County Administrator Craig Coffey formalized authority to close certain public lands, including Bulow Woods, Pellicer Flats and the old hospital in Bunnell, either for safety reasons or as lands are undergoing construction or conservation. Trespassers may be arrested. Commissioners wanted to ensure that the administrator would not close lands without their knowledge.
Outdoors
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.
Fish and Wildlife Commission’s Lionfish Summit Will Explore Threats to Florida’s Ecology
As the linfish populations’ expansion threatens marine ecosystems in Florida, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is hosting a Lionfish Summit Oct. 22-24 at the Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront hotel in Cocoa Beach, to determine research and management gaps and to bring together leaders in the lionfish issue.
Flagler County Buys 276 Minutes on Electronic Billboard Near Times Square, for $15,000
The 10-second spot will run once an hour, 18 times a day, through Jan. 2, on a billboard on 42nd Street, four and a half blocks south of Times Square, and is paid for half by the county’s tourism bed tax and half by the general fund, through the economic development department.
In Wake of 9th Death in Florida, Flagler Health Department Cautions Against Seawater Bacteria
Vibrio vulnificus is a cholera-like bacteria that lurks in warm Intracoastal waters and infects people through raw shellfish or oysters or through open lesions, and causes death 50 percent of the time. Henry Konietzky, 59, is the latest victim to die from exposure to the bacteria as he crabbed in Ormond Beach’s section of the Intracoastal this weekend.
Despite 1,000-Acre Trim, Environmentalists Warn of Too Much State Land for Sale
The trim still leaves 4,250 acres at 48 state-held sites, such as parks, trails and management areas, that remain under consideration for sale by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection even though the lands fit criteria for protection.
A Feral Cats Plea to Palm Coast: Time to Adopt Trap, Neuter and Return Rather than Kill
As Palm Coast continues to trap and kill feral cats, Jacksonville, Deland, Port Orange and Flagler Beach are among the growing list of cities and towns that have adopted trap, neuter and return programs. Cities are turning to the protocol not only because it is humane, but because it is cost effective.
Palm Coast’s Scott Jones, 51, Drowns in Intracoastal During Fishing Trip
Scott Jones, 51, of Wildwood Drive in Palm Coast, drowned while swimming in the middle of the Intracoastal Waterway Thursday afternoon, during a fishing trip with friends.
Burnishing Green Creds Ahead of Election, Gov. Scott Wants To Give Everglades a Lift
Gov. Rick Scott is proposing $90 million to help lift a section of the Tamiami Trail, which groups such as the Everglades Foundation have called “one of the most prominent dams” blocking the natural flow of the River of Grass.
Palm Coast Tax Holds Even, But Council Tiring of Deficit-Ridden Golf and Tennis Operations
The Palm Coast golf course had a $50,000 deficit this year, the tennis center a $100,000 deficit, both covered by taxpayers, with more deficits expected ahead. Palm Coast City Council members are wearying of carrying both centers. But they’re not ready to end the subsidies, either.