recession or not, we are incredibly blessed and should be thankful, says Mia Parliaricci in an essay that won her this year’s Miss Flagler County essay competition.
Transition in Style: It’s Janet Valentine’s School District Now as Delbrugge Exits
Janet Valentine this week began filling Bill Delbrugge’s shoes amid high expectations and some concerns.
Crime Reports, June 28-July 4, 2010
A stolen tag from Volusia County is recovered, a bank refuses to refund customer for fraudulent charges, and more.
School Board: Closing Carver Gym Not an Option; How Bunnell Killed Carver Housing
The school district is adding its voice to a chorus of protest and damning history against closing Carver Gym.
