Get ready for some new traffic disruptions around some of Palm Coast’s busiest arteries: Old Kings Road North, just past Kings Way, and along Belle Terre Parkway from south of Buddy Taylor Middle School to Royal Palms Parkway as construction crews take on a series of critical road improvements that, once done, will make traveling safer and swifter.
Backgrounders
Homeowner, 85, Arrested on Murder Charge in Shooting Death of Mark Ruschmeier, 36, in Long-Running Dispute
Charles Kidd Jr., 85, was arrested on a second-degree murder charge this afternoon following the early morning shooting death of 36-year-old Mark Ruschmeier, who has lived with Kidd at Kidd’s Blare Drive home in Palm Coast’s Woodlands for at least a decade.
Time for Flagler County Government To Appoint a Citizen Advisory Group
As Flagler County government appears to flail between budget shortfalls and a call for a new tax, it may be time for the county to do what St. Lucie County has been doing for years: appoint a citizen advisory group of resident volunteers with business experience to review future budgets and advise the commissioners.
School District’s Cost for Security at Alternative School with 2 Teachers and 25 Students: $142,500
The Flagler County school district is paying $142,500 a year for security at its relatively new alternative school on the campus of Flagler Palm Coast High School–an alternative school with just two teachers and an average of 20 students per quarter, some of them virtual, and that operates only four days a week.
Flagler Schools Drop AP Psychology as State Sends Conflicted Signals Over Gender and Sexuality Unit
In Flagler County, where students returned to school today, AP Psychology, one of the more popular courses in Flagler Palm Coast High School’s accelerated curriculum, will no longer be taught. Students have been automatically shifted to the IB course in a pre-emptive move against the state’s conflicting messages about whether the AP course was legal to teach in its entirety of not, and a local school board with members eager to fuel the state’s culture wars.
DeSantis Ousts State Attorney Monique Worrell, a Black Democrat Elected with 67 Percent of Vote
Gov. Ron DeSantis has suspended another elected prosecutor. This time it’s Monique Worrell of the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court, in Orange and Osceola counties, a Democrat who was elected in November 2020 and is the second African American to hold the position.
County’s Sales Tax Hike Rings Hollow as Attorney Defends Commissioner’s Unilateral Request for Delay
Reeling in a school’s worth of red herrings, County Attorney Al Hadeed today fervently defended the authority of County Commissioner Dave Sullivan to ask Flagler Beach government a week and a half ago to pull from discussion a request from the County Commission for support of a proposed increase in the sales tax.
Sheriff’s PAL Is Not Taking Over Carver Center Or Changing Its Name, County and School District Assure Community
Contrary to rumors and fears, the Flagler Sheriff Police Athletic League is not taking over the Carver Center in South Bunnell, nor is the Carver Center losing its name, its governing structure its staffing by the school district, the chairman of the Flagler County School Board and the county administrator say. But PAL is seeking to have a significant presence there.
REDIRECTED: Homeowner, 86, Arrested on 2nd Degree Murder Charge in Shooting Death of Mark Ruschmeier, 36, in Woodlands
Charles Kidd Jr., 86, was arrested on a second-degree murder charge this afternoon following the early morning shooting death of 36-year-old Mark Ruschmeier, who was has lived with Kidd at Kidd’s Blare Drive home in Palm Coast’s Woodlands for at least a decade.
Child Nicotine Poisoning Hit All-Time High as Vapes Flood the Market
Cases of vaping-related nicotine exposure reported to poison centers hit an all-time high in 2022 — despite a 2016 law, the Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act, that requires child-resistant packaging on bottles of vaping liquid. In what doctors call a major oversight, the law doesn’t require protective packaging on devices themselves.