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.
Florida
Cocked Again, College-Campus Gun Bill Makes It Through First Two Legislative Hurdles
The concealed-carry legislation won support from criminal-justice committees in the Florida House and Senate but is widely opposed by academic leaders.
Federal Bureaucracy Is the Monster Killing the Florida Everglades
Federal regulations keep water from flowing south into Everglades National Park, where it could save a freshwater-dependent ecosystem dying of thirst, argues Nancy Smith.
Senate Leader Balks as Gov. Scott Seeks $85 Million in Business Incentives and Recruitment
Senate President Andy Gardiner says the $53 million to Enterprise Florida is adequate, with $43 million for incentives and $10 million for marketing.
Facing Lawsuit from Florida Carry, FSU Scraps Gun Ban in Cars on Football Game Day
The changes to the school’s “Game Day Plan 2015” guide for fans won’t holster the legal challenge by Florida Carry Inc. as legislators again consider allowing concealed weapons on campus.
Citing “Thousands” Of Untested Rape Kits, Bondi Seeks More Money For Crime Labs
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is expected to request an additional $35 million in funding during the 2016 legislative session, including $7.76 million to raise the base salaries of people working in crime labs.
Confederate General Is Out, Henry Flagler May Be In as Florida Lawmaker Seeks Capitol Statue Switch
The bronze statue of Confederate Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith has stood in the U.S. Capitol since 1922. It would be replaced by the likes of Henry Flagler or Walt Disney under a bill filed Tuesday by Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, a Republican.
Utilities Take Credit, But Lower Power Bills In 2016 Are Due to Cheaper Coal and Gas
An FPL customer who uses 1,000 kilowatt hours a month currently pays $96.72. That number is projected to drop to $93.24 in January before going to $94.86 in June.
Split Florida Conservation Commission Approves Letting Hunters Kill 10% of Bear Population in 4 Regions
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission cleared the killing of at least 320 black bears for two to seven days in October, the first bear-hunting season in two decades.
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.
Florida’s New Drone Law, Restricting “Surveillance,” Is a Gift to Personal Injury Lawyers
Like medical marijuana, there’s an entrepreneurial rush to get in on the drone business, but states like Florida have been stumbling their way to legislation., argues Nancy Smith.
Alone Among 50 States, Florida’s Ban on Prison Newspaper Is Upheld
Florida Corrections officials have censored the publications for six years, objecting to certain ads and calling them a security risk. No other state prison system agrees.
Supreme Court Weighs Solar Power Measure Big Utilities Want Unplugged From 2016 Ballot
The Floridians for Solar Choice constitutional amendment, in part, would allow businesses to generate and sell up to two megawatts of power to customers on the same or neighboring properties.
Florida Doubles Rates For 36,000 KidCare Full Pay Children, and Blames Obamacare
Thousands of parents were slammed with new rates with less than a month to pay, though they’ll have a chance to leave Florida’s plan for Obamacare in a special enrollment period.
Flagler, Among Top 10 Counties With Most Concealed-Weapon Licenses, Will Fast-Track Permitting
Flagler has 8.24 concealed carry permits for every 100 residents. Starting Jan. 1, the Flagler Tax Collector’s office will accept concealed-weapon permit applications for $134 and renewals for $72.
With Florida Leading U.S. in Child Drownings, States Are Pressed to Improve Prevention
Florida had 50 drownings of children 15 or younger last year, by far the most in the nation. California was second with 36. Better pool-safety regulations help.
Degraded Erika No Longer Severe Threat to Flagler, Though State of Emergency Still in Effect
Though a state of emergency remains in effect in Flagler, Erika has degenerated into a tropical depression and moved wide west of the Florida Peninsula.
State Education Board’s “Historic” Funding Proposal Is Still $1,000 Per Student Below 2006 Level
In inflation adjusted dollars, current spending on public education is $1,100-per-student less than it was in 2007, and would still be $1,000 less if the Legislature goes along with a state board of education proposal.
