Chamber President Doug Baxter had hoped Palm Coast would “fall in line” with a building-tax moratorium of its own if the county and the school board adopted one. The county did. The school board refused to go along Tuesday evening, calling the proposal irresponsible.
Palm Coast
Merrill Pleads No Contest in Wife’s Shooting; Canaday Sentenced to 30 Years for Child’s Rape
William Carson Merrill accidentally shot and killed his wife with an AK-47 in the couple’s Palm Coast home on Feb. 21. He’ll be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison on Oct. 29. Michael Eric Canaday, formerly of Palm Coast, was sentenced to 30 years for rape and molestation.
Snubbing Voters, Lame-Duck County Enacts 20-Year Sales Tax While Slashing Cities’ Shares
Many questions remained unanswered about the use of the money and the size of the proposed jail it’s supposed to pay for as the Flagler County Commission voted 4-1 to enact a sales tax it feared the public would not have approved at the ballot box this November.
The Palm Coast City Council’s Disturbing Synthetic Marijuana High
On synthetic pot, the Palm Coast City Council and other local governments are being had, as governments trample due process to enforce a legal shortcut against a ghost epidemic–the latest hysteria in the derelict war on drugs.
Beata Kinecka, 39, of Palm Coast, Is Killed, 6 Are Injured in a 4-SUV Wreck on Belle Terre
Beata Kinecka, 39, of Palm Coast, was killed, and six other local residents in three separate cars, including a 16-month-old baby, were injured in a wreck that involved both northbound and southbound lanes of Belle Terre Parkway just north of the White View Parkway intersection late Friday evening.
Paul Novak of Palm Coast Charged With Murdering His Wife in New York in 2008
Paul Novak, a resident of Lewiston Court in Palm Coast since 2009, faces a second-degree murder charge and an arson charge in the death of his wife Catherine Novak, who was found dead in her charred home in New York’s Hudson Valley in December 2008.
How Two Council Members, Out of View, Got WNZF to Back-Pedal on Synthetic Marijuana
What was behind what sounded like a retraction on synthetic marijuana by WNZF’s David Ayres on his Free For All Friday show last week? Private discussions between Palm Coast Council member Bill McGuire with Mayor Jon Netts, and a letter Netts wrote Ayres, that the council never discussed openly–even as the council has yet to vote finally on the matter.
Using Straw Man, Palm Coast Ridicules County’s Opposition to Red-Light Cameras
Rather than address questions raised by County Commission Chairman Barbara Revels, the Palm Coast Council invented a claim that the county wanted to enable law-breaking, unsafe drivers, and dismissed Revels’s request to reconsider installing spy cameras on State Road 100.
Palm Coast Mayor Netts Says Amendment 4 Takes Taxes From “Screwy” to “Screwier”
Other Flagler government leaders joined Jon Netts in criticism of of proposed Constitutional Amendment 4, which would limit the tax liability of commercial, rental and vacant properties while lowering the tax liability of first-time home-buyers, but at the expense of local government revenue, which has been battered since 2007.
FPL Begins Installing Smart Meters in Flagler as PSC Takes on Devices’ Emitted Controversies
FPL will begin installing 50,000 smart meters in Flagler County this month and continue installing them through the fall, while the Florida Public Service Commission on Thursday devotes a daylong workshop to questions about smart meters and health effects, privacy, data security and alternatives.
Palm Coast Toughs: Fake Pot Banned, Garage Sales Watched, Woodlands Development a Go
In a series of decisions Tuesday, two of them defying strong public sentiment, the Palm Coast City Council voted to prohibit the sale of legal products known as synthetic marijuana, require permits for garage sales, and open the way for a vast assisted-living development at the edge of the Woodlands.
County Sends Protest Letter to Palm Coast Over Red-Light Spy Cameras on SR100
The Flagler County Commission is asking the Palm Coast City Council to reconsider installing some of its 52 spy-and-snap traffic cameras on SR100 because the county claims it will inhibit shopping and tourism, and leave a bad taste in visitors’ mouths just as the county is advertising itself as a welcoming beachside destination.
