With a dramatic video narrated by Mayor Jon Netts and a line-up of presenters, the Palm Coast City Council heard and watched a recap of the December tornado that ripped through the city’s B, C and F Sections, with nearly final costs to property owners and to the city’s bottom line.
Backgrounders
Cindy Moore and Jill Espinosa Earn School District’s Top Honors for 2013
Cindy Moore, a testing coordinator and secretary at Flagler Palm Coast High School, was named the 2014 Employee of the Year, and Jill Espinosa, a kindergarten teacher at Belle Terre Elementary, was the Teacher of the Year.
Superintendent Application Window Closes With Just 20 Applicants, Several of Whom Are Already Disqualified
It is an unusually low number for superintendent postings across the state, but not a surprising one considering the circumstances in Flagler, where Jacob Oliva is a heavy favorite, his front-runner status broadly publicized. All the applications are included.
Deputies Looking For Suspect in Car Break-In at Anytime Fitness
Flagler County Detectives are looking for the public’s help in identifying a woman who broke into a parked car outside of Anytime Fitness located at 260 Cypress Edge Drive in Palm Coast just before noon on Thursday.
Another Florida Goon With a Gun, the End of the Internet, Your Richer, Happier Friends: The Live Wire
Why retired cops are as dangerous as anyone with a gun, why the free Internet as we knew it may be over, Why your friends really are richer, happier and more popular than you, plus the smashing of Sigmund Freud, Dostoevsky’s doodles and Susan Sontag’s return from the dead.
With 3 Days To Go, Flagler Superintendent Job Draws Just 13 Applicants and Fewer Serious Contenders
Candidates may have been turned off by the school board loudly and repeatedly telegraphing its favoritism for Assistant Superintendent Jacob Oliva, with the job posting straddling the holidays and the abbreviated search process likely not helping. The applications are published in full.
Inaugural Flagler Film Festival Draws Mixed Crowds and Promise Over 3 Days in Palm Coast
The first Flagler Film festival was held at the Hilton Garden Inn from Friday through Sunday, packing dozens of screenings of films from around the world and ending with an award ceremony late Sunday evening, and the promise of a second festival next year.
Flagler Film Festival Featuring 4 Local Productions Among Dozens from Around the World
The inaugural Flagler Film Festival is scheduled for Jan. 10-12 at Palm Coast’s Hilton Garden Inn. Fourteen of the 46 submissions originated in Florida. Four from Flagler filmmakers were ultimately selected, including a horror flick filmed in Flagler Beach.
Wallace Weeks, 90, Retired Manager of Flagler Farms, Dies
Wallace Weeks, 90, of Bunnell and retired manager of Flagler Farms, passed away Monday, December 30, 2013.
Obamacare Dilemma:
High Deductibles vs. “Huge Fear”
Going without insurance “is like gambling,” says a 43-year-old social worker. But the high deductibles of Affordable Care Act plans make them a hard sell, as the plans sold on the exchange are not as generous as employer-sponsored insurance.
Fuel Truck Explodes in Collision With Another Truck on I-95, Killing One; I-95 Shut Down North of Palm Coast Parkway
A wreck involving two tractor trailers and resulting in at least one fatality shut down I-95 in both directions in Palm Coast at 3:45 a.m. Tuesday. Southbound lanes reopened at 7, but northbound lanes will remain closed as the roadbed has been destroyed by the fire.
Theodore Moore Arrest Video
Bunnell police, Case # 2013CF370 Theodore Moore Arrest[media id=362 width=500 height=400]
SBA Officials, Not FEMA, Touring Palm Coast Damage to Assess Residents’ Eligibility For Loans
Federal officials are in Palm Coast today to assess the damage of last Saturday’s tornado, but they are not with FEMA, as the city previously said. Rather, they are officials with the Small Business Administration, assessing whether residents may qualify for loan assistance.
Marijuana Use Barely Up, Synthetic Drug Use Sharply Down, Along With Other Narcotics
The use of synthetic marijuana products and bath salts dropped sharply in 2013 among students in middle and high school as students increasingly see the products as dangerous, according to the most authoritative annual drug and alcohol survey, with marijuana use up slightly but most other drugs showing declines.
