The Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra played to close to 1,200 people Sunday evening at the Palm Coast Arts Foundation’s new home in Town Center, an audience as rich in stories as the music.
Palm Coast
Probationer Arrested After Attempted Burglary in Palm Coast’s B-Section, Fleeing From Cops
Maurice Godwin, 35, was allegedly burglarizing a house at 1 Bird Haven Place in Palm Coast when the homeowner surprised him and Godwin fled, eventually speeding away from cops until his car crashed in west Flagler.
For Triumphant Palm Coast Arts Foundation, A Symphonic Homecoming in the Key of Bold
It’ll be the end of a triumphal journey for the Palm Coast Arts Foundation when the Jacksonville Symphony performs its pops concert Sunday before a record crowd of 1,200 in Town Center.
In Palm Coast’s Expensive Hunt for New Retailers, a Few Leads, But Only Low Wages
Last July Palm Coast government signed a $135,000, contract with marketing company to recruit retailers. Nine months later, a couple of low-wage retailers are possible, and a half dozen more are long-term possibilities, but nothing more firm than that.
Gate Gas and Aldi Grocery Will Rise at Corner of SR100 and Belle Terre, Ending Political Signs
The Palm Coast City Council approved a redrawing of the property into six lots, three of which are under contract, with two projected for non-fast-food restaurants in the future.
Step-Father Accused of Child Abuse After Boy Throws Burrito at Him
Peter Adelstein of Palm Coast was disciplining his step-son for not cleaning up after lunch when he allegedly grabbed the boy by the neck and dared him to “try me.”
Palm Coast Man, 23, Accused of Sexually Assaulting Two Teen Girls at Long Creek Preserve
Christopher Hollinger, 23, of 43 Forsythe Lane, is at the Flagler County Jail on $270,000 bond on accusations of statutory rape and other charges stemming from an alleged March 15 incident.
Survey Puts Homeless Total in Flagler-Palm Coast at 104, But Undercount Likely
The 2016 census of the homeless population in Flagler-Palm Coast was a dramatic decline from 2015, but also very likely an under-count. The majority of homeless people who have no shelter at all are in Palm Coast.
Hear Us Roar, Older Residents Tell Palm Coast Council as They Clamor for a Senior Center
But the Palm Coast City Council is cool to the idea of a dedicated senior center: it has an active community center on Palm Coast Parkway and is ramping up uses of its new city hall’s community wing.
Costlier and Behind Schedule, Holland Park Renovation Swings For Another $50,000
Holland Park’s $4.7 million renovation was to be completed by now. Instead, completion is not expected until late June and the council said it would approve another $50,000 in unexpected expenses.
Demolition Devours Another Chunk of Old Palm Coast as Backhoes Blitz ITT Building
The massive building at 1 Corporate Drive had been ITT headquarters in Palm Coast’s nascent days then office and classroom space for the school district’s adult education programs. The building had its uses but was never a good investment for the district.
Palm Coast Man Who Shot Wife With AK-47 Continues to Fight His 25-Year Sentence
William Carson Merrill shot and killed his wife as he played with the assault rifle in their home four years ago. He is battling in court for a new trial, arguing that he tendered an involuntary plea to the manslaughter charge.
Same Accusations, Different Day: Palm Coast Man and Woman Jailed Again on Violent Assaults
A couple have four battery or aggravated battery charges between them in the last three years, three of those charges in the last three weeks.
Florida Hospital Flagler CEO Ken Mattison Leaving For Volusia; Ron Jimenez, a Physician, Takes Over
FHF CEO Ken Mattison was reassigned to head the transition of Bert Fish Medical Center’s 112-bed hospital in New Smyrna Beach into the Adventist system. Dr. Ron Jimenez will have his first posting as a hospital CEO.
Upset Over Daughter’s Nude Pictures, Mother Is Charged With Aggravated Child Abuse
Virginia Jennelle of Palm Coast allegedly gashed her daughter’s forehead with a broomstick and poured food all over her to make her unpresentable and keep her from running away.
County Commission Retreats From Joint Meeting With Palm Coast Council on EMS
After appearing ready to meet with Palm Coast, county commissioners now say that between election turn-over and the absence of a crisis, there’s no need to meet over ambulance issues.
Man Arrested Over Cocking AK-47 Outside Metro Diner After Words With Manager
Joseph Eberhardinger, 24, had gone to Metro Diner with his girlfriend so she could retrieve her last paycheck when the incident unfolded. The same evening, Anthony Catoggio, 19, was arrested on an identical charge in a separate incident.