Palm Coast Data’s Latest Revenue Down 18.6% Over the Year But Ticks Up in 2012
Palm Coast Data revenue fell to $13.6 million in the quarter ending July 31, compared to $16.5 million a year ago, and $32 million in 2008. Parent-company Amrep Corp. posted its 12th loss of the last 16 quarters.
A Strange Case of Car-Swapping and Theft On Palm Coast’s Prince Patrick Lane
A 22-year-old Navy recruit’s Nissan Altima had seemingly sat in her father’s driveway on Palm Coast’s Prince Patrick Lane since March, waiting for her return, only for her father to discover that it was not her car when he sought to clean it.
Lazarus Act: City Repertory Theatre’s “Jacques Brel” Revives Grand Voice With Force and Style
“Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well,” the Palm Coast City Repertory Theatre’s most successful production of its inaugural season, is rich in powerful and intuitive performances that recreate, in English, the songs and themes of the late French Bob Dylan.
Former Palm Coast Councilman William Venne Is Hurt Along With Flagler Deputy in a Crash
William Venne, 80, a member of the Palm Coast City Council from 2000 to 2007, crashed into a Flagler County Sheriff’s deputy’s cruiser driven by Darrell Butler, 26, at Palm Coast Parkway and Belle Terre Parkway Thursday evening.
Flagler 911: Cocaine and Baby Formula, Anger Over a Neighbor’s Friendliness, Battling Roomies
A 62-year-old man allegedly batters a young boy for using his neighbor’s dock, an alleged drug dealer worries about his baby’s formula, a man refuses to roll a cigarette for his girlfriend and pays the consequences, roommates won;t get along, and a series of larcenies, burglaries and other matters fill out Palm Coast’s and Flagler County’s crime blotter.
Adopting Legally Blurry Policing Role, Palm Coast Takes On Synthetic Pot Sellers
The Palm Coast City Council would impose a $300-a-day fine on convenience stores that persist in selling legal products known as synthetic marijuana, and would use its code enforcement as its policing arm, with assistance from the sheriff’s office.
Despite County’s Spike, Most Flagler and City Homeowners’ Tax Bills Will Fall in 2013
It’s been a familiar and recurring complaint, but also an inaccurate one: that property taxes keep going up. They don’t. For most people, property taxes fell this year. And for most people, property taxes will either stay flat or fall again in 2013. Here are the city-by-city details.
Woodlands Residents Hear More Promises Than Certainties About Looming Development
The Palm Coast City Council unanimously approved land-use changes that would open the way to a vast assisted living facility and commercial complex adjacent to the Woodlands, the old, rustic neighborhood, worrying residents that their subdivision’s character is in jeopardy.
State Attorney Files Charges Against Both Individuals in Odd Brittany Lane Shooting
Marc Barbee and Stephen Metcalf were involved in a strange confrontation on Brittany Lane when Barbee shot at Metcalf and accused him of trying to run him over with a truck–an accusation the sheriff’s office threw out after investigating the case.
On Garage Sales, Palm Coast Rejects $5 Fee But Preserves Registration Requirement
Facing almost unanimous public opposition, the Palm Coast City Council reversed plans to impose a $5 fee for garage sales but will still require a computerized permit and registration system to enforce a 2-sale limit per year.
Only 5 Candidates, Including 4 Incumbents, Apply for 4 Palm Coast Planning Board Seats
Appointments to the influential Palm Coast planning board by the city council can turn into perpetual re-appointments despite the city’s two-term limit, which the council can override with a super-majority vote.
A 21-Year-Old With Mental Health Issues is Tased, Twice, and Jailed Rather than Baker-Acted
The family of Cameron Anderson doesn’t understand why the 21-year-old, who had mixed medication with drink and threatened to kill himself, was jailed instead of being Baker-Acted, as people who threaten harm to themselves usually are.