Palm Coast’s B-Section Residents Awake to Tornado’s Wreckage; Severe Damage Is Limited; City Ready to Help
Residents of Palm Coast’s B-Section awoke Sunday to a morning soggy with the wreckage of Saturday night’s tornado. One resident, who was hosting a birthday party for her 12-year-old son, compared the tornado to “a front on steroids.”
Longing For Stormin’ Norman: How Obama’s Smugness Is Crippling His Leadership
There are leaders out there. The Obama administration administration has let us down by failing to find them. As a result, the task Barack Obama has left himself is to convince us that the Affordable Care Act is a winner, not a clunker.
Florida Sentencing Guidelines
Overview of Florida’s sentencing policies, guidelines, first, second and third degree felonies, life sentences.
School Board Honors John Winston, Tireless Advocate of Flagler’s African-American Mentor Program
At 76, John Winston has continued to be the leading force behind the Flagler school district’s African-American Mentor Program, which pairs young boys and men in need of solid direction with adults who take on the role of father figures. Winston is himself the patriarch of a family of seven children and three dozen grandchildren.
Unemployment Falls to 7%, Lowest Level in 5 Years, as Economy Adds 203,000 Jobs
The national unemployment rate fell to 7 percent in November, the lowest level since December 2008, when it was 6.8 percent. The economy added 203,000 jobs over the month, continuing relatively strong growth since summer despite the 17-day government shut-down in October.
Medical Marijuana Tangles Up Florida Supreme Court Justices In Weeds of Words
The idea of medical marijuana technically isn’t at issue in the case. Instead, Attorney General Pam Bondi, legislative leaders and medical, law enforcement and business groups argue that the ballot title and summary that would appear on the ballot could deceive voters about the scope of the amendment.
School Enrollment Stabilizes But Remains Below Last Year’s, With Decreases Projected
As of the end of November, the district had 12,794 students. The good news is that the district saw enrollment rise for the past two months, but the number is still 100 students below last November’s, with projected declines of 1 to 2 percent between January and May, which may have ripple effects on the economy.
Vagina Monologues Dressed Up: Nora Ephron’s “Love, Loss, and What I Wore” at Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre
Ever since god allegedly turned Adam’s rib into a companion of the opposite sex, men have struggled to understand women. You can’t blame them: men are not only the weaker sex. They’re also the dumber. In comes Nora Ephron’s “Love, Loss and What I wore” to help them out this weekend at Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre.
As High Court Takes On Medical Marijuana Proposal in Florida, Politics Muddy Merits
The Florida Supreme Court will try to sort through the conflicting arguments between Attorney General Pam Bondi, who opposes legalization, and proponents of the measure. The court hearing is scheduled for Dec. 5, a key step in deciding whether voters will get to have their say next fall.
Burdens and Costs Pile Up for School Board’s Ex-ITT Building on Corporate Drive, Disrupting Community Education
The board bought the 54,000 square-foot building for $3.5 million in 2001 and housed the Flagler Technical Institute’s community education classes and offices there, but the building must be evacuated either by January or by summer and either rebuilt and renovated at costs approaching $5 million or demolished even as the district continues to pay $445,000 in annual debt service on it.
Speed Limit Could Go Up to 75 On I-95 By July, and to 70 on U.S. 1
Florida lawmakers’ proposal to raise speed limits would direct the state Department of Transportation to determine the safe minimum and maximum speed limits on all divided highways that have least four lanes. In Flagler County, that includes I-95 and U.S. 1. On U.S. 1.
Hunting Camp Rape Case: Conflicting Details Emerge as 4th Suspect Turns Himself In and 2 Bond Out
As Frank Goggans turned himself in at the Flagler County jail Wednesday and promptly bonded out (as had his brother Daniel), extensive and lurid details from investigators’ interviews with the two brothers and a third suspect have emerged in the case of the alleged gang rape of a woman in Flagler Beach and at the Cowart Hunting Camp on March 20.
