Republican State Attorney General Ashley Moody has enlisted Florida in multi-state litigation challenging new Biden administration regulations protecting transgender people from discrimination in schools, colleges, and universities.
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Daily Cartoon and Briefing
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, May 2, 2024
Flagler, Palm Coast & Other Local
15-Year-Old Palm Coast Boy Critical After Electric Bike Collision with Pick-Up on Laramie and Lakeview
A 15-year-old Palm Coast adolescent was in critical condition Wednesday evening after a pick-up truck collided with the electric bike the 15 year old was riding as he crossed the intersection at Lakeview Boulevard and Laramie Drive in north Palm Coast.
Joan Naydich, Brendan Depa’s Victim of Beating, Details How ‘Everything Was Taken Away’ from Her
Joan Naydich, the former teacher’s aide at Matanzas High School, described how Brendan Depa destroyed her life at 10 o’clock that Tuesday morning in 2023, when the then-17-year-old special education student rushed her as she was leaving his classroom–after he spat on her–knocked her unconscious and pummeled her, all on video.
Flagler County and Ormond Beach Will Hold Extraordinary Meeting in Hopes of Resolving Dispute Over 1,750 Feet
The Flagler County and Ormond Beach city commissions will meet on May 16 in hopes of resolving a lawsuit Ormond Beach filed against the county, disputing Flagler’s use of a 1,750-foot stretch of dirt road on Ormond Beach’s side of the county line, through conservation land the county manages.
More Flagler, Palm Coast & Other Local
Jayden Jackson, 21, a Sheriff’s Deputy’s Son, Is Arrested in Hit-and-Run Death of Shaunta Cain on U.S. 1
Jayden Ikaika Jackson, the 21-year-old son of a Flagler County Sheriff’s deputy, was arrested on Monday on a first-degree felony charge of hit-and-run causing the death of 51-year-old Shaunta Cain in late 2022.
Veranda Bay Says It’s Ready to Annex Into Flagler Beach; Its 2,700 Future Homes Will Double City’s Size
Ken Belshe, who represents Veranda Bay, the planned 2700-home development along John Anderson Highway, told Flagler Beach’s city attorney in an email that voluntary annexation is a go. The city had been assiduously pursuing Veranda Bay to annex, amending its annexation ordinance to make it possible, courting Belshe with what amounted to a love letter, and with not a little bit of anticipatory drool, sharply increasing its development impact fees that would disproportionately be generated from Veranda Bay.
Man Accused of Woodlands Murder Judged Incompetent for Trial. State Hospital Won’t Take Him. Now What?
Charles Kidd, the 86-year-old former resident of 20 Blare Drive in Palm Coast’s Woodlands, where he is accused of shooting and killing 36-year-old Mark Ruschmeier last August, has been deemed incompetent to stand trial and ineligible for restorative treatment that could bring him back to court to face a second degree murder charge.
‘I Love You Mayor’: Palm Coast’s David Alfin Gets a Warmer Reception at Coffee Talk Than at Council
Based on the pillorying he regularly gets from the floor at Palm Coast City Council meetings, David Alfin can look like a mayor more embattled than front-running barely three months from an August primary. Judging from this morning’s town hall-style “Coffee Chat” with Alfin at Panera Bread, where he was warmly received, reports of Alin’s demise may be premature. “I love you Mayor” isn’t something you hear at council meetings lately. It was heard this morning.
Bunnell Man and His Family Wake Up to Find Ex at Foot of His Bed With a Knife, Ready to Attack
It is among the worst imaginable situations in one’s home: to wake up and see an armed, threatening assailant at the foot of the bed. It was even worse for R.G. and his family: his two young children were in the bedroom, as was his girlfriend. The assailant clenching a knife was his ex-wife, Melinda Gould, 40, who’d previously faced a stalking charge, and who earlier that night had been on the hunt for a gun. She now faces five felonies, one of them punishable by up to life in prison.
Chief Engert: How Flagler County Jail Stepped Up to Ensure Brendan Depa’s Continuing Education
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office and its jail were not responsible for the education of Brendan Depa, the former Matanzas High School student arrested over a year ago on a charge of aggravated battery of a school employee. Nevertheless, the jail, under the supervision of Chief Daniel Engert, has ensured that a team of volunteers and professionals have continued Depa’s education, with notable and continued successes.
