Our own Steve Robinson discovers not only that there are 724 other Steve Robinsons in the country, but that with the NSA tapping into every Tom, Dick and Harry’s computer histories, the pasts of shadier Robinsons, if not his own pot-luck history, could short-circuit his own.
police state
Palm Coast Pledges to Stick to $158 Red-Light Camera Fines and Tackle Vanished Payments
The Palm Coast City Council will forego adopting steeper fines, of up to $408, for red-light camera tickets, but it has yet to find a solution to a problem particular to the city: the large number of people who pay their tickets but whose payments appear never to register with ATS, the company managing–and profiting from–the system, causing drivers headaches and additional costs.
NSA Black Holes: 5 Things We Still Don’t Know About Spy Agency’s Snooping
The FBI and the National Security Agency have been collecting Americans’ phone records en masse and the agencies have access to data from nine tech companies. But secrecy around the programs has meant even basic questions are still unanswered. Here’s what we still don’t know:
Florida Appeal Court Approves Weekly Check-Ins for Homeless Sex Offenders
In a case that may have ramifications beyond the Florida Panhandle, where it originated, a state appeals court Monday approved a Bay County Sheriff’s Office policy that requires homeless registered sex offenders to report by 10 a.m. each Monday about where, through a detailed log, they expect to spend the next seven nights.
Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down Scott’s Drug-Testing of State Workers as Too Broad
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals declared an executive order by Riock Scott to drug-test 85,000 state employees and all job applicants as mostly unconstitutional, but left room for a lower court decision to be rewritten to allow for certain employees in certain categories to be drug tested–essentially restoring Florida’s drug-testing standard to what it was before the governor’s executive order.
Surveillance Drones Give Germans Bad Memories
Railway operator Deutsche Bahn wants to police its rail yards with tiny drones to fight graffiti, triggering a debate in a country where clandestine surveillance is a strongly emotional issue. Florida banned police surveillance by drone this year, absent a warrant.
Rediscovering Color, Palm Coast May Relax Restrictions on Homeowners’ Paint Schemes
Palm Coast isn’t about to go Miami Beach, but the City Council approved going ahead with a plan by the Flagler Homebuilders Association and its own administration to broaden allowable colors homeowners may use to paint their own houses, a restriction that has often vexed newcomers unused to a city government controlling private property to that extent.
Palm Coast Mayor Netts Would “Violently Protest” Raising Red-Light Fines From $158
New legislation gives local governments like Palm Coast authority to raise red-light camera ticket fines to $408 if a drivers contests the ticket and loses. Netts’s opposition signals a slight but discernible shift in the mayor’s thinking about red-light cameras.
Matanzas High Student Allen Brown Tasered After Allegedly Punching Student and Deputy
Matanzas High student Allen Brown, 18, was Tasered by a Flagler sheriff’s deputy Monday after being involved in a fight with a 15-year-old student and allegedly punching the deputy, in the first use of a Taser on a Flagler school campus in six years.
The IRS’ Nonprofit Dysfunctions: A Problem Deeper Than Conservative Targeting
The IRS division responsible for flagging Tea Party groups has long been an agency afterthought, beset by mismanagement, financial constraints and an unwillingness to spell out just what it expects from social welfare nonprofits, former officials and experts say.