Women of the Year: Cindy Dalecki And Rebecca DeLorenzo Take Flagler
Marketing 2 Go’s Cindy Dalecki got the United Way’s Women’s Initiative of Flagler County’s Outstanding Woman of the Year Award and the president’s Volunteer Service Award, while the Flagler Business Women named Flagler Chamber VP Rebecca DeLorenzo its 2012 Woman of the Year.
Palm Coast Stormwater Fees Going Up 46%, Taxes Stay Level, Most Infrastructure Neglected
With the Palm Coast City Council’s refusal to raise property taxes , the city’s infrastructure will continue to deteriorate, Mayor Jon Netts and the city administration warned. But a majority of council members, led by Frank Meeker–who’s running for a county commission seat–refused to budge.
Palm Coast Will Require Garage Sales to Be Registered and Pay $5 Fee to Ensure Tracking
Palm Coast will impose a new permitting and fee requirement on garage sales to ensure that residents hold no more than two sales per lot per year, and to provide treasure hunters with a government-based database of garage sales by address and date.
What Six School Cops and $287,464 Buy: Mentor, Counselor, Law Enforcement Officer
A trio of school and sheriff’s officials described to the Palm Coast City Council the impact of six school deputies in Flagler County middle and high schools, but not without triggering questions about what “went wrong” to make the cops necessary on campus.
Without Evidence But Plenty of Cash, Palm Coast Approves 52 Spy Cameras, Up from 10
The Palm Coast City Council’s agreement to increase the city’s traffic spy cameras to up to 52 is backed by no crash data and no scientific evidence that the 10 existing cameras improve safety, but Palm Coast stands to make up to $437,000 a year from the new scheme.
Flagler 911: A Mom’s Purse Stolen Under Her Child’s Eyes, and a Prohibitionist Arrested
A purse is stolen in the Publix parking lot from a car, under a 3-year-old child’s eyes, cars are broken into at the Fairfield Inn, a computer-repair scam strikes a Palm Coast resident, a deputy causes a wreck, and more incidents.
Skirting Landon’s Flogging of Cline Construction, Palm Coast Awards New Contract
The Palm Coast City Council awarded S.E. Cline Construction a $208,000 contract to build a water-control structure a week after City Manager Jim Landon argued to the council, harshly and publicly, that Cline was falling down on the job.
SUV Crosses Belle Terre, Flips Across Ditch And Through Backyard; One Woman Hurt
A Palm Coast nurse’s aid, was at the wheel of her Ford Escape SUV when she lost control going down Belle Terre Parkway at lunchtime and flipped through the backyard of a house on Point of Woods Drive. She was rtaken to Florida Hospital Flagler.
Planning Board Unanimously Backs Big Senior Complex Near Woodlands, Upsetting Many
The recommendation now goes before the Palm Coast City Council, which is expected to approve land use changes to enable the 216-unit assisted and independent living facility despite the conversion of conservation land and traffic issues that concern Woodlands residents.
Woodlands Residents Fear Radical Changes as Grand Haven Proposes New Developments
The Grand Haven developer is looking to plant a 200-bed assisted living facility at the southeast edge of the Woodlands, near their midst, potentially—and radically—changing the complexion of the old neighborhood. The proposal goes before the Palm Coast Planning Board Wednesday evening, at 5:30.
Fire Consumes Seminole Woods House That Belongs to a Family of Four
A single-family house on 15 Seaman Trail East in Seminole Woods, belonging to a couple with two young children, was demolished by a fire that started at 3:30 Monday afternoon. A neighboring house was protected. No one was injured.
Flagler 911: Details on the Buffalo Grove Drive Stand-Off; From Break-in to Arrests
A husband’s alleged battery of his pregnant wife, a car smash-in at Varn Park leads to a double arrest, the stand-off at Buffalo Grove Drive was feared to have entailed a “suicide by cop,” a car is set ablaze by the “Palatka Botys” at Flagler Estates, and a long list of other crimes.
Palm Coast Data Revenue Down Another 20% in Latest Quarter as Parent Company Posts Loss
Palm Coast Data’s entire revenue for 2012 was less than half its revenue for just two quarters barely four years ago, when it signed a job-incentive deal with Palm Coast government and the state of Florida. The promised jobs have not materialized.
