Thursday Briefing: National Coming Out Day, Heat Index to 103, Flagler Beach’s Comp Plan, Road Closures

At last weekend’s Creekside Festival, the Flagler Chamber of Commerce, which sponsored the event, positioned its booth between that of the Flagler Democratic Party and the Flagler Republican Party. No scuffles were reported. (© FlaglerLive)

Today: Partly cloudy. Highs in the lower 90s. Southwest winds 10 to 15 mph. Heat index readings 99 to 103 Tonight: Mostly clear in the evening then becoming partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 60s. West 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 Index: 237
The OED’s Word of the Day: Bumble, 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
• Fact-Checking the Knaves
• Palm Coast Construction and Development
• Local Road and Interstate Construction
• Cultural Coda

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.

This is Fire Safety Week. It is also homecoming week at Flagler Palm Coast High School.

The Flagler Education Foundation leads one of its bi-monthly free tours of the school district’s Classroom to Careers Flagship Programs. Each public school offers a unique Flagship Program, which allows students unique opportunities to discover paths that lead them from the classroom to career success. The tours visit one or two schools at a time, with student ambassadors that take the group on a guided tour of their programs. Community members are able to interact with the students, the Education Foundation, and school staff to ask questions about the programs. The goal is to inform the public of the programs students participate in from Kindergarten through high school. There are currently 23 programs spread over all nine traditional public schools. Anyone interested in participating may contact the Education Foundation’s Shelley Wheeler at wheelers@flaglerschools.com or 386-437-8929 x1123, for the time and location to meet. Per our school safety guidelines everyone will need to bring a picture ID to enter the schools. Today’s tours: Rymfire Elementary’s medical and fitness program at 10 a.m., and Belle Terre Elementary School’s Green technologies program at 11 a.m.

The Flagler Beach City Commission meets at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall. Commissioners hold a public hearing to adopt the city’s revised comprehensive plan, its blueprint for future development.

Evening at the Whitney Lecture Series: “Many ways to regenerate: Cell plasticity and migratory stem cells in marine hydroid,” a lecture by Dr. Christine Schnitzler, assistant professor of biology at Whitney Laboratory. Lectures and parking are free and registration or reservations are not necessary. The event is at 7 p.m. at Center for Marine Studies, Lohman Auditorium, 9505 Ocean Shore Blvd., St. Augustine, Florida. For further details, call (904) 461-4000.

Today is National Coming Out Day: From the Human Rights Campaign: “Nearly 30 years ago, on the anniversary of the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, we first observed National Coming Out Day as a reminder that one of our most basic tools is the power of coming out. One out of every two Americans has someone close to them who is gay or lesbian. For transgender people, that number is only one in 10. Coming out – whether it is as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or allied – STILL MATTERS. When people know someone who is LGBTQ, they are far more likely to support equality under the law. Beyond that, our stories can be powerful to each other. In honor of National Coming Out Day, HRC honors all who have come out as LGBTQ or as a straight ally for equality – that takes bravery, and we commend you.”

Road closure: The City of Palm Coast Public Works Department is planning a temporary road closure on Poince Place, near where it intersects with Point of Woods Drive, on Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 10 and 11, as it installs a new drainage pipe. Poince Place will be closed 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. both days. Residents on Poince will be notified in advance that they will not be able to drive on Poince during those hours. For the overnight hours Wednesday, the City will place a metal plate on the roadway overnight. Motorists and pedestrians should use extra caution when traveling in that area. For more information, call Customer Service at 386-986-2360.

Palm Coast Road Closure through Oct. 15: The City of Palm Coast plans to temporarily close a section of Wellington Drive – from Village Circle (the Wellington/Village intersection farthest from Pine Lakes Parkway) to Lago Vista Place – beginning Monday, Oct. 1, and continuing through Oct. 15. This temporary road closure is necessitated by a City project to upgrade a utility pump station. This temporary road closure will be 24 hours a day during the project. Detours will be in place to help neighborhood residents and other motorists reach their destinations. For more information, call Customer Service at 386-986-2360.

