United Healthcare’s pledge lessens thousands of Flagler residents’ anxiety over getting care at Florida Hospital Flagler, but only temporarily.
Schools
Merchants of Greed: How Florida Hospital and United Healthcare Bargain Over Your Body
On Aug. 15, half a million central Floridians, and thousands in Flagler County covered by United Healthcare, including children on medicaid, will be denied insured coverage at Florida Hospital’s facilities, including Florida Hospital Flagler.
Where Spin Meets Bull: Florida Hospital’s Lars Houmann on the Dispute With United Healthcare
A three-and-a-half minute video by the Florida Hospital CEO is a window into the company’s deception and disingenuity.
This Year: 5 School Deputies for $300,000; Four Years Ago: 9 Deputies for $222,000
The sheriff has virtually eliminated his department’s share of the cost of keeping deputies in schools, forcing the district to pick up most of the costs.
Free Backpacks and School Supplies, Free Immunization and Bike Helmets. Jam It Up Aug. 7.
The annual Back to School Jam offers 2,600 free backpacks and school supplies to children who need them, at Flagler Palm Coast High School on Saturday, Aug. 7., beginning at 10 a.m.
How Palm Coast Got Tagged in the Jessi Slaughter Cyberbullying Affair
A Florida girls tries out for fame and becomes a poster-child of cyberbullying instead. If her story were a flag on Iwo Jima, it’d be all red.
School Board Candidate Peter Peligian’s Impersonation (and Tax and Claims) Problems
It’s not just that allegedly allegedly used his identity: School board candidate Peter Peligian is not living up to his own claims of transparency and accountability.
After 11 Years and Feeling “Unwelcome,” Boys & Girls Club Is Quitting Carver Gym
A day after securing a least to run its program at Rymfire Elementary, the Boys & Girls Club voted to leave Carver Gym, where it says it’s unwanted and unappreciated.
Andy Dance’s Two Masters: Voting for a Tax at the Chamber, Against One at the School Board
Dance says a perceived conflict between his positions on two tax proposals is unfortunate, but he’s still exploring the school option.
School Board Candidates Tread Gulf Between Ideal and Reality in Chamber Forum
The five candidates fielded relatively straight-forward questions but with key exceptions answered in generalities that revealed more of what they didn’t know than what they did.
Speaking of Sex In (and Out of) Flagler Schools: Butterfly Project Shows Adults How It’s Done
Teens educating teens about sex, the pitfalls of young romance, and the eternity of sexually transmitted diseases, while the school district explores how to go beyond abstinence only.
Party On: District Opens Schools to
Political Events, With Some Limits
The school board’s revised policy on school-building uses means almost any political group is welcome in off hours, as long as the superintendent approves.
Tax-Free Days: Aug. 13-15, But Applicable Items Are Limited
Everything you need to know about the back-to-school tax-free days this year. But don’t expect to get the tax break at Disney.
Florida Tax-Free Days: The Fine Print
The tax-free holiday in all its details: what’s tax-free, what’s not, according to Florida’s tax revenue department.
Don’t Fall For It: The “Obama Mom” College Grant Scam
Obama mom ads are everywhere. But there’s no such thing as an Obama grant for moms, who are eligible for Pell Grants, student loans and other aid like anybody else.
Battling Referendums: School Tax Will Compete With Building Tax in November
In the wost of times, voters will be asked to approve a tax levy to continue existing funding on top of a new tax favored by the chamber of commerce for building commercial properties.
Move Over, Delbrugge: How Janet Valentine Shifted the School Board on a Tax Levy
New School Superintendent Janet Valentine quietly showed her political and parliamentary skills when she turned the board from opposing to approving a school tax referendum.
“It Stinks That Flagler County Is Losing You”: School Board Bids Delbrugge Farewell
In an emotional half hour that mixed bawdy humor with Hallmark-quality sorrow, the School Board said goodbye to Superintendent Bill Delbrugge Tuesday evening.
School Tax Rising for Second Year, Compensating for Crashing Property Values
The tax rate remains a third below where it stood in the mid-1990s, even though property values have fallen by a third just in the past three years.
Take the Tour of Your Newest School: Buddy Taylor Middle Is Reborn Yet Again
The $13.2 million renovation is complete, and the county’s second-oldest school looks and feels new again. A photo gallery.
Photo Gallery: The Renovated Buddy Taylor Middle School
A photo gallery featuring some 30 images of the renovated school and its surrounding grounds.
Bunnell’s Crain-Brady Leads Half-Secretive Meeting of 4 Gov’t Agencies on Carver Gym
The meeting on July 8 was intentionally not noticed according to the Sunshine Law even though it was an essential part of the decision-making process on Carver Gym’s future.
State’s Largest Districts Find “Significant Anomalies” in FCAT Results and Demand Halt to Grading
In the latest FCAT testing scandal this year, superintendents want FCAT tests investigated before high-stakes school grades are released.
Flagler Beach Manager’s Job List at 83 Names; School District’s Mike Judd Withdraws His
Flagler Beach commissioners will begin paring down the list in August but are unlikely to have a new manager in place by Oct. 1.
