A1A's Various Futures, Rebecca Lawless in Court, Portman's Jackie Kennedy

state road a1a — The public gets a first look at options for permanent repairs of State Road A1A in Flagler Beach today, presented by the Florida Department of Transportation in an open house at Flagler Beach City Hall for most of the afternoon. See below. (© FlaglerLive)

Today: Cooler. Mostly cloudy in the morning then clearing. Highs in the upper 60s. North winds 10 to 15 mph. Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows around 50 inland in the lower 50s coast. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph. Details here.
Drought Index is at 396.
Today’s tides: at the beaches, at the Intracoastal Waterway.
Today’s document from the National Archives.
The OED’s Word of the Day: herogram, n..
The Live Community Calendar
Today’s jail bookings.

Today’s Briefing: Quick Links

First Light
In Flagler and Palm Coast
Flagler Jail Bookings and Sheriff’s Crime Reports
In State Government
In Coming Days in Flagler, Palm Coast and Beyond
The Day’s Best Reads
Fact-Checking the Knaves
Palm Coast Construction and Development
Local Road and Interstate Construction
Cultural Coda

“My Paris neighbor spends his time in an office, where he sits for eight hours facing an office colleague, then he sits in his car and drives home, turns on the TV, and when the announcer informs him that in the latest public opinion poll the majority of Frenchmen voted their country the safest in Europe (I recently read such a report), he is overjoyed and opens a bottle of champagne without ever learning that three thefts and two murders were committed on his street that very day. […] And since for contemporary man reality is a continent visited less and less often and, besides, justifiably disliked, the findings of polls have become a kind of higher reality, or to put it differently: they have become the truth. Public opinion polls are a parliament in permanent session, whose function it is to create truth, the most democratic truth that has ever existed.”

–Milan Kundera, from Immortality (2000).

In Flagler and Palm Coast:

Note: all government meetings noticed below are free and open to the public unless otherwise indicated. Many can be heard or seen live through each agency’s website.

rebecca lawless arrest before crash — Rebecca Lawless.

Rebecca Lawless docket sounding: Rebecca Lawless is the 27-year-old Palm Coast woman facing a DUI manslaughter charge in the death of Diane Upton in a wreck on State Road 100 on Oct. 18, 2015. She has a docket sounding in front of Circuit Judge Matthew Foxman at 1:30 p.m. in Courtroom 401 at the Flagler County Courthouse. Docket sounding is the last step before trial, which would be scheduled at today’s session absent a plea.

Flagler Beach’s A1A: The Florida Department of Transportation hosts a public meeting on the long-term improvement strategies for the reconstruction of State Road A1A in Flagler Beach at the south end of town. The meeting is scheduled from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Flagler Beach City Hall, 105 S 2nd St, Flagler Beach. The meeting will be an open house with an ongoing loop presentation. The purpose of the public meeting is to present initial findings related to existing and future conditions and to receive input from interested stakeholders.

The Flagler County Historical Society is having a Holiday Open House from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Holden House, 204 East Moody Boulevard, Bunnell. Author Sandra Thurlow who has complied a history of the US Life-Saving Service, Florida’s East Coast will be present. Refreshments will be served. The public is invited to attend. For information contact Susan Baird at 437-8414.

Belle Terre Elementary School Winter Musical, 6:30 p.m. at the school cafeteria.

Matanzas High School Band and Chorus Holiday Concert, 7 p.m. at the Flagler Auditorium.

Rotary Club’s Annual Fantasy Lights Festival: It is open each night in December from 6:30 p.m. to 9. Entry into the park is free but donations are accepted. Proceeds from the event go back into community projects funded by Rotary.

In Florida and in State Government:

Note: Some proceedings below can be followed live on the Florida Channel.

The Florida Supreme Court is expected to release its weekly opinions at 11 a.m.

–Compiled by the News Service of Florida and FlaglerLive

In Coming Days in Palm Coast, Flagler and the Occasional Beyond:

♦ Dec. 16: Flagler County Clerk of Court-elect Tom Bexley and his staff will host a farewell celebration for Gail Wadsworth, the long-time court clerk who retired this year, at 3:30 p.m. on the steps of the Kim Hammond Justice Center (the Flagler County Courthouse). All are invited. (Bexley becomes the Clerk of Court on Jan. 3.)
♦ Dec. 16: Holiday Crafts in the Park at Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area in Flagler Beach: Join us from 1 to 2 p.m. at the Killdeer pavilion, on the west side of the park, where Volunteer Debbie will show you how to make a Snowman holiday ornament. Bring a small hand towel if you have one. Adults and children 13 and older. Class is limited to 15 participants. Please register at Eventbrite.com. This program is free with paid park admission. There will also be a class for a reindeer ornament on Dec. 21st at 1-2 pm. Event Contact: 386-517-2086.
♦ Dec. 16: The ninth annual Christmas With a Deputy, when 100 poorer children get to go on a $150 shopping spree with a cop at Target, starts at 6:30 p.m. from City Centre in Palm Coast’s Town Center, with a long convoy of cop cars, sirens blaring and lights flashing. Details here.
♦ Dec. 17: Annual Holiday Boat Parade at 6 p.m., presented by the Palm Coast Yacht Club. Boats will be lighted and begin departing the Cimmaron Basin, following this route: Cimmaron Basin to Intracoastal Waterway, turn south, passing Tidelands, Canopy Walk, St. Joe’s Walkway, Waterfront Park, Island Estates, then turning at Grand Haven Gazebo before heading back north to Clubhouse Waterway.
♦ Dec. 17: Starlight 5K at 6 p.m., in and around Central Park in Town Center, 975 Central Ave. The run is part of the Run Flagler P.A.L. Running Series. More info: www.triumphraces.com.
♦ Dec. 17: Dance Around Flagler recital at the Flagler Auditorium, 3 p.m.
♦ Dec. 19: The Flagler County Commission holds a 4 p.m. reception–one hour ahead of its regularly scheduled meeting–to honor Barbara Revels, whose eight years of service as one of only two women ever elected to the county commission ended on Nov. 8, when Dave Sullivan defeated her. The reception will be held in board chambers at the Government Services Building, Bunnell.
♦ Dec. 20: Learn about historic and interesting Flagler County sites with local author Bill Ryan as your guide. The bus leaves at 10 a.m. from the Holden House, 206 East Moody Boulevard, Bunnell, and returns at 2:30 p.m. The cost is $20 per person which does not include lunch at Bull Creek Fish Camp. To make reservations or for more information call 386-439-5003.
♦ Dec. 21: Rep. Paul Renner and Sen. Travis Hutson, who form Flagler County’s legislative delegation, will host the annual delegation meeting in board chambers at the Government Services Building in Bunnell to hear concerns and legislative wish-lists from local officials and residents, ahead of the 2017 legislative session. To get on the agenda, call 386/446-7644.
♦ Dec. 22: The All Flagler Democratic Club meets at the Palm Coast Community Center, 7-8:30pm. The first hour is devoted to a presentation featuring three losing Demovcratic candidates for office in the last election, who will speak on the theme of “What I learned Running For Office.” The discussion is moderated by Merrill Shapiro, and features Bill McCullough, who ran for a congressional seat, Doug Courtney, who ran for Clerk of Court, and John Brady, who ran for mayor of Palm Coast. The presentation will be followed by the business portion of the meeting. The public is invited regardless of party registration. Questions: call Sheila Zinkerman, interim president, at 904/451-0301. (See background on the previous meeting here.)
♦ Jan. 7: Daytona State College Enrollment Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wetherell Center (Bldg. 100), 1200 W. International Speedway Blvd., Daytona Beach. Students can take advantage of the one-stop events to complete everything from admission to registration and have a chance to win a $350 scholarship (Dec. 10 only) for a free class from the Daytona State Foundation. Students start by completing a Daytona State application, then meet with an Admissions Advisor and Financial Aid Counselor, take an assessment test (if applicable), meet with an Academic Advisor, and then lock in their schedule.
♦ Feb. 6: The great violinist Itzhak Perlman opens the 2017 season of the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival with a 7:30 p.m. performance at First Baptist Church, 1600 South 8th Street in Fernandina Beach. Tickets here.
♦ March 7: Bunnell and Flagler Beach hold their municipal elections.

The Day’s Best Reads:

A Syrian hopes world hears “our final scream from the last free neighborhoods in Aleppo.” https://t.co/xqvlhTeycm pic.twitter.com/3FZwnQwc8E

— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) December 14, 2016

The Muslim database that Silicon Valley doesn’t want to build already exists https://t.co/DKIoAny54L

— New York Magazine (@NYMag) December 14, 2016

Four years after Sandy Hook, barely anyone thinks we're closer to stopping gun violence https://t.co/BAfFBBqND5 pic.twitter.com/rrDJiVE9eY

— HuffPost (@HuffPost) December 14, 2016

A visceral portrait of grief, with a career-defining performance from Natalie Portman https://t.co/mw4aZa5eDx

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) December 14, 2016

https://twitter.com/humanprogress/status/809163063664541697

A Twitter List by PierreTristam

Palm Coast Construction and Development Progress Reports

The following is an update of ongoing permitting, construction and development projects in Palm Coast, through Dec. 2 (the city administration’s full week in review is here):

Click to access development-palm-coast-dec-2.pdf

Road and Interstate Construction: