ARTS + CULTUR E
PALM COAST
THURSDAY , JUNE 4,
BIRD
Observer
‘Addicted’ to the Joe Campanelli dark room, a niche with e, has found Florida nature photograph y. at Ocean Art, See his new show in Flagler Beach .
SHANNA
FREE
McDevitt sentenced to 40 years James McDevitt pleaded guilty in April. He’d faced life in prison for rape. JONATHAN SIMMONS NEWS EDITOR
James Matthew McDevitt, a Palm Coast man who pleaded guilty April 16 to raping a woman in a Flagler Beach vacant lot in June 2013, will spend 40 years in state prison, and be on sexual offender probation for another 20 years. He had faced up to life in prison. “It is clear that (McDevitt) has had no indication of violence in his prior history, and no violations of the law,” Circuit Judge David Walsh said. “That being said, the court is concerned with the fact that the defendant’s underlying, now shown, ability to commit such an offense creates a danger to the community.” McDevitt, 23, spoke only briefly, right before the judge announced his sentence. He apologized to the victim. “I hope that someday she’ll be able to forgive me, because that’s not the man I am, and I hope
EDITOR
MAN
SEE CAMPA
NELLIE PAGE
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PULL-OUT •
Photo by
Joe Campanel
lie
THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2015
STATE OF BLACK EDUCATION
REVISITED The School Board will vote on an agreement with the SPLC at a June 16 meeting.
JONATHAN SIMMONS NEWS EDITOR
Three years after the Southern Poverty Law Center filed an August 2012 complaint about racial disparities in the Flagler County School District’s disciplinary outcomes, the district and the civil rights organization are nearing an agreement. “Do we have areas where we can improve? Absolutely, and that’s a
SEE MCDEVITT’S PAGE 3
YOUR TOWN SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS WELCOMES NEW ADDITION
Courtesy photo
Kaiti Lenhart, Flagler County’s supervisor of elections, and her husband, Bryon, have welcomed a new son to the family. Lenhart gave birth naturally, at home, to Loukas Bryon Lenhart, at 7:02 a.m. May 20. Loukas was 8 pounds, 12 ounces and 22 1/4 inches long at birth. “He is strong and healthy,” Kaiti Lenhart said. “We are both doing very well.”
FORTIER
ASSOCIATE
J
oe Campa ductio n nellie’s introto was quite photog raphy by when he picked up accide nt, camera and a friend’ s day. From began to play one developed the moment that he his first roll he was hooked of film, For the past . panellie has 30 years, Cambuilt a reputa as one of tion Maryland’s portra it premier photog rapher has recent s and name for ly been making a himself as and wildlif a nature e photographer Florida, a in discovered niche that was also by acciden While living t. in Maryla Campanellie nd, camera into would take his of unwin the woods, as a way ding from and bustle the hustle of “I wanted studio life. to take a and just apprec moment iate nature said, while ,” he Coast home.sitting in his Palm Mary Jean, He and his wife, Coast three moved to Palm years ago. living in “It’s nice an so much to area where there is photograph.” Campanellie takes time watch and to of birds learn the behaviors before docum their action s with his enting era. This campractic him the nickna e has earned among other me “Bird Man” Something photographers. unique to panellie is Camthat images from he processes his start to finish his home. in “It’s a contro adding that l thing,” he said, room addict. he’s an old darkEverything from post-p cessing to roprinting, and stretch to sprayin g ing is done artist. by the “For me, going from ditional darkro a traom to a digital
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 6, NO. 18
2015
part of this agreement,” School Board Attorney Kristy Gavin said in a June 2 School Board workshop. If an agreement is reached, the SPLC will withdraw its complaint. SPLC attorney Amir Whitaker, who’d helped file the complaint against Flagler and four other northern Florida school districts, told board members at the workshop that he was impressed by the district’s progress. “I’m seeing things here that are not happening anywhere else,” he said. “For a few days, starting, I believe, in February, Katrina Townsend showed me around personally to a lot of the schools. I met with more than a dozen administrators — great leadership — and you all have the capacity and are striving to become the nation’s leader. So we believe all that can happen. … We took into consideration the individual needs of the schools, parents, community, and it’s all compiled into this agreement. I’m looking forward to the greatness that will continue to happen in Flagler.” Gavin laid out for the board members an outline of a potential agreement with the SPLC: The district will task the Coalition for Student Success with reviewing the district’s code of conduct, and checking its discipline data for disparities. The coalition’s membership, going forward, will contain two community members, one Sheriff’s Office representative, two high school students — they will be new additions to the coalition— a licensed mental health counselor, a representative from the Department of Juvenile Justice, a member of the school district’s administrative staff and Flagler Schools
Photos by Jonathan Simmons
“We took into consideration the individual needs of the schools, parents, community, and it’s all compiled into this agreement. I’m looking forward to the greatness that will continue to happen in Flagler.” AMIR WHITAKER, SPLC attorney
“The conversations around any kind of race relations are sometimes difficult, and I think when both parties can come to the table in a cooperative manner, we can get so much more accomplished together than we can apart.” COLLEEN CONKLIN, School Board Chairwoman
SEE AGREEMENT PAGE 5
Mayor on charter SEE PAGE 6
Sync and Swim SEE PAGE 15
VPK graduation! SEE PAGE 23