Individual Student FCAT Scores Available By Monday
Scores in printed format will be available for pick-up at individual students’ schools during regular business hours beginning July 12.
School Board Quietly Hires
In-House Attorney for the First Time
The district was not interested in anyone other than Kristy Gavin for the $85,000 to $125,000-a-year position.
FPC Football Coach Steve Allen Resigns Weeks Before First Scrimmage
Allen had a fractious history with the athletic director and the administration, but that was nothing new.
Miss Flagler County 2010 Essay Winner: Recession or Not, Blessings Point to Rebound
As a nation and a culture, whether in recession or not, we are incredibly blessed and should be thankful, says Mia Parliaricci in an essay that won her this year’s Miss Flagler County essay competition.
Transition in Style: It’s Janet Valentine’s School District Now as Delbrugge Exits
Janet Valentine this week began filling Bill Delbrugge’s shoes amid high expectations and some concerns.
Charter School Failure: Why Imagine and Heritage Weren’t Included in FCAT Tallies
Charter schools are not in the same league as traditional public schools. Their standards are lower. The burden is on charters to prove their worth.
School Board: Closing Carver Gym Not an Option; How Bunnell Killed Carver Housing
The school district is adding its voice to a chorus of protest and damning history against closing Carver Gym.
They’re Watching You: Palm Coast Council Turned on by Spy Cameras at Public Parks
City employees can spy on park-goers from ordinary computers networked to the six cameras installed at the park.
FCAT Scores: Matanzas High School
FCAT Scores, passing rates and historical data for Matanzas High School, including 2010.
Flagler Schools’ FCAT Reading Scores Disappoint, Math Scores a Plus
Every grade but the 6th and 9th posted declines in reading. The district did better in math, either improving or holding steady in all grades except the 5th.
Pressing for Raises, Teachers’ Union Holding District Hostage Over Class-Size Compromise
The union would approve a district plan to comply with class-size requirements in exchange for $2.4 million in raises.
Miss Flagler County 2010
It’s Amanda Dack
Amada Dack has achieved more in her 21 years than many people do in an average lifetime.
FCAT Scores, A Month Late, to Be Released After Untold Damage to Schools
The Department of Education and testing company Pearson are still playing word games over the cause and extent of the delay, which ruined district and student planning for fall.
Poverty Signs: Steep Rise in Children Needing Free or Reduced Meals in Flagler Schools
The rising numbers of children on free and reduced meals is a reflection of rising poverty and a rising toll on local families with fewer means.
African-American Mentors Honor
Bill Delbrugge, “Beacon of Support”
In his last days as superintendent, Delbrugge is celebrated by men of one of the most effective programs for young, at-risk black students.
Community Rallies to Find Courtney Cobb, FPC Student Missing Since June 10
A 10th grader at FPC and a Palm Coast resident since she was 3, Courtney Cobb is believed to have run away with a boyfriend.
Taylor’s Journal: Day Three
The Envelope, Please
In her final post from the international competition in Wisconsin, Taylor Tofal recounts an awards ceremony featuring many wins for FPC and Matanzas.
Celeste Laster
Miss Flagler County Contestant (2010)
Celeste Laster is a Miss Flagler County Scholarship Pageant contestant in the 16-23year old category of the 2010 Flagler County Pageant.
Amber Troha
Miss Flagler County Contestant (2010)
Amber Troha is a Miss Flagler County Scholarship Pageant contestant in the 16-23year old category of the 2010 Flagler County Pageant.
Bonita Jubilee Davis
Miss Flagler County Contestant (2010)
Bonita Jubilee Davis is a Miss Flagler County Scholarship Pageant contestant in the 16-23year old category of the 2010 Flagler County Pageant.
Amber Tilton
Miss Flagler County Contestant (2010)
Amber Tilton is a Miss Flagler County Scholarship Pageant contestant in the 16-23year old category of the 2010 Flagler County Pageant.
Elizabeth Jacqueline Mason
Little Miss Flagler County Contestant (2010)
Elizabeth Jacqueline Mason is a Little Miss Flagler County contestant in the 8 to 11 year old category of the 2010 Flagler County Pageant.
Lexi Kearns
Little Miss Flagler County Contestant (2010)
Lexi Kearns is a Little Miss Flagler County contestant in the 8 to 11 year old category of the 2010 Flagler County Pageant.
Susanna van de Graaf
Little Miss Flagler County Contestant (2010)
Susanna van de Graaf is a Little Miss Flagler County contestant in the 8 to 11 year old category of the 2010 Flagler County Pageant.
Victoria Elizabeth Aparicio
Little Miss Flagler County Contestant (2010)
Victoria Elizabeth Aparicio is a Little Miss Flagler County contestant in the 8 to 11 year old category of the 2010 Flagler County Pageant.
Melissa Swanson
Little Miss Flagler County Contestant (2010)
Melissa Swanson is a Little Miss Flagler County contestant in the 8 to 11 year old category of the 2010 Flagler County Pageant.