Citing a likely drop in customer service and an eventual increase in costs, Flagler County Tax Collector Suzanne Johnston joined tax collectors across the state to criticize parts of Florida’s plans to redesign the state’s license plates and end local residents’ ability to get their plates locally and immediately.
Cops/Courts
Three Florida Supreme Court Justices Fire Back at Attempted Conservative Putsch
Justices R. Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince pushed back against a campaign to push them off the bench that has spread from a conservative grass-roots uprising to a denouncing of the three by the Republican Party of Florida. The justices spoke to an audience at the FSU College of Law comprised mostly of students.
Flagler Beach Fire Takes 1st Place in 5th Annual Flagler County Fire/EMS Competition
Twelve teams competed in 24-hour, round-the clock scenarios this weekend in an event hosted by Flagler County Fire Rescue. The Flagler Beach Fire Department won the basic life support division. Boca Raton Fire Rescue won the advanced life support division.
Holland-Hutson Money Race Still Lopsided; Manfre Doubles Take, Closing Fleming Gap
The last two weeks of September saw Travis Hutson add almost as much money to his treasure chest–$13,000–as Milissa Holland raised in the entire election cycle ($15,502). Sheriff Candidate Jim Manfre has raised $19,000 to incumbent Don Fleming’s $24,000.
A Palm Coast Man Is Jailed for Sexually Battering His Wife in the Presence of a Child
Caldwell was charged with domestic battery by strangulation, sexual battery, and domestic assault. He remained at the Flagler County jail, Monday afternoon on $52,000 bond.
Reported Abduction Trails Up I-95 Before Getaway Near Flagler Border
Ormond Beach Police were called this morning by a man who reported that he was abducted early today in Boynton Beach, Fla., and forced to drive some 220 miles north on I-95, to Ormond Beach, where the man executed a getaway. Police are looking for a suspect in the area.
Should You Keep Paying FPL and PEF For Nukes Plants that May Never Be Built?
The up-front nuclear costs for plant construction have become highly controversial, at least in part because there is no guarantee that FPL and Progress will build the planned reactors and because projected costs have risen to over $40 billion for four reactors. The Supreme Court will decide the matter.
Man Accused of Child Abuse as a Cop Witnesses Him Striking His 14-Year-Old Daughter
James Hartley, Palm Coast resident of Whetstone Lane, is a 44-year-old, 240-pound man who, on Wednesday, was arrested and charged with child abuse and battery after a Flagler County Sheriff’s deputy saw him striking his 14-year-old daughter, who then collapsed on the floor of her home.
Anti-Terror “Fusion Centers” Like Central Florida’s Slammed as Ineffective and Intrusive
A two-year Senate investigation finds that Department of Homeland Security efforts to engage state and local intelligence “fusion centers”–six of which are set up in Florida, including one in central Florida–has not yielded significant useful information to support federal counterterrorism intelligence efforts.
Fights and Arrests at the Jail, at Salsas Mexican Restaurant and at the Country Store: Flagler 911
A busy couple of weeks of violent fights and arrests at the Flagler County jail, a road-rage arrest at the Country Store in the Mondex, four arrests outside Salsas Mexican Restaurant, a father gets his allegedly thieving son arrested, and a lot more from Flagler’s crime scenes.
Video Released in Sharps Liquor Armed Robbery, Clearly Showing Both Suspects
Police are looking for two black men in their early 30s after the afternoon robbery of Sharps Liquor at Flagler Plaza on State Road 100, less than a year after the same store was the target of an armed robbery. The video released Wednesday shows both suspects.
For Florida Justices, Two Lesbian Mothers, One Child, and a Question of Parenthood
The case pits two former lesbian partners, one of whom provided an egg that was fertilized and implanted in the other woman, who later gave birth. After the relationship ended, the woman who gave birth blocked her former partner from having parental rights.
Jose Godinez-Samperio, Undocumented Immigrant and Lawyer, Falters at Florida Court
A skeptical Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday said it may be powerless to let Jose Godinez-Samperio, an undocumented immigrant, practice law in the state despite recent moves by the Obama administration to allow immigrants brought to the country as children pathway to permanent status in the United States.