Flagler’s 6 Public-Sector Unions Launch Unified Political Arm as Palm Coast Workers Bargain
The new organization, joining teachers, cops, firefighters, school employees and municipal workers, aims to rival Realtors, home builders and the chamber in political influence and regain some power in collective bargaining.
Council Will Approve “Kind of Dumb Looking” 150-ft Cell Tower on Palm Coast Parkway
The tower, camouflaged as a tree, will go up on city land near the public library and will accommodate four cell carriers, among them AT&T, whose service in many parts of Palm Coast has been dismal.
“It Is Done!” Flagler Celebrates Opening of Exit 293 Interchange With North Palm Coast’s Future
Eighteen years in the making, the Matanzas interchange with I-95 is expected to alleviate traffic in palm Coast and spur development in the north of the city while giving residents of the L, B and F Sections faster, safer access to I-95.
Palm Coast Will Refinance $41 Million Utility Loan for Big Savings, But Don’t Expect Lower Rates
The Palm Coast City Council is holding a special meeting Tuesday morning, when it is expected to sign off on the deal. The nearly $600,000 in annual savings will not, however, lower utility rates.
County Takes Dim, Caustic View of Palm Coast’s “Efficiency” Push in Ambulance Services
County commissioners say if Palm Coast wants to make services more efficient, it’s the city’s problem, not theirs. But they’ve agreed to hold a joint meeting in May to discuss possibilities.
Gov. Scott’s $256 Million in Vetoes Include Palm Coast’s $200,000 Wellfield Project
The veto of Palm Coast’s funding and county government’s failure to secure various appropriations is a reflection of a somewhat weaker legislative delegation.
Palm Coast Floats New Rescue System in Name Of “Efficiency,” But County Sees Many Flaws
No one is complaining about ambulance service in Palm Coast, but the city council is favoring changing the system by adding two county ambulances and spreading manpower around. The county, which runs EMS, says the plan is costly and unnecessary.
One Arrested in Burger King Armed Robbery, 2 Arrested in U.S. 1 Carjacking
Dwight Lanfair, a 47-year-old resident at the Madison Green apartments in Palm Coast, was arrested in the robbery charge. Roy Wood and Frank Lawson were arrested on a carjacking charge involving a motorcyclist on the last day of Bike Week.
Palm Coast’s Jim Landon Wants to Add to His $218,000 Pay Package, Council Pushes Back Slightly
The Palm Coat city manager, by far the highest-paid public employee in Flagler, wants annual, automatic raises based on his own self-evaluations, but council members want a more formal system.
District and Palm Coast Will Redesign Some Bus Stops in 1st Step To Counter Crashes Involving Children
Some of the county’s 600 bus stops will be redesigned to include a $1,200 “pad” where students should wait for buses, while an education campaign will target students in elementary and middle schools.
With Curt Emphasis on “NOW,” Palm Coast Mayor Wants Radio Answers from County
For Netts, usually a model of decorum and grace, it was an unusually demanding letter over an issue that has created simemring tensions between the county and city managers for months.
Centra Urgent Care Center Opens on Palm Coast Parkway Under Florida Hospital Imprint
Centra Care on Palm Coast Parkway is the latest urgent care clinic to open in the region as health care providers shift services away from emergency rooms when possible, to control costs. But Centra Care also helps channel patients to the Florida Hospital Flagler system.
Palm Coast Takes 9th and Nearly Final Step to Ban Bottle Clubs
No businesses will be forced to close. They’ll simply not be allowed to open. But aside from one possible such club at City Market Place, bottle clubs were not lining up to open in the city.
A Dog Is Shot Dead in Palm Coast’s W-Section, Triggering Murky Investigation–and Fear
The Flagler County sheriff’s office is investigating the strange case of a three-and-a-half-month-old puppy killed apparently by gunshot sometime late Saturday or early Sunday as accusations fly between two neighboring households in Palm Coast’s W Section.
2015 Flagler Jail Bookings and Sheriff’s Crime and Incident Reports (Archived)
Archived 2015 Flagler County jail bookings, day and night shift commanders’ crime and incident reports investigated by Sheriff’s deputies and archive.
Palm Coast Concedes: Keeping Golf Course At Taxpayers’ Expense No Longer Tenable
The Palm Coast City Council wants to explore leasing out the Palm Harbor Golf Club and the city tennis center, or possibly managing both itself, rather than keep pouring taxpayer subsidies into operations that have lost money for eight years.
As Palm Coast Surveys Residents Yet Again, For $13,000, Council Members Question the Point
Several council members criticized the latest survey of Palm Coast residents–its small sample size, its limited uses, and whether it should be an annual exercise anymore.