Gentle Warning Beep as Flagler’s $10 Million Emergency Radio System Approaches Its End
It’s less than eight years since Flagler spent $10 million to upgrade its county-wide communications to an 800 MHz system, to which some 1,500 radios from police, fire, municipal and county agencies are attached. That system is set to reach its official life’s end in 2017, requiring county government to start now to examine how it will replace it, and how it’ll pay for the replacement.
Record 769 Manatee Deaths So Far This Year Represent 15% of Endangered Population
With two months to go in the year, 769 manatee deaths have bee recorded in Florida waters, breaking the previous record of 766 set in 2010. Deaths are blamed mostly on a red tide bloom that started in southwest Florida in September 2012 and that only recently dissipated. Four manatees have died in Flagler so far this year.
Don Fleming: Private Dick, Scott’s Millions, California’s Excellent Marijuana Adventure
Ex-Sheriff Don Fleming turns private investigator, Rick Scott Rakes in the re-election millions, California’s medicinal pot legalization is working wonders, a Saudi comic drives Bob Marley through the Saudi ban on women drivers, Suzanne Somers on Obamacare, and West Virginia’s red turn.
Hurricane Marco Rubio: How To Protect Yourself
2012 was the hottest year on record in the United States, and 10 of the past 15 years have been the hottest on record globally. A minority of climate-change deniers nevertheless have a disproportionate hold on Congress, explaining virtual inaction on that score. Here’s a solution next time a hurricane hits.
Beyond Rebecca Sedwick’s Suicide: Colleen Conklin Campaigns for More Cyberbullying Awareness
More laws, mandates and prohibitions won’t work, Flagler County School Board member Colleen Conklin says, but more current awareness of the variety of online apps and social sites, where cyberbullying thrives, and more responsibility from both teens and their parents, are more likely to stem a pattern of bullying-induced teen suicides.
Congressman Ron DeSantis: A Tea Party Fanatic Who’s Earned His Walking Papers
Ron DeSantis, who represents Flagler County, is not interested in governance. A standard-issue tea party reactionary, he’s a saboteur. He derails, with self-righteous bombast and distortions. He is part of the suicidal extremists willing to plunge the country in default over Obamacare, rather than fight to amend it legislatively. He should pay the price of his recklessness.
Favoring Defense Industry Over Human Rights, Obama Loosens Restrictions on Arms Exports
The United States is loosening controls over military exports, in a shift that former U.S. officials and human rights advocates say could increase the flow of American-made military parts to the world’s conflicts and make it harder to enforce arms sanctions. In 2011, the U.S. concluded $66 billion in arms sales agreements, nearly 80 percent of the global market.
Crime Stoppers Hand Out $5,000 Reward, Largest Yet, for Tip Leading to Mobil Murder Arrest
The anonymous tipster helped lead to the arrest of Joseph Bova, who faces first-degree murder charge in the execution-style killing of Zuheily Rosado in Palm Coast on Feb. 21. Crime Stoppers upped its rewards for tips in homicide investigations from $1,000 to $5,000.
Ex-House Speaker Tom Feeney’s and Flagler Beach’s Firms Among 4 Vying for Bunnell Attorney Job
A law firm that includes Tom Feeney, the ex-Florida House speaker and congressman who landed on a watchdog’s list as one of the 20 most corrupt congressmen four years running, is among the candidates for Bunnell City Atttorney, as is the firm that has been representing Flagler Beach since 2008.
“Girl Rising”: Karen Barchowski’s Movie Event for Palm Coast, In Education’s Name
Karen Barchowski, the co-owner of Sally’s Ice Cream in Flagler Beach, succeeded through word of mouth and more than a little conviction in organizing one showing of “Girl Rising,” the groundbreaking documentary about the importance of girls’ education, at Epic Theater in Palm Coast on Oct. 13.
A Confederacy of Choices: Marketplace Plans Vary Widely In Costs, In Counties And Across U.S.
Consumers shopping in the new health insurance marketplaces will face a bewildering array of competing plans in some counties and sparse options in other places, with people in some areas of the country having to pay much more for the identical level of coverage than consumers elsewhere.
What The Live Grenade Looked Like On Palm Coast Parkway Crosswalk
FlaglerLive obtained an image of the grenade discovered on a Palm Coast Parkway crosswalk Tuesday evening, as the image was relayed to the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Bomb Squad through a robotic camera. The grenade was destroyed that evening.
