In a detailed response to FlaglerLive reporting and an opinion piece on the county’s plan to “defund” its portion of school sheriff’s deputies, County Commission Chair Andy Dance refutes the claim as inflammatory and out of context, and lays out a history of county attempts going back to 2022 to initiate a conversation about school and county funding for school deputies, in hopes of realigning those responsibilities. If that proves unfeasible, Dance pledges, than the shared responsibility will continue.
Guest Columns
The Rent Is Still Too High
Housing prices are spiraling alongside homelessness. Last year, homelessness hit an all-time national high of 653,100 people. To solve this crisis, we need to recognize housing as a human right.
The Controversial Concept of ‘Fetal Personhood’ Is Creeping Up on Florida
If fetuses have legal personhood, abortion-rights activists argue it would infringe the rights of pregnant women and have serious implications for medical procedures like in vitro fertilization and the treatment of ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages. For all practical matters, the Florida Constitution is silent on the issue of fetal personhood, despite Chief Justice Muniz’s suggestion that fetal personhood rights might already exist.
Trump Wants to Bring Kremlin Values to the White House
Trump is Putin’s lapdog; that’s been obvious since at least 2016, and his fealty now threatens NATO and the international order. Trump dares not defend our American values, much less question a political murder. There once was a time when Republicans stood steadfast against Russian abuse of human rights, but that abiding party principle has gone the way of the videocassette.
Sheriff Staly to County: ‘Defunding School Resources Deputies Is Fundamentally Wrong’
When the the County Commission first raised the possibility of ending its contribution to the Flagler County school district’s school resource deputy program a year ago, Sheriff Rick Staly wrote the commission chairman a four-page letter sharply criticizing the possibility and explaining why. Now that the County Commission is pushing that possibility further, Staly’s letter is relevant again, and presented here in full.
Sabotage of Biden’s Compromise Border Bill Proves It: GOP Wants Chaos, Not Solutions
Right-wing Republicans have squawked since forever that the only way to save this country from being overrun by non-white immigrants is to enact tough enforcement at the southern border. But now that they’ve finally gotten what they’ve always professed to want – a bipartisan Senate bill, with President Biden moving rightward in the spirit of compromise – Johnson and the rest of his MAGA misfits are decreeing that the whole package is DOA in the House.
This Hyper Talk of a Border ‘Invasion’ Is an Old American Playbook
With persecution, poverty, and climate change driving large numbers of migrants to the southern border, some in politics and the media are again pushing the panic button and purposely but inaccurately using words like “invasion” to describe problems at the border.
The Child Tax Credit Changed My Life. Bring It Back.
A myth exists in America that financial well-being follows if we just work hard and make good choices. But it’s not that simple. At some point, most of us face unforeseen obstacles — from physical or mental health challenges to lost jobs, economic downturns, and natural disasters. Along with low wages and other structural causes of poverty, that puts financial well-being out of reach for about 140 million people in this country.
Stop the LGBTQ Cheap Shots
There are some feel-good bills and cheap shots that require no courage to vote for and bring the political bonus of being difficult for an opponent to argue against this summer, when most legislators will be back home running for re-election. And no topic makes for easier demagoguery than sex, specifically any activity that makes strait-laced Republicans a little squeamish.
Proposed Building Moratorium Addressing Flooding Concerns: An Exchange Between Home Builders and Pontieri
Members of the Flagler Home Builders Association have been writing Palm Coast City Council members to urge them to vote No on a construction moratorium City Council member Theresa Pontieri has proposed for 60 to 90 days on so-called “infill” lots in the city’s sections platted by ITT. What follows is an exchange that took place today between a home builder and Pontieri on the proposal. The council meets Tuesday and may take up the issue then, depending on other developments.