Lawmakers and Judge Turn to Supreme Court to Break Congressional Map Stalemate
A Leon County judge will ask the Florida Supreme Court how to move forward with a redistricting lawsuit after the Legislature failed to draw new congressional lines in a special session that collapsed last week. Circuit Judge Terry Lewis told lawyers for the House and Senate at a conference Tuesday that he wants to hear […]
Lawmakers Can’t Get It Done: Redistricting Session Collapses, Leaving It Up to Courts
The end of the session without agreement on the shape of Florida’s 27 congressional districts likely means the final decision will be made by the courts, though some lawmakers held out slim hopes for a resolution in the coming days that could avoid such an outcome.
Bill Would Ban All Confederate Flags on Public Grounds as Question of “Security” Is Raised Over Ag Museum Civil War Reenactment
Bill McGuire, a tourist council and Palm Coast City Council member, is concerned about the Confederate flag display at an upcoming Civil War reenactment at the Agricultural Museum. He spoke as a bill was introduced in Tallahassee to ban all such displays on public grounds.
House and Senate at Odds Over Congressional Map, But No Disagreement Over Flagler District
The 6th Congressional District would be redrawn southward, losing most of St. Johns County and all of Putnam, and taking on all of Volusia and a segment of Lake, thus pushing the district more to the center than it’s been.
Scott Administration Intensifies Battle Over Planned Parenthood Clinics in Florida
State health officials say three clinics can continue to operate but remain under investigation for allegedly performing illegal second-trimester abortions.
Despite Same-Sex Marriage Ruling, Gay Adoption Rights Remain Restricted in Florida
While same-sex couples have long been able to adopt from private, gay-friendly adoption agencies, adopting children from the foster care system has proved more difficult in some states, among them Florida.
FPL Faces Renewed Opposition to Higher Rates For Nukes Plant Construction Years in the Future
The request, if approved by the Florida Public Service Commission in October, would place the cost for new nuclear power at 34 cents on a typical residential customer’s monthly bill in 2016.
Clashing Again, Florida House and Senate Are on Collision Course Over Redistricting
The House and Senate seemed unconcerned about whether they could reconcile their differences before the scheduled conclusion of the special session on Friday. They all but ruled out forming a joint House-Senate conference committee to hammer out a compromise.
Boat-Dock Permits Revoked, Flagler Re-Ignites Urgency to Finish Manatee Protection Plan
Federal officials have revoked all boat-dock permits for non-residential homes in Flagler because a manatee protection plan and an additional speed zone are not in place.
“Defunding” Planned Parenthood: Beyond GOP Posturing, It Wouldn’t Be Easy To Do
Jeb Bush claims he defunded Planned Parenthood while governor in Florida. Other GOP presidential candidates make similar claims or promises. They’re being dishonest.
Florida’s Tax Revenue Expected to Grow by Modest $462 Million By June 2017
At least some of the extra money is likely to be eaten up by increasing enrollment in the state’s public schools, changes to health-care spending and the like.
House Committee Approves District Joining Flagler, Volusia, Drips of Lake and St. Johns
The shift may be reflective of the weakness of the region’s legislative delegation: neither Sen. Travis Hutson nor Paul Renner, rookies both, has pull in his respective house, neither has bargaining chips to deal with.
New Congressional Maps Proposed in Face of Criticism, One Restoring Flagler’s Right Tilt
Changes to a proposed map of Florida’s 27 congressional districts emerged Wednesday, a day before key hearings in the House and Senate about how to comply with a court order finding the current map violates the anti-gerrymandering “Fair Districts” requirements.
Florida League of Women Voters Targeting New Campus Concealed Weapons Bills
The goal is to make the opposition stronger than during the 2015 session, by uniting with students, professors, administrators and the national organization Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus.
GOP Opens Special Session With Complaints That Fair Districts Infringe on Free Speech
Senators scolded the Florida Supreme Court for trampling on their First Amendment rights as lawmakers began a special session Monday aimed at redrawing congressional districts the court said were gerrymandered to help the Republican Party.
2nd Only to Texas With Military Retirees, Florida Facing Stiff Competition For Them
Military retirees are some of the best-educated, best-trained and youngest retirees around. Florida has nearly 200,000 of them. States are using their tax codes to lure them.
