The checkpoints, which must follow strict guidelines, will be located at Palm Coast Pkwy NW and Frontage Road as well as State Road 100, East of Old Kings Road.
All Else
What White People Don’t See
Whether it’s police dealing with suspects or Sony executives referring to President Obama, what they see first isn’t the human being, but the color, and usually in the basest terms, argues Steve Robinson.
Florida Clerks Told To Deny Licenses Even When Federal Court Order Granting Gay Marriage Kicks in
Lawyers for the Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers have advised county officials statewide not to issue marriage licenses “until a binding order is issued by a court of proper jurisdiction” and warned the clerks that they could be subject to criminal prosecution if they allow gay couples to wed.
Firing a “Sponge Grenade,” Flagler Deputies Defuse a Would-Be Suicide-By-Gun After Hours of Negotiations
Flagler deputies after hours of negotiations near the Palm Harbor overpass in Palm Coast Wednesday morning stopped a man from killing himself with a .38 by firing so-called “less-lethal” munition.
In Boon for Florida, Obama Will Normalize Full Diplomatic Relations With Cuba After 53 Years of Cold War
The two nations will open embassies in Havana and Washington, D.C., 53 years and 10 presidents after Dwight Eisenhower, citing “self-respect,” closed the American Embassy in the Cuban capital on Jan. 3, 1961.
Shirley Nethery, 77, Dies After Mistakenly Driving Her Car Down a Hammock Boat Ramp
Shirley Nethery, a 77-year-old resident and former president of Surfside Estates in Beverley Beach, died Tuesday evening after driving her car down a boat ramp and into the the Intracoastal Waterway.
White Elephant No More: County Approves 5-Year Lease of Costly Ginn Hangar in Deal With New Company
Delta Engineering of New Catle, Del., expanding in Flagler with 10 to 30 high-paying jobs, will fill the old Ginn building that had left the county with a $2 million liability when Ginn went bankrupt.
Ethics Commission Rejects Settlement With Sheriff Manfre, Reopening Case on All Charges
Manfre’s practices and claims of innocence until cautioned otherwise came under withering criticism by several members of the commission, who voted 7-2 to further investigate all charges originally brought against him.
With 22 Days To Go Before Gay Wedding Bells, Pam Bondi Asks Court To Object
Bondi’s request to the U.S. Supreme Court comes less than two weeks after a federal appeals court rejected her effort to at least temporarily extend the gay-marriage prohibition in Florida.
Weekend Domestic Violence: A Woman’s Teeth Knocked Out; Baseball Bat vs. Lexus
Michael J. Ditaranto and Ralph Moreno, both Palm Coast residents, were jailed following separate incidents that resulted in one woman being hospitalized and a car being smashed up.
Special Election for House: Renner Hauls In $76,500. His Three Opponents Combined: $355
Renner’s $76,500 dwarfed amounts not exceeding $180 raised by three other candidates in the District 24 race — Republicans Sheamus McNeeley and Ron Sanchez and Democrat Adam Morley. Republican Danielle Anderson filed a waiver, as she had not posted a report on the state Division of Elections website by week’s end.
Craft Beer Growlers’ Day Finally Approaching in Florida, But Small Brewers Are Leery
Proposals to end the state’s prohibition on 64-ounce containers known as “growlers” have been blocked in recent years by large beer distributors claiming a need to protect the state’s Depression-era three-tier regulation system.
Yes, We’re Cops. And We’re Human Beings. But We Won’t Be Your Victims.
In an impassioned response to acute criticism leveled at police after events in Ferguson and Staten Island, Jonathan Dopp, a sheriff’s deputy in Flagler County, presents law enforcement’s unapologetic perspective.
County Administrator Craig Coffey Seeking 10% Raise, to $161,000, Amid Other Personnel Costs
The county administrator’s salary would increase from $146,383 and would add an automatic 3 percent merit pay increase a year absent an affirmative decision by the county commission.
Palm Coast Inaugurates 3-Day Birds of a Feather Fest With “The Big Year”‘s Greg Miller Headlining
The inaugural and broad-spanned three-day Birds of a Feather Fest is scheduled for Feb. 6-8, 2015, offering a weekend of birding, workshops, presentations, kayak trips and family activities.
Wadsworth Dog Park Remains Open After Abandoned Puppy Found in Area Is Euthanized for Parvo Virus
A stray puppy that hung around Wadsworth Park in Flagler Beach was diagnosed with the virulent parvovirus virus and euthanized, but unlike last year, the county administration has no intention of closing the dog park at Wadsworth, in part because it’s not clear exactly where the stray dog was found.