Blood Donations: The Big Red Bus will be at the following locations this week (schedule your donation by going to the website and entering a Palm Coast zip code, then locating one of the venues below):

• Thursday: Epic Theaters, 1185 Central Avenue, Palm Coast, 1:30 to 6 p.m.
• Saturday: Coldwell Banker Day, Palm Coast, 211 St Joe Plaza Dr., 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

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

Jail Bookings, May 2-3 Sheriff's night shift incident reports, May 2 Sheriff's day shift incident reports, May 2 Flagler Beach's night shift incident reports, May 2 Flagler Beach's day shift incident reports, May 2 Bunnell police's night shift incident reports, May 2 Bunnell police's day shift incident reports, May 2
Previous and archived reports

Announcements:

Intracoastal Bank Announces Anand Jobalia As Board Member: Jobalia has over 18 years of business and community experience in the Flagler and Volusia market area. He has a long term track record of success with a variety of businesses in the real estate development and hotel industries. His many business ventures include the redevelopment of the Lotus Inn and Suites and the refurbishment of the Mainsail Hotel. In addition Jobalia has developed various single family residential communities in the Volusia and Flagler markets. He is also active in the community with his affiliation with the Margarita Society and the Hindu Society of Daytona Beach. Together with his wife Dr. Reena Sachdev they are raising their children here in our community.

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.

DUKE POWER PURCHASES AT ISSUE: The Florida Public Service Commission will take up a series of issues during a regular meeting and then will hold what is known as an internal-affairs meeting. Issues during the regular meeting include a proposal by Duke Energy Florida to spend $34.5 million to end electricity purchases from a Polk County power plant. Duke has an agreement to buy power from Ridge Generating Station, L.P. through 2023, according to a filing at the commission. But Duke said the agreement is “no longer cost-effective” for its customers and, as a result, wants to pay $34.5 million to terminate the agreement. Duke would recoup the $34.5 million from customers but said in the filing that ending the agreement would ultimately save $37.6 million to $44 million for customers. Duke said it was cost-effective in the past to buy power from the Ridge plant but that Duke’s “avoided costs” — essentially other ways of meeting the customers’ needs — have decreased. (Thursday, 9 a.m., Betty Easley Conference Center, 4075 Esplanade Way, Tallahassee.)

UTILITY SITE PLANS, SOLAR PROJECTS DISCUSSED: The Florida Public Service Commission will hold a meeting about what are known as utility “10-year site plans” and then have a hearing on a proposal by Tampa Electric Co. to recoup money from customers for five solar-energy projects. The Public Service Commission in 2017 approved a settlement agreement that set Tampa Electric’s base electric rates until 2022. Part of that agreement allowed the utility to return to the commission to seek approval to recover money for solar projects. The proposed projects total 260.3 megawatts, with a cost of $46 million, according to the utility’s filing with the commission. (Thursday, the site-plan meeting and Tampa Electric hearing will follow an earlier Public Service Commission regular meeting and an internal-affairs meeting, Betty Easley Conference Center, 4075 Esplanade Way, Tallahassee.)

TRANSIT GRANTS OUTLINED: The Florida Department of Transportation will hold a workshop about the 2019-2020 federal transit grant application process. (Thursday, 10 a.m., FDOT Jacksonville Urban Training Center, 2198 Edison Ave., Jacksonville.)

SUPREME COURT RELEASES OPINIONS: The Florida Supreme Court is expected to release its regular weekly opinions. (Thursday, 11 a.m.)

CITRUS FORECAST ISSUED: The U.S. Department of Agriculture will release its first monthly forecast for Florida’s 2018-2019 citrus growing season. (Thursday, noon.)

SCHOOL SAFETY COMMISSION MEETS: The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, which was created by the state after the Feb. 14 mass shooting that killed 17 people at a Parkland school, will meet in Broward County. The commission is expected to discuss proposed findings and recommendations on a series of issues. (Thursday, 2 p.m., Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Sunrise-Sawgrass, 13400 West Sunrise Blvd., Sunrise.)

LANDRIEU SPEAKS AT TIGER BAY: Former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu will speak during a 40th anniversary event of the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club. (Thursday, 6 p.m., University of South Florida St. Petersburg, University Student Center, 200 Sixth Ave. South, St. Petersburg.)