Shutdown Hits Home: Castillo de San Marcos and Ft. Matanzas Among Parks Off Limits
Starting Tuesday, the National Park Service closed all 401 national parks, including Castillo de San Marcos and Fort Matanzas National Monuments in St. Augustine, affecting the local tourism economy. Potential foreign visitors’ visas are facing processing delays.
Flagler School District Lauds “Culture of Innovation” in State of Education Address
Tuesday evening’s State of Education Address highlighted what the district survived through the last few years of contraction, where it is today, what challenges it is facing in the next few years, and how it intends to tangle with those challenges.
An Old House’s Fate Divides Bunnell as History, Character and Property Rights Clash
An old house hooked to a demolition order and the property it sits on at 401 East Moody Boulevard are suddenly at the center of a clash between a city commission and residents looking to preserve—if not define—the city’s character along its main east-west road on one hand, and the property rights of its residents on the other. That battle may be determined by how the issues surrounding the house and the property are resolved.
Prescription-Pill and Alcohol Deaths in Flagler Far Outpace Those From Illegal Drugs
The annual medical examiners’ report for Florida, including Flagler’s numbers, put in sharp perspective common misconceptions and exaggerations—by media, police and lawmakers—about the nature and extent of the drug problem, highlighting the relatively minor part played by illegal drugs such as cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine, and the virtually nonexistent part played by marijuana or synthetic pot.
Rapid Response Limits Fire as Lawnmower Sets Garage Ablaze on Palm Coast’s Woodward Lane
The Palm Coast Fire Department’s rapid response–about eight minutes between the call to 911 and the time water was on the flames–helped limit the fire damage to a house at 36 Woodward Lane, where a lawnmower is believed to have started a blaze that demolished the garage.
Palm Coast Data Parent Warns Grimly: Don’t Expect “Profitability in Near Term Or at All”
In the most sobering annual report to investors to date, Palm Coast Data parent Amrep Corp. raises numerous questions about the long-term viability of its operations as debt, recurring losses and competition burden its prospects–and those of what was once Palm Coast’s largest private employer.
Deficit Be Damned: Palm Coast Golf Course Springs for $200,000 Golf Cart Lease
The golf cart lease the Palm Coast City Council was suddenly faced with comes after the council learned that the city’s golf course has yet to break even after four years, though they were not reminded of a $1 million expense the city shelled out for the course in 2009 that was due to be repaid to the city with course profits, but never has been.
DCF Looking to Bring Family Drug Court to Florida as an Intervention Method
With substance abuse still threatening to overwhelm child-welfare systems like Florida’s, officials are looking at drug courts for troubled families as a way to address the problem.
That Feared Flagler Schools Enrollment Drop And Loss of $1.8 Million? Didn’t Happen.
Last May, when the school board was campaigning for a new tax, it was projecting a loss of 283 students and $1.8 million. In fact, the district has added a handful of students two weeks into the new school year, ensuring that the state will keep sending that money to Flagler–and reducing pressure on the local district to think of closing some schools.
Flagler Health Department Launches “Gospel” to Combat Twin Killers: Tobacco and Obesity
Two initiatives will be the centerpiece of the Flagler Health Department’s strategy in the coming year: Tobacco Free Flagler and an effort to reduce the incidence of overweight and obese residents through more awareness of good nutrition, BMI and healthier activities.
Lawmakers File Bill to Prohibit Red-Light Cameras in Florida as Palm Coast Snaps On
GOP Sen. Jeff Brandes blames red-light cameras “as backdoor tax increases,” but the Palm Coast City Council Tuesday reasserted its commitment to its 43 cameras even as they siphon out more than $3 million a year from the local economy–in taxes to state government, and in revenue to ATS, the Arizona-based company that runs the system.
Palm Coast Quietly Plans Community Center Expansion For Bridge Club, Raising Questions
The Palm Coast Bridge Club and the Palm Coast city administration have agreed in principle on a plan that would have the bridge club writing a $250,000 check and the city building a facility it would lease to the Bridge Club as an expansion of the Community Center on Palm Coast Parkway.