Ferguson Events and FSU Shooting Trigger Florida’s Third-Busiest Gun Shopping Day Ever
The Nov. 28 purchases trailed only the sales for two days in December 2012, which came after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
Cash, Crack, Pot and Pills: Drug Sweep in Palm Coast and Bunnell Yields 16 Arrests
Most of the arrests were the result of under-cover drug buys conducted in November, leading to search and arrest warrants that SWAT teams and other cops served today. There were no arrests in Flagler Beach.
In Mass-Casualty Simulation, Flagler First Responders and Hospital Test Capabilities
The simulation entailed a plane crash at the county airport and more than two dozen injuries as fuel and debris struck Hijackers’ Restaurant. The exercise unfolded in front of Florida Hospital Flagler’s Emergency Room.
4 Years In, Judge Dennis Craig Is Reassigned To Volusia and Replaced By Michael Orfinger
Craig has been reassigned to the civil division in Daytona Beach. He will be replaced in Flagler by Michael Orfinger, who was elected to the bench after running unopposed last summer.
Salamander Losing Streak Continues as Planning Board Rejects 198-Room Hammock Hotel, 3-2
The vote, coming at the end of a nearly four and a half hour hearing, is the latest in a series of defeats for the developer, though the binding decision does not take place until the Flagler County Commission hears the proposal.
Citing New Evidence, Flagler Detectives Reopen Case of Robert Picard’s Disappearance in 1997
Flagler County Sheriff’s detectives have reopened the 17-year-old case of Robert Patrick Picard, who went missing in western Flagler County in circumstances then-Sheriff Bob McCarthy called “suspicious.” The disappearance took place within days of the man’s trailer being burglarized by a man and three boys.
Flagler Opens 1st Secure Site For Supervised Children’s Visits in Sally’s Safe Haven
It took three years and $400,000 from a federal grant, but on Monday county officials dedicated the safe haven in the old Bunnell Post office location, ensuring that parents don’t have to travel to Volusia or St. Johns to execute court-ordered, supervised children’s visitations.
How to Easily Navigate Big Changes in Fine Print of Obamacare Plans Before Deadline
Even if you’re getting the same plan — of the nearly 2,800 health plans offered in 2014, about 1,700 of them will exist in the same form next year — their benefits may not stay the same. Here’s an easy way to figure it all out.
Cops Get Away With Murder Because They Know They Can. It’s America In Black and White.
Resisting arrest is a cop’s license to kill: In retrospect there was little doubt that grand juries in Missouri and New York would let off the cops responsible for the killing of two unarmed black men.
Flagler Sheriff’s Deputy Byrne Injured During DUI Investigation of Bunnell Suspect
Kevin Byrne, an eight-year veteran and a corporal with the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, was struck in the leg by a suspect’s car, which the suspect had left unsecured during a DUI investigation near Los Amigos on Nov. 30.
Between Nature Scapes, Salvo Project and the Flagler Youth Orchestra, a Daylong Convergence of Art, Music and Green
Salvo Art gallery and Nature Scapes will be host to a day-and-evening-long celebration of art, music and trees all of Saturday, with performances by the Flagler Youth Orchestra to go along with an art opening of small works at the gallery.
Satanic Temple Display Approved for State Capitol, With Festivus Beer Pole and Nativity
The Florida Department of Management Services this week approved the proposed holiday display from the Satanic Temple, which a year ago was rejected because the agency said its proposal was “grossly offensive.”
Sgt. Larry Jones, One of Flagler Sheriff’s First Black Deputies, Retires After 30 Years
Jones’s career has straddled the best and worst of the county’s history. When he was hired in October 1984, Jones was only the fifth African-American deputy hired in Flagler County, which only a few years earlier had been the last county to desegregate its schools in Florida.
Fifth Court Decision in a Row Calls Rick Scott’s Drug-Testing Scheme Illegal
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a Florida law pushed by Gov. Rick Scott requiring welfare applicants to submit to drug tests before they can receive benefits.
For Oceanside Grill in Flagler Beach, a Parking Lot Becomes Epic Battleground Over City Rules
The city told Oceanside Grill that it had inadequate parking, and when the restaurant bought a lot to comply, the city told it it could not use it for parking. The contradictions came to a head at a planning board meeting Tuesday, but a compromise is in the works.
Economic Development Director Helga van Eckert Is CareerSource’s Excellence Award Recipient
Flagler County’s Department of Economic Development Executive Director Helga van Eckert was awarded the “Partners in Workforce Excellence Award” by CareerSource Flagler Volusia at the Annual Board of Directors meeting on Nov. 21.
Obamacare Snags: He Wants To Be Insured But Still Can’t Afford It.
The law requires all Americans to carry health insurance, but despite subsidies, it isn;t a given that some workers can afford their portion of premium costs. One of those people is Leaburn Alexander
Why Voters Don’t Give a Damn Anymore: Government Of the Few, By the Few, For the Fewest
Barely a third of the eligible voting-age population — 36.4 percent — voted in the midterms this month. The major reason people don’t vote is that they don’t think it will make a difference, argues Martin Dyckman.