Suicide By Gun Averted, Woman’s Face Burned With Cigarette, Good Samaritan Turns In $2,500
Flagler County Sheriff’s deputy Michael Breckwoldt, a 13-year veteran of the force, averted a suicide by a 68-year-old woman who was wielding a Smith and Wesson .380 handgun and had earlier fired two shots.
Palm Coast Signals Going Its Own Way In Growing Rift With County Over Radio System
City Manager Jim Landon is pressuring the county to replace its emergency radio infrastructure–on which the city and sheriff depend– well before 2020. The county is resisting, citing costs.
Against Mayor’s Opposition, Palm Coast Council Discovers Public Input at Workshops
For the first time in 17 years the Palm Coast City Council will join other local governments in allowing public participation at council workshops, where most of the decisions are made, not just at “regular” meetings.
At Florida Hospital Flagler, an Additional 32 Beds as Facility Grows Beyond Rural Stage
The $15-million, 32-bed addition tips Florida Hospital Flagler past the 99-bed threshold, reducing its Medicare dollars by up to $12 million, but hospital officials see the expansion as meeting local needs.
Palm Coast Arts Foundation Breaks Ground at New Home With Poetry, Nietzsche and a Party
Some 250 people turned out for the Palm Coast Arts Foundation’s groundbreaking Thursday at its new home in Town Center, with poetry and a live performance by a Flagler Youth Orchestra ensemble.
Two Young Palm Coast Residents Killed in Construction Zone off Forest Grove Dr.
Kevin Walsh, 29, and Jessica Darby, 22, both of Palm Coast, were killed late Thursday night in the construction zone off Forest Grove Drive.
Family Livid After FDOT Uproots Roadside Memorial to Tyler Tracy 7 Months After Wreck
Tyler Tracy’s memorial was one of five an FDOT official decided had to be removed on US1, though others were left in place, angering Tracy’s widow and family and getting Palm Coast Mayor Jon Netts involved in defense of the family.
In a Decisive Shift, Palm Coast Will Oppose Fracking On and Offshore, Citing Environment
Abandoning its silence and tacit nod to fracking, the Palm Coast City Council will forcefully oppose hydraulic fracturing in a resolution, citing water and environmental protection.
As Flagler’s Emergency Communications Briefly Falter, Palm Coast and Sheriff Assail County Over Long-Term Plans
The county’s critical emergency radio system briefly failed when a tower lost its back-up power Thursday even as county, city and sheriff’s officials were meeting in the first high-level meeting since 2013 to deal with their differences over modernizing the emergency communications system.
Where’s Opelka? Injury and Ranking Climb Keep Star From Palm Coast’s Tennis Tourney
Palm Coast’s celebrated Reilly Opelka, the boys Wimbledon Champ, says he probably would not have competed in the ongoing Men’s Futures Tennis Tournament even if he did not have a stress fracture as he targets bigger tournaments to earn more ranking points.
Plea Lessens Palm Coast Child Rapist’s Sentence to 10 Years in Prison, 20 on Probation
Andrew S. Wilson, 55, of 82 Brushwood Lane in Palm Coast, had been arrested on a count of raping a child younger than 12, based on incidents that took place two decades ago.
Measure Forbidding Local Governments From Using Red-Light Cameras Advances
Sen. Jeff Brandes’ measure would repeal a law known as the Mark Wandall Traffic Safety Act of 2010 and, as a result, prevent local governments from using the cameras for traffic enforcement.
Bringing “Poverty Inc.” to Palm Coast’s Epic Theater, a Compassionate Entrepreneur’s Goal
Jenny Skripko, a Palm Coast resident and “Compassionate Entrepreneur” with Trades of Hopes, is bringing the celebrated “Poverty Inc.” documentary to Epic Theaters on Feb. 23, but a minimum of 87 tickets must be sold by Feb. 16.
Palm Coast Deputy Fire Chief Jerry Forte In Dramatic Rescue of Drowning Man
Palm Coast Deputy Fire Chief Jerry Forte was in the W-Section when the drowning of a 71-year-old resident on Whispering Pine Drive was called in. He rushed to the scene and pulled the man out of the pool.
Palm Coast Council Gives Itself a Few Dollars’ Raise, Thwarting Nobile on Referendum
Another nearly year-long discussion ends with an annual $228 raise for the mayor, $228 for council members, and no future automatic increases, but no referendum either, on the question, as Council member Steven Nobile had favored.
A Pair of Big Checks Contribute to Pink Army and United Way
The Pink Army’s 5K run in Town Center last fall raised $12,585.35, and the five Florida Hospitals in Volusia and Flagler counties donated $10,000 to the United Way.