Commission Candidates Support a Jail Sales Tax, But Not the Way the County Went About It
Four of the five candidates for the Flagler County Commission agree with renewing the county’s portion of a half-cent sales tax, on the books for 20 years, but they’re very critical of the way the commission opted out of a voter referendum on the issue.
In Flagler Commission Race, Ronald Reagan Club Targets Fellow-Republican Meeker
A complaint alleges that Frank Meeker, the Palm Coast council member running for county commission, is violating the Hatch Act, which prohibits employees of any agency receiving federal dollars from running for office. Meeker works for the St. Johns River Water Management District, which gets 0.4 percent of its revenue from the federal government.
Palm Coast Warns of Unlicensed Contractors Soliciting Local Work
The Palm Coast and Flagler County administrations are warning of an increase of unlicensed business activity across the region. Working most trades without a license is against the law. Here’s how to be prepared against unlicensed contractors.
SWAT Called Out to Buffalo Grove Drive Domestic Situation
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office’s SWAT team was called out to 53 Buffalo Grove Drive Sunday morning, where a domestic disturbance unfolded after 7:30. James White, 52, was arrested and jailed.
Pedro Riera, 48, Is Killed in Motorcycle Wreck on White View Parkway in Palm Coast
Pedro Riera, 48, a resident of Wittlesey Lane in Palm Coast, was killed Wednesday night as he rode his Harley Davidson into a car crossing White View Parkway, at Rolling Sands Drive, driven by Shelby Cuccurullo.
Fearing Rejection at the Ballot Box, County Opts to Renew Sales Tax Unilaterally
The Flagler County Commission decided not to put out a half-cent sales tax renewal to voters this year, choosing instead to renew the tax by a vote of the commission by November. The decision ensures that the tax will stay on the books, generating $4 million for the county and the cities.
Families Mourning Loss of Meredith Smith, 17, and Lane Burnsed, 19, Killed in Wreck
Meredith Smith, 17, and Lane Burnsed, 19, killed on I-95 in a three-vehicle accident Thursday, had attended Flagler Palm Coast High School. Three other people were critically injured.
A Stabbing at European Village, a Spate of Domestic Violence and Arrests in Palm Coast
An unusually pronounced series of unrelated domestic and neighborhood issues, including a drug-related stabbing at European Village, resulted in the arrest of 5 people in Palm Coast between Friday and Tuesday.
Palm Coast Takes a Deeper Drag
At Synthetic Marijuana Regulation
Palm Coast Mayor Jon Netts and council member Frank Meeker want Palm Coast and other local governments to jointly tackle the legality of synthetic marijuana even as states are gradually adopting bans on fake-pot sales across the country.
Aaron Kinney, Accused as Gas Station Robber, Had Reported Woodlands Attack in October
Aaron Kinney, 33, is considered a person of interest in the two other gas station robberies in the county. Sheriff Don Fleming had confirmed his arrest Sunday evening. He’d struck the BP station on Old Dixie Highway and at a Mobile station on State Road 100.
Three Teens Face Felony Charges for Car Burglary Spree in Palm Coast’s B Section
Marcus Chamblin, 17, D’Shawn Hosang, 16, and Darius Harvey, 16, are accused of breaking into almost a dozen unlocked vehicles on Beachway, Bradmore and Bracken Lanes the night of July 12.
GoToby’s Don Tobin Joins 8 Others Vying to Replace Frank Meeker on Palm Coast Council
Don Tobin, better known as Toby, is the most recognizable name among those declaring interest in a position four Palm Coast City Council members will fill by their appointment come November. Tobin’s focus is real estate, economic development and city-county relations.
County Concedes What Palm Coast Has Been Saying for Months: Sales Tax Plan a No-Go
The Flagler County Commission agreed to drop its current plan for a half-cent sales tax renewal and again seek out a compromise with the cities that may win their backing should the measure appear before voters on the November ballot.