Rick Scott, 1st-Ever Florida Governor Successfully Sued Over Sunshine Law, Settles for $700,000 in Taxpayer Dollars
The suit alleged Gov. Scott and his staff, violated the Sunshine law when they created email accounts to shield their communications from state public records laws and then withheld the documents.
U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown Goes to Court
To Stop Her District From Heading West
Brown is hoping to intervene in the lawsuit and get judges to order the Legislature not to reorient the district, which currently ambles from Jacksonville to Orlando.
Flagler’s Congressional District Would Lose Putnam and Most of St. Johns But Pick Up Volusia
The change suggests that the district would tilt left somewhat, compared to its current makeup, which could favor Democrats. A special session of the Legislature will decide the final boundaries in accordance with a Supreme Court Order.
In Latest Fallout from Factious Weeks Era, Hutson Files Bill to Clarify Attorney Role on Canvassing Boards
The Hutson bill would designate the county attorney as the canvassing board’s counsel absent a two-third vote by the board to appoint a different attorney.
Lawmakers Reload to Allow Students to Carry Concealed Weapons on Florida Campuses
The proposal drew heavy debate during the 2015 legislative session, with gun-rights advocates supporting the idea and many university-system leaders opposing it.
Why the Florida Solar Initiative Is Losing
The problem isn’t with the popularity of solar power, but the poor choice of words written by the people who have the best-ever name for their group: Floridians for Solar Choice.
Rethinking Restrictions on Food Stamps and Welfare Benefits for Drug Felons
The bans on welfare and food stamps assistance apply only to drug felons, in accordance with a 1996 federal law, unless states choose to waive them.
Not So Fast on Killing Teddy: Conservationists File Suit to Stop Bear Hunting in Florida
With permits for this fall’s hunt going on sale Monday, the Seminole County-based group Speak Up Wekiva filed a lawsuit in Leon County circuit court Friday challenging the constitutionality of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission-approved bear hunt.
Cases Involving Police Shootings Across Florida Spur FDLE to Seek More Investigators
FDLE always investigates shootings involving police in local agencies. Those investigations have increased 40 percent last year alone, and 100 percent in the past five years.
Federal Court Upholds Docs v. Glocks Law Forbidding Physicians From Asking About Guns
The 2-1 decision by a panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was a victory for the National Rifle Association and other gun-rights advocates and a defeat for medical groups that argued, at least in part, that the law infringed on doctors’ First Amendment rights.
In Walton, One Confederate Flag Replaces Another as “Compromise” Is Termed a Cop-Out
The Panhandle’s Walton County Commission today voted 4-0 to replace the Confederate battle flag with the first flag of the Confederacy, the Stars and Bars, on government grounds, eliciting applause from some and ridicule from others.
At Olustee State Park, Confederacy Wins One As Plan For Union Monument Is In Retreat
Florida’s Olustee Battlefield State Park, site of the Civil War’s largest battle in the state, was to have a Union monument until opponents revived an old conflict.
Florida Supreme Court Refuses to Lift Stay on Execution of Jerry Correll, Who Contested Lethal Injection
The Florida Supreme Court’s 5-2 decision turned down AG Pam Bondi’s request to let Gov. Scott set an executuon date, and ordered a hearing on Correll’s assertion that the drug poses a heightened risk to him because of his alleged brain damage and history of drug use.
Reporter Kicked Out: When Public Officials Abuse Florida’s Sunshine Law, With Lawmakers’ Blessing
A “health district” run by public officials closes a public meeting under a bogus exemption to the Sunshine law, and gets a blank check to secretly talk about whatever it wishes, though it affects public policy.
Walmart And Other Big Energy Users Want Out of Florida’s Conservation Program, Claiming They Can Do Better
Opponents say such a one-sided proposal would shift costs to small businesses and residential customers and jeopardize the viability of the 35-year-old conservation program.
Some of Your Privacy Rights Are Waived In Medical Malpractice Lawsuits, Court Rules
The Florida court’s decision stemmed from a controversial 2013 law the Republican-controlled Legislature passed after a lobbying battle between groups such as doctors and plaintiffs’ attorneys.