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.
Amendment 5 and the Battle to Remake, And Subdue, the Florida Supreme Court
Amendment 5 would subject all Supreme Court nominations to confirmation by the Florida Senate and lower the bar for the Legislature to overturn court rules and would give lawmakers access to the records of judicial investigations.
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.
Flagler Sheriff Tallies DUI Catch as Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Blood-Test Case
Flagler County deputies arrested 11 drunk drivers and many others on charges unrelated to DUI. On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to decide whether forcing a DUI suspect to submit to a blood test is constitutional.
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.
Customer Wins “Stand Your Ground” Ruling After Confrontation With FPL Bill-Collectors
An appeals court Thursday agreed with the dismissal of criminal charges against a Miami-Dade County man who relied on the state’s “stand your ground” law after a confrontation with two Florida Power & Light workers on his property.
A 26-Year-Old Palm Coast Man Is Arrested On 3 Counts of Lewd Sex With 14 Year Old
Javon Hall, a 27-year-old resident of Whispering Pine Drive in Palm Coast, is in jail on $100,000 bond following his arrest on three charges that he had sex with a 14-year-old Palm Coast girl. The victim termed some 30 encounters consensual, which is no defense for Hall under the law.
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.
Horseman, Termed Drunk, Takes Bunnell Police on Long Chase Through the City
Charles Cowart, 29, was arrested and charged with charged with disorderly conduct and cruelty to animals, among other charges, after the chase forced a train to stop and brought various parts of Bunnell to a brief, gaping standstill.
Tyler Scott Van Balvern, 21, Victim of Fourth Motorcycle Fatality in 7 Weeks On Flagler Roads
The body of Tyler Scott Van Balvern, 21, the latest motorcyclist killed since Aug. 1 on Flagler roads was discovered Sunday in a ditch roughly across from the Black Cloud Saloon. The motrcycle was located almost 40 feet inside the woodline.
Capsized Speedboat, High on Marijuana Bricks, Washes up on Flagler Shore
The 25-foot speedboat bearing a stash of marijuana, which washed up on shore Sunday and Monday, was beached near the Flagler By the Sea campsite in Beverly Beach. Such speedboats have become a means of choice for smugglers of drugs or human traffickers in recent years.
In Flagler’s Elections, Some Coffers Are Depleted, Some Rich in Out-Of-County Donors
The biggest contrast s in the Frank Meeker-Abby Romaine race for the Flagler County Commission, with almost 80 percent of Meeker’s money coming from out of the county, and 100 percent of Romaine’s coming from within it.
State Attorney Files Attempted Murder Charges on Phillip Neal Following Bunnell Brawl
Philip Neal, a 28-year-old resident of Bunnell who’s been booked into the Flagler County jail 18 times in four years, and served 16 months in state prison, is accused of firing several rounds from a .38-caliber gun at Deron Carter the night of Aug. 25 in Bunnell.
Carjacking Followed by Bank Robbery in Ormond Beach; One Suspect in Custody
A Gray Kia Sportage was carjacked in Holly Hill at 11 Friday morning, then spotted outside a Bank of America on Nova Road that was being robbed. The, Glenn A. Neal, crashed the car during a police chase, was was taken to the hospital, injured.
A 32-Year-Old Woman Is Robbed in the Mondex; Deputies Seeking Clues
A man claiming to have a gun pushed the woman to the ground and took her necklace when she told him she had no money. He fled. The robber was described as being white with a stocky build and long, black hair.
Station Wagon Drives Through Garage and Into a House in the Woodlands
A Chevrolet station wagon driven by one of the elderly homeowners at 14 Blackthorn Court, a house in Palm Coast’s Wooodlands, ran through the property’s two-car garage and into the utility room, damaging the garage and a load-bearing wall.