Why Do Your Groceries Cost So Much? Price-Gouging, Not Inflation.
According to a new report by the Federal Trade Commission, the largest grocery retailers — which include Walmart, Kroger, and Amazon, which owns Whole Foods — used the pandemic as an excuse to raise prices across the board. The same is true for big agribusinesses like Tyson Foods and DuPont, which sell the lion’s share of meat products and seeds. These giant companies wrote themselves a blank check during Covid, which they now expect us to pay for.
Brendan Depa’s Sentence: Neither Vengeance Nor Mercy. Only Humane Justice.
On May 1 Circuit Judge Terence Perkins will sentence Brendan Depa on a charge that carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. The punishment will be nowhere near that: the sentencing guidelines don’t call for it, the incident doesn’t warrant it, and Perkins is not a hanging judge. The question is whether he will impose any prison time, and whether reason and justice, not mercy or vengeance, will prevail.
Palm Coast’s Alan Avellan Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison Over Secret Videos of a Child and Overt Sexual Acts
Alan Avellan Jr., the 38-year-old Palm Coast resident arrested last year on charges of casting pornographic videos to a television that children were watching in his house, was sentenced to three years in prison followed by eight years on sex-offender probation, and was designated a sex offender for life. He pleaded guilty to eight felonies that added up to a maximum of 70 years in prison, resulting from his abuse of children’s privacy and his own inappropriate acts in their presence.
Freudian Slip: City Rep’s ‘Hysteria’ Takes Farcical Look at Dali’s Meeting with “Father of Psychoanalysis”
British playwright Terry Johnson reimagined an actual, historically documented meeting between the 81-year-old Freud–father of psychiatry–and the 34-year-old Salvador Dali–the indomitable surrealist–into “Hysteria,” an intellectual farce that City Repertory Theatre’s John Sbordone calls “one of the funniest things that CRT has ever done.”
Majority of Palm Coast Council Candidates Oppose Pre-Election City Manager Hire, Others Fence-Sit, with Nuances
Six of the 11 non-incumbent candidates running for three Palm Coast City Council seats oppose the council’s decision to hire a new city manager before this year’s elections, which will turn over at least two of the council’s five seats, and possibly three, if Mayor David Alfin is not re-elected. Three candidates are on the fence about it, seeing strong arguments on both sides. Only one favors the hire outright.
The Conversation
The Down Side of Pot Legalization: Potency on Steroids
There are arguments for and against increasing legalization of cannabis for adult use in the U.S., but expanded access to legal cannabis also may have unintended consequences for adolescents. These consequences are compounded by the increasing potency of some cannabis products.
Florida and Beyond
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, May 1, 2024
The Brendan Depa sentencing is scheduled, Weekly Chess Club for Teens, the Flagler County Republican Club, are Americans moving from blue to red states, Harry James, Frederick Douglass.
What Cities Can Learn from Seattle’s Racial and Social Justice Law
The right-wing political campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion policies taking place in several states across the U.S. has called into question the nation’s commitment to achieving racial equality. In this landscape, Seattle is marking a milestone of sorts – the first anniversary of adopting its Race and Social Justice Initiative ordinance.
Arrests and Threats of Expulsions of Students Protesting Gaza War Increase at Florida University Campuses
Arrests of protesters on Florida university campuses increased this week, after tensions ratcheted up at the University of Florida and the University of South Florida during demonstrations about the war between Israel and Hamas. The arrests Monday of a dozen people at the two Florida universities came as pro-Palestinian campus protests draw attention across the country. The ACLU of Florida denounced the threats of expulsions, calling protest a fundamental right.
Briefs and Releases
Trial of Andrew Mintz Over Crash in Flagler Beach Pushed to July
Florida’s New Law Requiring Disclosure of AI in Political Ads Termed Weak
William Bartram Living History Fest at Alpine Groves Park Marks Naturalist Visit’s 250th Anniversary
With Zero Evidence, Florida Surgeon General Says Mask Wearers ‘Just Like to Hide Their Faces’
Flagler Free Clinic Announces Expanded Access for More Floridians
More Florida and Beyond
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, April 30, 2024
Docket sounding in court with the cases of Kim Zaheer, Qwinntavus Kwame Jordan, Marcus Chamblin, ‘First Date,’ at St. Augustine’s Limelight Theatre, the Library of America’s final volume in the Updike novel collection.
Florida’s 6-Week Abortion ban Goes in Effect Wednesday. Here’s What It Means for Patients and the South.
More than 25,000 women traveled to Florida for an abortion over the past five years, most from states like Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi with little or no access to abortion. Hundreds traveled from as far as Texas. Starting on May 1, Florida’s 6-week ban goes in effect. The ban could be short-lived if 60% of Florida voters in November approve a constitutional amendment adding the right to an abortion.
Gaza Protests: College Administrators Fall For Right-Wing Trap
Throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s, conservative activists led a counterattack against campus antiwar and civil rights demonstrators by demanding action from college presidents and police. College presidents routinely caved to the demands of conservative legislators, angry taxpayers and other wellsprings of anticommunist outrage against students striking for peace and civil rights. They’re doing it again regarding Gaza-war protesters.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, April 29, 2024
Coffee Chat and Town Hall Meeting with Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin, Cynthia Ozick at 96 and what she looked like when she was 64, Duke Ellington and the fates.
The Cicadas Are Coming. But Not to Florida.
In the wake of North America’s recent solar eclipse, another historic natural event is on the horizon. From late April through June 2024, the largest brood of 13-year cicadas, known as Brood XIX, will co-emerge with a midwestern brood of 17-year cicadas, Brood XIII.
1st Amendment Lawsuit Over Florida School District’s Ban of Children’s Book Cleared to Proceed
A federal judge has ruled that two authors and a student can pursue First Amendment claims against the Escambia County School Board over the removal of the children’s book “And Tango Makes Three” from library shelves. But U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor, in a 27-page decision Thursday, dismissed allegations against state education officials and leaders of the Lake County school district.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, April 28, 2024
‘Hysteria,’ At Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre, Cabbage, Potato and Bacon Festival, ‘First Date,’ at St. Augustine’s Limelight Theatre, meanwhile, back in the West Bank.
The Stepped Up Assault on Abortion and LGBTQ Rights Ahead
When the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to get an abortion in June 2022, Justice Clarence Thomas suggested that the court “should reconsider” other rights it currently recognizes – like the rights for same-sex couples to have sex and marry. If the Supreme Court overturns legal precedents on these and other issues, old state laws that haven’t been enforced, possibly for centuries, can suddenly spring back to life.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, April 27, 2024
Peps Art Walk near JT’s Seafood Shack, ‘Hysteria,’ At Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre, Cabbage, Potato and Bacon Festival in Hastings, how Britain, France and the United States set the template for a century of war in the Middle East.
From Reagan’s Shining City on a Hill to Trump’s Apocalyptic Christian Nationalism
While Reagan and Trump – two of the most media-savvy Republican presidents – used religion to advance their political visions, their messages and missions are starkly different. Trump’s religious vision is rooted in white Christian nationalism, the belief that the white Christians who founded America hoped to spread Protestant beliefs and ideals. According to white Christian nationalists, the founders also wanted to limit the influence of non-Christian immigrants and enslaved Africans.
Supreme Court Appears Likely to Side With Trump on Some Presidential Immunity
Some of the court’s conservative justices expressed concern about the prospect that, if former presidents do not have immunity, federal criminal laws could be used to target political opponents. However, the justices left open the prospect that Trump’s trial in Washington, D.C., could still go forward because the charges against him rest on his private, rather than his official, conduct.
Commentary
Could a Video Game Developer Win the Nobel Prize for Literature?
How do we account for other language-based forms of expression? If performed works such as theatre or songwriting can be considered literature, where is the limit? And why aren’t video games considered a form of expression?
Journalism in Crisis
In journalism school, students learn their craft while engaging with critical questions about their roles and responsibilities. They are often taught by previous or current journalists, whose work experiences prepare them to help students tackle reporting challenges. Crises ask journalism educators, students and practitioners to grapple with sharing stories about what the future could hold. What will journalists’ jobs look like in five years? Or 25 years?
Antarctica’s Sea Ice Hits Another Low
Even just a decade ago, sea ice reliably rebuilt itself each winter. But something has changed in how the Southern Ocean works and the area covered by sea ice has decreased dramatically.