Austin Booth has been afflicted with numerous illnesses since birth and was given only eight or nine years to live. He’s now 16, and last week he took off from Flagler County airport at the controls of a Teens-in-Flight Cessna, making a lifetime’s dream come true.
Backgrounders
School Board Will Decide Superintendent’s Fate in April as Back-Channel Jockeying Intensifies
The Flagler County School Board agreed to vote on whether to extend or not renew Superintendent Cathy Mittlestadt’s contract on April 18, but each member will have filed evaluations and discussed them by April 4, when the superintendent’s fate should be clearer.
‘Our Ambitious Agenda Is Well Underway,’ Renner tells Joint Legislative Session
House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, made remarks to the House on the opening day of the 2023 legislative session. Sheriff Rick Staly and the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Honor Guard were Renner’s guests.
Former Matanzas High Student, 16, Charged as Adult in Alleged Sex Assault of Girl During Class
When Marshall Thomas, 16, was arrested on charges of stealing guns and making written threats to kill in January, authorities did not disclose that he had months earlier been arrested on a sexual assault charge involving a 15-year-old student at Matanzas High School. Thomas has now been charged as an adult on all five charges from both incidents and faces up to 45 years in prison.
Challenged in Flagler Schools: McCormick’s Sold, a Review and a Recommendation
Patricia McCormick’s “Sold,” about the experiences of a 13-year-old girl sold into sexual slavery, is among the 22 books that a trio of “moms for liberty” have sought to ban from high school library shelves. A school committee voted to keep the book. The banners appealed the decision to a district committee, which meets on March 6. The following review is presented as a guide.
Florida Legislature Is Set to Push Sweeping Changes to Legal System, Favoring Business and Government at Individuals’ Expense
Paul Renner, the Palm Coast Republican and House Speaker, is enthusiastically leading a House that has lurched further to the right than under any administration in generations as the Legislature seeks to revamp the state’s litigation system, favoring businesses at the expense of individual consumers.
Matanzas Assault Case: A Miscarriage of Justice Hardens Before Our Eyes
The public reaction to 17-year-old Brendan Depa’s assault of Joan Naydich at Matanzas High School is mostly compassionate and balanced. The more strident reaction among elected officials–the State Attorney, school board members–is not not. Elected officials are not only exploiting the situation. They’re exploiting Depa. They want blood.
Parents Paying Steep Extended Day Fees Are Subsidizing the Belle Terre Swim Club
The Flagler County School Board is facing a deficit this year of $180,000 at the Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club. The board continues to agonize over ways to keep the facility or redefine its uses without continuing the deficits, which are being subsidized out of the district’s extended day program–a costly program to working parents.
In Flagler Beach, 5 Commission Candidates Play Forum Softball Ahead of March 7 Election
There were no surprises at the only forum for Flagler Beach City Commission Candidates. The questions–at least the nine that were asked–were generally un-challenging, unspecific and at times corny. The candidates are Rick Belhumeur, Bob Cunningham, Doug Bruno O’Connor, Deborah Phillips and Scott Spradley.
Against Policy, Flagler’s Book-Challenge Appeal Panels Dim Faculty and District Vote to Minority Status
A Flagler County school district-level committee will meet for the first time on Monday to take up the appeal of a decision not to ban the novel “Sold” from school library shelves. The make-up of the committee is not in line with school board policy, giving parents and community members a lopsided presence at the expense of district staff and faculty.