Mother Chases and Fights a Boy On a School Bus, Drawing Charges; Sheriff Releases Video
Felecia Phillips, 35, of Espanola, is accused of attacking a boy at a bus stop Wednesday morning, then chasing him onto the bus that was to take him to FPC. She was arrested on child abuse and trespassing charges.
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.
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.
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.
John M. Robinson, 33, Killed in Motorcycle Wreck on US1, Third Bike Fatality in a Row
John Michael Robinson, 33, of Palm Coast, was traveling north on U.S. 1 after midnight this morning (Sept. 14) when he lost control, overturned, and was was killed at the scene, the third motorcycle-related fatality on Flagler roads in six weeks.
Finally for Flagler, a Visitation Safe Haven for Children and Victims of Domestic Violence
The Safe Haven Center for severed families needing a supervised, safe place for children’s visitations or exchanges, would spare families trip to Volusia or St. Johns–or meeting around the flagpole at the courthouse. The $400,000 federal grant was secured and executed by a group of local government and non-governmental leaders led by Judge Raul Zambrano, Commissioner Barbara Revels, and Abby Romaine, a candidate for the commission.
A Rash Shooting Outside Flagler Beach’s Lazy Pelican Lands 38-Year-Old Woman in Jail
Maureen Witkowski, a 38-year-old resident of Flagler Beach, was arrested on three gun-related charges after firing a gun outside the Lazy Pelican, a bar on A1A, the evening of Sept. 11.
Jamesine Fischer’s Hit-and-Run Trial Pushed to January, Benefitting Flagler Sheriff Fleming
Jamesine Fischer, facing a first-degree felony charge in the killing 76-year-old Francoise Pecqueur in a hit-and-run almost a year ago, will go to trial in January. The continuance works in favor of Flagler County Sheriff Don Fleming’s re-election campaign.
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.
Go Ahead, Steal His Email:
Florida Court Rules It’s Not Cyberstalking
The First Circuit Court of Appeal found that a wife stealing her husband’s email and locking him out of his own account did not amount either to cyberstalking or to a form of domestic violence. The case involves Michael and Cheryl Young of Alachua County.
At Finn’s in Flagler Beach, a Violent Fight With Lasting Consequences, and Arrests
Kristin Howard’s arrest today was the latest development in a tangled and violent brawl that involved a half dozen people at Finn’s, the bar in Flagler Beach, on Aug. 30. Harley J. King, who’d been released from state prison just five weeks earlier, was arrested on Sept. 3. More arrests may yet follow.
Legality of State Workers’ 3% Retirement Tax Now Before Florida Supreme Court
With hundreds of millions of dollars a year hinging on their decision, Florida Supreme Court justices Friday began deliberating about whether to uphold a 2011 law that requires government workers to chip in 3 percent of their pay to the state retirement system.
Car Overturns on U.S. 1; Injured, Fleeing Driver Is Caught and Booked on Several Warrants
Three people were sent to the hospital, one of them after he fled on foot and was caught and handcuffed about 500 yards south of the wreck scene. He had several warrants out on him.
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.
John Melvin, 56, of Bunnell, Is Killed in a Motorcycle Wreck on U.S. 1
John Melvin, 56, of Bunnell, was riding his Honda motorcycle south on U.S. 1, just north of the Old Dixie Highway intersection., when he failed to navigate a curve that has seen its share of wrecks over the years.
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.
After Two Incidents, Secret Service Warns Of Counterfeit Money Circulating in Flagler
At least two incidents involving large cash withdrawals from Bank of America and Prosperity Bank in the past two weeks, each including some fake $100 bills, led the Secret Service to issue the warning for Flagler County.
Palm Coast Child Specialist at Rehab Center for Adolescents Arrested on Molestation Charges
Corey Hodges, 34, a resident of 36 Barrington Drive in Palm Coast, was arrested on charges stemming from interaction with teen-age girls at Stewart-Marchman-Act Behavioral Healthcare in Volusia, where Hodges worked. Stewart-Marchman fired Hodges. The charges are the result of a complaint by a 15-year-old girl, a client at the center’s Residential Adolescent Program, where Hodges had started working in February.