The spike in fatalities and 876 total crashes (only 2013 had more total crashes) has police and safety officials puzzled, though they say distracted driving is likely the leading cause.
All Else
Hearing Voters’ Demand for Conservation, Florida Senate Begins Money Game
Since the amendment was approved, concerns have been expressed about issues such as how lawmakers will define land-preservation or water-conservation projects, how the state will determine which of its “impaired” water bodies is most critical and how to approach the reduction of stormwater runoff and agriculture fertilizer use.
Men’s Futures Tennis Tourney Returns to Palm Coast For 6th Year, Jan. 23-Feb. 1
Up to 128 touring professionals will compete at Palm Coast’s clay court facility for a $10,000 purse and ATP ranking points. Most days’ events are free to the public.
As Swing States Go, Florida Is Still the Gate to the White House
The state’s central position on the road to the White House remains the state’s great revenge for all of the fun the rest of the country gets from reading about Florida Man, writes Steven Schale.
Flu Visits to Flagler ER Spike 33% Over Last Season, But Officials Aren’t Calling It an Epidemic
Flu visits to the ER were especially pronounced in November. They leveled off a bit in December. But the first week of January saw the numbers spike again, especially compared to last year,
Four Gay Couples Get Marriage Licenses at Flagler Courthouse in Quietly Momentous End to Long-Standing Prejudice
It was a quiet but significantly historic day at the Flagler County Courthouse as Florida’s ban on marriage equality ended across the state Tuesday and couples celebrated the issuance of same-sex marriage licenses ahead of marriage ceremonies after the three-day waiting period.
First Gay Marriages in Florida Are Celebrated as Miami-Dade Recognizes Two Couples
With same-sex marriages ready to start Tuesday across the state, a circuit judge allowed gay couples to go ahead and begin getting married Monday in Miami-Dade County.
Supervisor of Elections Kimberle Weeks Resigns
Six years into her tenure, Flagler County Supervisor of Elections Kimberle Weeks has resigned. Weeks announced her resignation in a letter to her poll workers this morning, citing family and health concerns.
The Gifted Chemistry of Mentorship: Remembering FPC’s Sylvia Brady
Sylvia Brady, the long-time and popular chemistry teacher at Flagler Palm Coast High School and 1984 Teacher of the Year, died on Friday, age 73. Inna Hardison, former editor of Palm Coast Lifestyles Magazine and current co-owner of Ha Media in Palm Coast, wrote the following profile of Brady in 2009, when Brady was on the verge of retirement.
Education or Exploitation? When a Patient’s Death is Broadcast Without Permission
Ethicists say medical reality shows exploit patients’ pain for public consumption, but their makers argue that they educate viewers and inspire people to choose careers in medicine.
Slashing Taxes, Fighting Vouchers, Expanding Medicaid (or Not): What’s Ahead in 2015
With Gov. Rick Scott set to be sworn in for his second term and legislative committee meetings beginning this week, the topics that will dominate discussion in the Capitol in the coming year are shaping up. Here’s a rundown.
In a Reversal, Florida Court Clerks’ Lawyers Say Same-Sex Marriage Licenses Must Be Issued
The reversal from the association’s lawyers should remove the last roadblock to gay marriage starting in Florida, though some clerks say they’ll refuse to perform ceremonies.
Federal Judge Orders Florida Clerks to Issue Gay-Marriage Licenses Across Florida Starting Tuesday
U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle warned that clerks of court who refuse to comply with the ruling expose themselves to be a party to the suit, allowing successful plaintiffs to recover costs and attorneys’ fees.
Lower Fuel Costs Will Bring FPL Power Bills Down $2 a Month Starting in 2015
Like all utility companies, Florida Power & Light Company, which services almost all of Flagler County, is required by law to pass on fuel savings to customers.
Craig Coffey’s $15,000 Raise Request: An Insult to Public Employees at Taxpayers’ Expense
The insult wasn’t just Flagler County Administrator Craig Coffey’s Christmas tithing to himself. It was the way he and his administration went about it, and the way three county commissioners played along.
Chiumento Law Firm’s Ron Hertel Is Named 2015 President of Flagler Bar Association
Ron Hertel of Palm Coast’s Chiumento Selis Dwyer replaces Doug Williams as president of the Flagler County Bar Association, with Vincent Lyon, an attorney at the same law firm, as president-elect.
St. Augustine’s A1A Ale Works: Curb Your Enthusiasm
A1A Ale Works in St. Augustine, nearing its 20th anniversary, can learn a few things about customer service if it doesn’t want to make Larry Davids of its local clientele.
Medicare Penalties Hit 31 Florida Hospitals Over High Infection Rates; FHF Spared
In its toughest crackdown yet on medical errors, the federal government is cutting payments to 721 hospitals – including 31 in Florida — for having high rates of infections and other patient injuries.
2014 In Review: For Florida, A Year of Same-Olds More Than Change
State government from the governor on down is virtually unchanged, with all major figures and almost all incumbent senators winning reelection, but gay marriage and some legalized marijuana suggest some change for the state.
Deadly Force, In Black and White: Analysis of Killings by Police Shows Outsize Risk for Young Blacks
Young black males in recent years were at a far greater risk of being shot dead by police than their white counterparts – 21 times greater, according to an analysis of federally collected data on fatal police shootings.
Woman In “Catholic Warrior” Shirt Vandalizes Satanic Temple Display at Florida Capitol
Susan Hemeryck, 54, of Tallahassee, entered the Capitol at 11:23 a.m. and told an on-duty police officer that “she was sorry and had to take the Satanic display,” according to a Florida Department of Law Enforcement charging affidavit.
Florida Legislature Tells Supreme Court That Fair District Amendment Is “Unenforceable”
Lawyers for the Legislature told the Florida Supreme Court in a brief filed late Friday that part of a state ban on political gerrymandering violates the U.S. Constitution.
Gay Marriage Begins in Florida Jan. 6 as U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Bondi’s Plea For Stay
It’s no longer a maybe, an if or a pending: clerks of court in Florida must begin issuing gay-marriage licenses on Jan. 6 as the U.S. Supreme Court Friday evening denied Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s request that a stay on the matter be extended.
Flagler Film Festival, the Sequel: Zombies and Star Power Flick In Jan. 9-11
The second edition of the Flagler Film Festival, at Palm Coast’s Hilton Garden Inn Jan. 9-11, features Florida-themed and Palm Coast based productions among numerous entries from around the world.
Four Palm Coast Employees Pull Off Poetic Doe Rescue Trapped in Grand Haven Pond
In Palm Coast City Manager Jim Landon’s words (happy-face emoticon not included), “Santa will have all his reindeer this year,” thanks to four city employees who saved a doe from drowning in a coldish pond at Grand Haven Wednesday morning.
Mulling Nuisances, Palm Coast Putters Closer to Trap, Neuter and Release of Feral Cats
With two new supporters of TNR on the council, Palm Coast is slowly moving toward adoption of a trap and release system that still preserves the city’s authority to declare some cats nuisances, and have them removed from public spaces or exterminated.
As Compliance Replaces Controversy, Sheriff Cautions of 2 DUI Checkpoints in Palm Coast
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.
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.