Monday Briefing: Kimberle Weeks Trial, Coffey Contract, $15 Million For Emergency Communications, Right Whales Are Not Birthing

Jury selection begins today in the trial of Kimberle Weeks, three years after the state filed felony charges alleging she illegally recorded or disseminated recordings of conversations with individuals who did not know they were being recorded. (© FlaglerLive)

Today: Partly cloudy. Highs around 80. South winds 5 mph shifting to the east in the afternoon. Tonight: Partly cloudy. Patchy fog after midnight. Lows around 60. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph. Details here.
Today’s document from the National Archives and the Astronomy Picture of the Day.
Today’s tides: at the beaches, at the Intracoastal Waterway.
Drought Index234
The OED’s Word of the Day: alastor, 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 Last 24 Hours of Incident Reports
Announcements
In State Government
In Coming Days in Flagler, Palm Coast and Beyond
The Day’s Best Reads
Editor’s Tweets
Fact-Checking the Knaves
Palm Coast Construction and Development
Local Road and Interstate Construction
Cultural Coda

“Children and grandchildren observe in order to admire, and they admire in order to learn and develop what heredity has stored within them.”

–Thomas Mann, from “The Magic Mountain.”

Previously:

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.

The Sheriff’s daily incident reports and jail bookings are posted here.

In Court: A trial is scheduled in the case of Kimberle Weeks, who faces five third-degree felony counts of illegally recording or disclosing phone conversations (down from 12 counts). Weeks was charged in early 2015, shortly after she resigned as Flagler County’s supervisor of elections. Jury selection begins today before Judge Margaret Hudson at 9 a.m. in Courtroom 401, at the Flagler County courthouse.

The Flagler County Commission meets at 9 a.m. at the Government Services Building, Bunnell. On the agenda: County Administrator Craig Coffey is asking that his and County Attorney Al Hadeed’s contracts be renewed (they expire in February 2019), but that this time they not be term-limited, as the previous contract was (to three years). Commissioners are expected to appoint Flagler Beach City Commissioner Eric Cooley to the Tourist Development Council, James Crehan as a member of the Airport Advisory Board, continuing his term until June 5, 2020, and Daryl Hickman as the alternate member to the airport board. Commissioners are also expected to ratify a $700,000 contract to EarthBalance Corp. for beach dune vegetation services, a $4.5 million contract for the construction of the Plantation Bay sewer treatment facility, and a $14.8 million contract to Motorola Solutions to build the county’s emergency communications backbone and replace the current 800 Mhz. communications system.

The Flagler County Veterans Advisory Council meets at 4 p.m. in the First Floor Conference room of the Government Services Building, 1769 E. Moody Blvd., Bunnell.

Blood Donations: The Big Red Bus will be at the following locations this week:

Monday: Government Services Building, Bunnell, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Thursday: Bunnell City offices, 201 West Moody Boulevard, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Thursday: Sandvik Kanthal Palm Coast, 1 Commerce Boulevard, 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday: Aaron’s, 229 St. Joe’s Plaza, Palm Coast, 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday: Walmart, 174 Cypress Point Parkway, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Jail Bookings and Last 24 Hours' Incidents in Flagler, Palm Coast, Flagler Beach, Bunnell


Jail Bookings, June 19-22 Sheriff's night shift incident reports, June 21 Sheriff's day shift incident reports, June 21 Flagler Beach's night shift incident reports, June 21 Flagler Beach's day shift incident reports, June 21 Bunnell police's night shift incident reports, June 21 Bunnell police's day shift incident reports, June 21
Previous and archived reports

Sources: Flagler County Sheriff's Office, Flagler Beach Police Department, Bunnell Police Department. This is Flagler County's only comprehensive, one-stop compilation of all local law enforcement's daily day and night shift commanders' reports.

Announcements:

Fort Matanzas and Castillo de San Marcos Summer Camps: Fort Matanzas and Castillo de San Marcos National Monuments are pleased to announce dates for the annual summer camp program! Hands-on-History & Nature Camp at Fort Matanzas is June 4-8. Hands-on-History Camps at the Castillo are June 18-22 and June 25-29.
All three camps run Monday-Friday; from 9:00 am – 1:00 pm. Park Rangers, Teacher-Ranger-Teachers from St. Johns County, and knowledgeable volunteers will engage campers, ages 9-11, with interactive presentations, hands-on projects, games, and living history demonstrations. The camps cover a variety of topics, including: Archaeology, Native Americans, Nature, Spanish Exploration, Colonial Florida, and Spanish Military. Last year, students worked on projects involving pottery, leatherwork, textiles, musket drills and more! Space is limited; sign your child up soon to take advantage of this opportunity! The cost for camp is a nonrefundable fee of $25. Registration begins on Monday, April 2. Contact Mary Sims, Administrative Assistant, Mon.-Fri., between 8:00 am- 4:00 pm. Messages left on voicemail will be returned in the order they were received. In your message, please state that you are calling about camp and leave only your name and phone number. Call 904-829-6506 ext. 227 to reserve your spot.

In Florida and in State Government:

Note: Some proceedings below can be followed live on the Florida Channel. Most legislative proceedings can be followed through the Senate or House websites.

OPIOID DISPENSING ON TABLE: The Controlled Substance Standards Committee of the Florida Board of Pharmacy will discuss issues related to dispensing opioid prescriptions and legislation involving controlled substances. (Monday, 3 p.m., Residence Inn Tallahassee Universities at the Capitol, 600 West Gaines St., Tallahassee.)

—-Compiled by the News Service of Florida and FlaglerLive

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

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The Day’s Best Reads:

This terrifying video shows how local TV stations across America are parroting pro-Trump propaganda https://t.co/iAymX2ZlVS pic.twitter.com/4IYfWYT6cN

— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) March 31, 2018

Trump’s new National Security Adviser John Bolton has been instrumental in launching wars and scrapping arms control treaties – just the man for the job as the U.S. embarks on a new arms race with Russia, Ray McGovern sardonically observes: https://t.co/kIxHKCBHie pic.twitter.com/8r1JF1WreU

— Truthdig (@Truthdig) March 31, 2018

‘2 Bitter Options’ for Syrians Trapped Between Assad and Extremists https://t.co/BqTPXUzSx2

— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 31, 2018

North Atlantic right whales may be on edge of extinction. There's been zero births this year. https://t.co/tnFRQkVjNa pic.twitter.com/DpLsEyoaPw

— CNN International (@cnni) March 28, 2018