Palm Coast’s year-old Children’s Memorial Garden provoked rare emotions from the city manager Monday as the council wrestled with conflict over competing visions for the pastoral garden near Waterfront park.
Palm Coast
Lightning Triggers 12 New Fires, Most Closer to Palm Coast, More Expected Today
Two fires broke out off County Road 13, just west of U.S. 1, a small fire broke out on Colbert Lane, and another one off of Roberts Road.
A Dissent on Canceling July 4 Fireworks: When Palm Coast Dictates to Flagler Beach
Canceling the fireworks in Town Center was justified, canceling them in Flagler Beach was not, argues Jeremy Mahoney, who sees the decision as another way of making Flagler Beach subservient to Palm Coast.
When Will That Walmart Open on Old Kings Road? “Nobody Knows”
Expanding Old Kings Road was to guarantee Walmart’s opening by 2011, with 400 to 500 jobs. Instead, the city is left holding a bag-full of empty promises–and a $6.3 million loan from its utility fund.
Palm Coast’s Latest Invitation to Landowners: Come Build a Business Park With Us
Palm Coast’s business park partnership program would entail spending significant taxpayer resources to develop construction-ready sites in partnership with private property owners, as bait for future commercial activity.
Preliminary Report Suggests Walker May Have Lost Consciousness Before Air Show Crash
The National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report of the March 26 crash at Wings Over Flagler reveals that to Bill Walker was unresponsive when a fellow-pilot radioed him immediately before the crash.
NTSB Preliminary Investigation Report: Flagler County Airport Crash on March 26, 2011
Full text of the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary investigation report, released on April 19, 2011, of the fatal plane crash at the Flagler County Airport on March 26, 2011, involving an Aerostar S A YAK-52, piloted by Bill Walker.
Economic Development Set Punts Again to More Meetings, Postponing Hard Questions
The same five “strategic goals” were hashed over again in the third day of an economic development summit, and a fourth was scheduled in May, for yet another $7,000 for “facilitator” Don Upton, bringing his tax-funded total to $30,000.
Familiar Slogans and More Familiar Questions as 2-Day Economic Development Summit Ends
It was left up to Palm Coast City Manager Jim Landon to remind the assembled that slogans don’t make economic development policy, and unity of message is still far from a given in a county with diverse interests and constituencies.
Economic Development Summit: Diagnostic Kumbayas Drown Out Harder Questions
Day one of the summit produced generous and optimistic self-evaluations from some 60 elected and had-picked representatives of local governments, but no breakthrough on fundamental differences on economic development financing or leadership.
13- and 8-Year-Old Injured in Single-Vehicle Wreck on Rymfire in Palm Coast
Danaizha Walker, 13, of Palm Coast, was transported to Florida Hospital Flagler in serious condition this morning after a single-vehicle wreck on Rymfire Drive in Palm Coast.
Corey Nichols, 34, Found Dead Near Walmart in Palm Coast from Likely Drug Overdose
Deputies are investigating the suspicious death of a 34-year-old man found this morning in a wooded area on the westside of Walmart on Cypress Point Parkway in Palm Coast.
Don’t Be Alarmed: Smoke-Testing in Palm Coast’s P-Section Sewers Feb. 21-25
Some residents may see smoke rising from yards, streets or drains, signaling faulty sewer lines or plumbing. Residents may experience caughing, but the city says the smoke is not hazardous to health and dissipates within 15 minutes.
Video: Christmas Parade in Town Center
What was once a modest affair that took place in various spots around town this time drew some 85 floats and other entrants along a parade route in Palm Coast’s Town Center.
SR100 Collision Under I-95 Bridge Hurts 3, One With Life-Threatening Injuries
The 11 a.m. wreck involved two Chevrolet SUVs registered in Flagler County–one driven by an elderly man. Both occupants of the other SUV were also taken for Florida Hospital Flagler.
In a Victory for Palm Coast Firefighters’ Union, City’s Attempt to Split Bargaining Units Fails
The Palm Coast city administration objected to lieutenants’ inclusion with rank-and-file firefighters in the collective bargaining unit. The state dismissed that objection, clearing the way for the unit’s formation.
Palm Coast’s BMX Gamble, Racism and Obama, Small Business Saturday Recap: The Live Wire, Nov. 29
BMX’s Renny Roker didn’t tell Palm Coast how checkered his financial past is, plus the best Congress money can buy, legacies of bullying, a naked tribute to Leslie Nielsen, Obama’s national security sham, and more.
Dueling Seafoods and Surfers: Video and Photo Gallery
The dueling festivals are over and the images are in: a video report from the 2010 Tommy Tant Classic and a photo gallery from Tommy Tant and Palm Coast’s Seafood Festival.
Festival Filibuster: How Palm Coast Plays Hardball With Flagler Beach
If Palm Coast is serious about playing nice with its neighboring cities and not competing for “special event” visitors, why is it doing exactly that with signs greeting visitors exiting the Interstate?
Tommy Tant Classic Surfing the Weekend As Palm Coast Crashes In With Its Own Festival
Now in its 11th year, the Tommy Tant Memorial Surf Classic will be a three-day event, including a food festival by the sea, a concert and two days of amateur and professional surfing competition.
Conklin Triggers Mockingbird Appeals Committee, Likely Enabling Play’s Revival
Unearthing a district policy on “the appropriateness of books or materials,” School Board member Colleen Conklin appealed the decision to cancel the play. A committee will be appointed to handle the appeal.
Before School Censors: When Mockingbird‘s Harper Lee Spoke Proudly of Flagler County
In 2002, Harper Lee addressed Flagler County proudly when her book was the centerpiece of county-wide events. The school district’s censoring of the play this month contrasts sharply with that progressive history.
Bowing to Pressure, Transportation Department Scraps Plans for a Weigh Station on U.S. 1
Every local government had opposed a proposed $11 million weigh station that would have taken up the median of U.S. 1 at Royal Palms Parkway, at the intersection of Palm Coast and Bunnell. Opposition worked.
Palm Coast Is Fighting Firefighters’ Union on Forming a Single Bargaining Unit
The hearing Friday will decide whether lieutenants and rank and file firefighters can form a single bargaining unit, which the city–which objects to unionization–is opposing.
Dim-Witted Larcenist Puts Palm Coast on David Letterman’s Lips and Map
It was a small-town news item pulled out of the Palm Coast Observer’s crime blotter. It got Letterman and Paul Shaffer going for the whole segment as they poked around Palm Coast’s location.
The Live Wire, Tuesday, Oct. 12: Pink Boots Lenny Keeps His Job, Hiaasen on Amendment 4
Palm Coast’s Breast Cancer Awareness man of the week, Lenny Grocki, was not fired; Carl Hiaasen speaks truth to Amendment 4 detractors; Wall Street continues to rake it in, and much more.
The City of Palm Coast’s Problem With Breast Cancer Awareness Month? Not Regulation.
Lenny Grocki, a Palm Coast utilities employee, was told to go home and take off his pink steel-toed boots. When he switched to pink laces and pink socks, he was told he’d face disciplinary action for those, too.
Census: Flagler’s Population Stalls at 91,600; 28% of Housing Units Vacant; Poverty Rising
The 2009 population figures mean that Flagler will almost certainly not cross into six-figure territory when decennial census figures are announced. Figures on housing, income, poverty and insurance were also released.
Income, Employment and Labor Data for Flagler County and Palm Coast, 2009 Census Bureau Community Survey
Detailed, charted table of the Census Bureau’s employment, income and labor data for Flagler County and Palm Coast, 2009 American Community Survey.
Population and Demographics Data for Flagler County and Palm Coast, 2009 Census Bureau Community Survey
Detailed, charted table of the Census Bureau’s population and demographics data for Flagler County and Palm Coast, 2009 American Community Survey.
Social Profile for for Flagler County and Palm Coast, 2009 Census Bureau’s Community Survey
Detailed, charted table of the Census Bureau’s social profile (marriages, divorces, origins) data for Flagler County and Palm Coast, 2009 American Community Survey.
Housing and Real Estate Data for Flagler County and Palm Coast, 2009 Census Bureau’s Community Survey
Detailed, charted table of the Census Bureau’s housing, development and real estate data for Flagler County and Palm Coast, 2009 American Community Survey.
