The Flagler County school district will start planning for a third high school during the 2024-25 school year. But plans for a new middle school, originally projected for the end of the decade, have been pushed out beyond that horizon for now as enrollment is not meeting expectations.
Backgrounders
Flagler School Board’s Colleen Conklin and Cheryl Massaro Will Not Run for Re-Election in 2024
Colleen Conklin’s and Cheryl Massaro’s decision will have far-reaching consequences, ensuring that the new board in 2024 will have the shortest combined experience on the board in at least two decades and a half and giving the culture-war hard-right another opening to win a majority.
Billing Herself as ‘Fiercely Independent,’ Dr. Wendolyn Sneed Will Be District’s Next Medical Examiner
A panel of powerful law enforcement, judicial and medical officials today unanimously chose Dr. Wendolyn Sneed, the chief medical examiner in Palm Beach county, as the next chief medical examiner for Flagler, St. Johns and Putnam counties, one of the most powerful, least visible jobs in the judicial system. The job pays $320,000 a year.
Shirley Chisholm Trail, Marking Giant National Legacy, Is Dedicated Along Palm Coast’s Pine Lakes Parkway
The Shirley Chisholm Trail, the work of the Democratic Women’s Club of Flagler County, connects Chisholm’s retirement years in Palm Coast to her historic achievements as the first Black member of Congress and the first woman to run for president from a major party, among many firsts. She died in 2005.
Accused of Killing His Grandfather, Luke Ingram Now Faces 1st Degree Murder and Rape Charges
Luke Ingram, 19, previously charged with second degree murder in the death of his grandfather, Darwin Ingram, at the Ingrams’ Palm Coast home, now faces a capital felony for the killing, exposing him to the death penalty, and a charge of rape, a life felony.
Health Harms of Mass Shootings Are Rippling Across Communities
A growing body of research reveals that the negative effects of mass shootings spread much farther than previously understood, harming the health of local residents who were not touched directly by the violence. Mental health experts say the recognition should prompt authorities to direct more attention and resources toward preventing such events — and helping a broader group of people after they occur.
Hidden Until Now, Audits Reveal Millions in Medicare Advantage Overcharges
Newly released federal audits reveal widespread overcharges and other errors in payments to Medicare Advantage health plans for seniors, with some plans overbilling the government more than $1,000 per patient a year on average. Medicare Advantage, a fast-growing alternative to original Medicare, is run primarily by major insurance companies.
FPC’s Cameron Driggers and Roymara Louissaint Win MedNexus Innovation Challenge With Sleep App
Emerging out of a field of 25 teams, Flagler Palm Coast High School seniors Cameron Driggers and Roymara Louissaint won the second annual MedNexus Innovation Challenge Wednesday, and $1,000 each, by developing an experiment-based idea that uses technology against itself in an effort to reduce teens’ sleep deprivation.
State Emergency Management Chief Kevin Guthrie Calls for ‘Holistic’ Re-Engineering of Florida Coast
Speaking at Flagler Tiger Bay Club, Kevin Guthrie, the state emergency management director, never used the words “climate change,” but nevertheless addressed needed changes in how Florida manages and re-engineers its coastline in words that would intrigue even Greenpeace activists.
Devastation on Flagler’s Coastline: Houses and Roadbeds Hanging on Sand Cliffs, Vanished Dunes, Yards Turned Beach
Flagler County generally survived Tropical Storm Nicole well. The coastline did not. Out of sight, it has been devastated even more than by Hurricane Ian, with houses left teetering on cliffs of sand, A1A’s roadbed left defenseless for most of its length, a dune system now entirely vanished the length of the county, and coastal residents left wondering why officials are not reacting. A documentation of the damage in photographs and video.