Jonathan Canales Charged With Attempted Murder in Shooting of His Wife 2 Weeks Ago
Jonathan Canales was arrested for attempted first-degree murder after allegedly shooting his wife from behind as she ate dinner in the couple’s kitchen in the Mondex, moments after putting her three children to bed.
Palm Coast Will Optimize Its 50 Traffic Signals, But No: They Still Won’t Be Synchronized
Palm Coast will spend $55,000 to study its traffic signals on its way to improving efficiency and wait times for drivers at red lights, but drivers’ most pressing wish–synchronization–won’t be part of the results.
Faith Coleman, Founder of Flagler County Free Clinic and Champion of Grit, Is Dead at 60
Even as she battled a cancer that kept recurring over the past 11 years, Faith Coleman created in the Flagler County Free Clinic one of the county’s most crucial and enduring institutions, which a board of directors now vows to preserve in her memory.
Patron at Flagler’s Domestic Violence Shelter Arrested Over Assault on a Pregnant Woman
A woman who’d been taking refuge at the Family Life Center in Bunnell was jailed after an alleged assault on an advocate and a pregnant woman there. Separately, two women were jailed following a fight in which one of them fabricated claims that she’d been stabbed.
Regrettable Holiday Ritual: Spike in Calls to Alzheimer’s Hotline as Families Grasp Changes
Visiting with relatives over the holidays may raise questions about the physical and cognitive health of family members. Although some change in cognitive ability can occur with age, serious memory problems are not a part of normal aging. Recognizing the difference between normal aging and more serious problems can help you identify when it may be time for you to make the call or see a doctor.
Bowing to Utilities, Florida Regulators Cut Energy-Efficiency Goals and Sunset Solar Incentives
A solar rebate program will expire at the end of 2015 and the Public Service Commission accepted a controversial staff recommendation that will lessen overall energy-efficiency goals for power companies.
In Palm Coast, Ferguson Unrest Echoes With Muted Anger and Calls For Responsibility
Speakers at a quickly organized “call to action” by the Flagler NAACP Tuesday evening said the killing in Ferguson was no exception, but that change begins from within communities and with more accountability on all sides.
Southwest Palm Coast Tops Rainfall Totals With 5”, But No Flooding Issues This Time
Palm Coast and Flagler County weathered the latest front of very heavy rain well from Tuesday to Wednesday as up to 5 inches of rain fell in parts of the city and the county, but with no reported flooding or water damage.
Scott Signs 21st Death Warrant 3 Days After UN Vote Calling for Capital Punishment Moratorium
The warrant is for the execution of Johnny Shane Kormondy, 42, accused of murdering Gary McAdams and participating in the gang rape of his wife Cecilia during a robbery in Pensacola in 1991, when Kormondy was 21.
Sheriff Jim Manfre Faces $1,500 Fine in Ethics Violation as Report Details Travel, Gift and Spending Lapses
The Florida Commission on Ethics found probable cause that Sheriff Jim Manfre violated ethics laws on three counts, but in an agreement, Manfre conceded to one violation and got two other charges dismissed.
Flagler Fish Company Marks Year 9 With Sea Bounty By Way of A.J. Neste
To celebrate its ninth year, Flagler Fish Company unveiled a new website lavished with the work of A.J. Neste, the award-winning photographer.
Let the Hunting Begin:
Florida Lifts Ban on Silencers
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on Friday agreed, with little comment, to issue an order that immediately removes a prohibition on the use of noise-suppressors, or silencers, with rifles and pistols.
Feed Flagler’s 364-Day Blinders: Why Isn’t a Portion of Old Courthouse Considered as Homeless Shelter?
It must be Thanksgiving because as with the first Thanksgiving, the pilgrims seem more interested in clobbering the poor than feeding them.
For Shane Kitchens, Left in 30-Day Coma After Collision on A1A, a Painful Roll Back
Shane Kitchens, the 37-year-old Flagler Beach business owner, was crossing A1A in August when a motorcycle struck him as if he wasn’t there. This is the story of his recovery since.
1-Year-Old Child of Bankrupt Company Buys News-Journal and Halifax Media for $280 Million
New York-based New Media Investment Group bought the Daytona Beach News Journal and Halifax Media’s three dozen newspapers for $280 million in cash today. New Media is a publicly traded company that owns 402 small to mid-size community publications.
Flagler Education Foundation Awards 17 Mini Grants totaling $16,000 to District Teachers
The 17 teachers were selected from 30 applicants based on criteria that included innovation, impact, replication, the number of students involved and project documentation.