Palm Coast Redraws Its Stormwater Tax, Benefiting Some Big Landowners
Vacant properties of 25 acres or more will pay less than considerably less than the $8 a month stormwater tax assessed on the typical residential property in Palm Coast.
Its Initiative in Flames, Enterprise Flagler Hands Tax-and-Build Plan’s Fate to Tea Party
The Flagler County Tea Party Group will hold a straw ballot on Enterprise Flagler’s tax-and-build “economic development” initiative on Sept. 21. Enterprise Flagler may then ask the county commission to pull the measure from the ballot.
Bunnell Commissioners Are Excoriated for Doubling Their Salaries While Others Suffer
By doubling their salaries to $9,600 a year, Bunnell commissioners matched the salaries of council members in Palm Coast, a city with 30 times the population of Bunnell.
Palm Coast’s Waterfront Park, Carving Out Tranquility on the Intracoastal, Opens
See a photo gallery of Palm Coast’s newest jewel, the 12th in its collection of parks. It opens Saturday with special booths and walking tours around the 20-some acres.
North By Northwest: State Rejects Palm Coast’s Sprawling Growth Horizon
While the state approved of Palm Coast’s plans to develop the Bulow Creek area, it rejected the city’s planned expansion to its west and northwest, calling it unneeded and fraught with sprawl.
School’s Back. So Are Walking Children in a Town Short of Sidewalks. Watch Where You Drive.
Two years ago, 270 children younger than 14 were killed while walking by a road. School’s resumption calls for care, especially in Palm Coast, where sidewalks are lacking.
Palm Coast Liquors Up on Hypocrisy Ahead of ABC Store’s Opening (and 10 New Jobs)
The November opening of Flagler County’s first ABC liquor store, a 10,000-square-foot facility, is drawing flack for its location despite its promise of 10 new jobs, choice booze and discounts.
Water Wars Redux: Homeowners Sue
Palm Coast Over Annexation Bullying
Palm Coast is forcing Palm Coast Plantation property owners to sign annexation agreements in exchange for water and sewer services. The owners say Palm Coast is breaking the law.
Sheriff’s Budget: Few New Deputies, No Raises, More Bottled Water and Drug Money
The 2011 budget, reflecting the enduring recession, is almost the same as it was this year, leaving the number of deputies on patrol virtually static.
Classic Landon: County on Notice that Palm Coast Will Annex Airport. County Begs to Differ.
Palm Coast made it seem as if bringing the National Guard to Flagler was mostly its doing. That would be news to the county government. But more is at stake between the two.
Spy-and-Snap Red-Light Cameras Will Enrich Private Company At Palm Coast’s Expense
The traffic cameras generated $1.7 million for Palm Coast since 2008. Most of that money will now go to a private company and to Tallahassee, while the cameras keep snapping.
Small Businesses Mobilizing Against Broad Restrictions on Commercial Vehicles
As code enforcement responds to anonymous complaints over trucks in driveways, small business owners are tiring of the harassment in a hurting economy.
Palm Coast Code Ordinance on Commercial Vehicle Parking in Residential Areas and Elsewhere
The full, original language of Palm Coast’s code enforcement’s ordinance regulating commercial vehicles and trucks parking in residential zones.
Palm Coast’s Two Best Arguments
For a New City Hall: Take the Tour
This much isn’t too controversial about a new Palm Coast city hall: the current digs are ugly, cramped and unbecoming. And government spending is needed to create jobs.
Raging Skies Redux: The Fireworks in Palm Coast’s Town Center
Palm Coast’s July 4th celebration starts in Town Center at 7 p.m. and culminates with a fireworks show at 9 p.m.
Flagler Beach’s Independence Day Fireworks No Longer a Solo Act
Flagler Beach’s traditional Independence Day fireworks display will be held on July 3rd, and will be followed by another celebration in Palm Coast’s Town Center on July 4.
Crime Reports, June 28-July 4, 2010
A stolen tag from Volusia County is recovered, a bank refuses to refund customer for fraudulent charges, and more.
Watching Team USA Live With Eddie Johnson (US 1, Ghana 2)
We’re covering the US-Ghana World Cup match live with soccer great and Bunnell native Eddie Johnson, from Palm Coast’s Houligan’s.