—-Compiled by the News Service of Florida and FlaglerLive

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

To • include your event in this section, please fill out this form. ♦ May 28: The Flagler County Opioid Task Force meets at 6 p.m. at the Flagler County Public Library, 2500 Palm Coast Parkway. (note the venue change: it had previously been scheduled at the Government Services Building). The task force will meet the fourth Tuesday of every month at the library through November. ♦ May 29: The Blue Power 2020 forum, hosted by Mike Cocchiola, who heads the Flagler County Democratic Party, meets at 12:30 p.m. at the Democrats' office, 2 Office Park Drive, Suite D, all welcome. The weekly forum is intended to discuss local, state and national issues and to develop action plans to influence policy. ♦ May 30: Flagler Palm Coast High School and Matanzas High School hold graduation ceremonies at the Daytona Beach Ocean Center. Matanzas High School’s ceremony begins at 4 p.m. and Flagler Palm Coast High School’s starts at 7. Doors to the Ocean Center open one hour before the start of each ceremony. The student procession begins approximately 15 minutes prior to the start of the ceremony. Tickets for the ceremonies are free. However, both schools have a 10-ticket limit per student. There may be opportunities for additional tickets. Students will be notified and information is located on each school’s website. Parking passes are also available for pre-purchase. Parking is $5. security measures instituted last year will be in place this year. Please take note and be prepared before you head to the Ocean Center. There will be security checks before ticket holders are allowed entry into the ceremony. Watch livestreams of the ceremonies: Matanzas here, and FPC here. ♦ May 31-June 1, 2 and 8: American Red Cross Lifeguard Certification Class – May 31-June 2 and June 8, Friday 5-6:30 p.m.; Saturdays and Sunday 8 a.m.-4 p.m. at Palm Coast Aquatics Center, 339 Parkview Drive. The American Red Cross Lifeguarding course provides entry-level knowledge and skills to prevent, recognize and respond to aquatic emergencies and to provide care for breathing and cardiac emergencies, injuries, and sudden illnesses until emergency medical services (EMS) personnel take over. For ages 15 and up. Cost is $200 (includes CPR mask and certification fee). Registration required at www.parksandrec.fun/aquatics. More info: 386-986-4741. ♦ June 1: The Palm Coast Arts Foundation hosts its First Saturday Creative Bazaar, an arts and crafts flea market. at 1500 Central Avenue in Town center. Arts foundation members and other vendors will have booths of goods for sale. 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. ♦ June 1: 2nd Annual Neighbors Helping Neighbors Golf Benefit for Homeless Animals: Neighbors Helping Neighbors is a local group of business professionals coming together to raise money for the Halifax Humane Society. Join us for 18-holes of premiere golf at the legendary LPGA International Golf Club. Shot gun start at 8 a.m. Registration at 7. 1000 Champions Drive Daytona Beach. To download entry form, visit https://www.halifaxhumanesociety.org/events/index and then scroll down to the golf outing listing. Hole Sponsorship $100. Single Player $125. Lunch Provided. For more information contact Gus Schutt (386) 233-5302. ♦ June 4: Daytona Tortugas Youth Baseball Clinic, 8:30 a.m-12 p.m. at Indian Trails Sports Complex, 5455 Belle Terre Pkwy., Palm Coast. The Daytona Tortugas will be teaching kids, ages 7-13, skills to improve their ball game in this coed baseball clinic. Grab your glove and bat and learn from the pros! Participants will receive a free ticket to a Daytona Tortugas game. $37/person. Registration required at www.parksandrec.fun/camps. More info: 386-986-2323. ♦ June 4: The Hammock Community Association meets at 7:30 p.m. at the Hammock Community Center on MalaCompra Road, with County Attorney Al Hadeed as speaker, who will present a History of the Hammock Part II. ♦ June 5: The Blue Power 2020 Action Forum, 12:30 p.m. at the Democrats' office, 2 Office Park Drive, Suite D. Come and join other progressive Democrats to discuss local, state and national issues, and propose actions to influence elected leaders. The Forum is open and informal and all opinions and ideas are welcomed. This is your opportunity to meet and lend your voice and knowledge to people who share your values. For more information, contact Mike Cocchiola, palmcoastdemocraticclub@gmail.com. The Blue Power forum meets every Wednesday. ♦ June 7: Coffee Series: 9-10 a.m. at Palm Coast Community Center, 305 Palm Coast Pkwy. NE. This month’s topic: “The History and Development of Palm Coast” with Elaine Studnicki of the Palm Coast Historical Society. The event is free, but registration is required (while space available) by 9 a.m. June 5: www.parksandrec.fun/adults. More info: 386-986-2323. ♦ June 7: Daytona State College holds another session in its strategic planning process for 2020-2023 and wants your ideas and insights about initiatives the college might pursue during that timeframe. The session is from 9 to 10 a.m. at DSC's Hosseini Center, in the ballroom, 1200 W. International Speedway Blvd. Daytona Beach. Interactive focus groups are scheduled on each campus, starting at the end of April and ending the second week of June. Faculty, staff, students and the public are invited to attend and participate. Plan to attend and share your vision for DSC’s future. To participate, bring your mobile device (cell phone, tablet, etc.). For more information, contact Dr. Karla Moore, (386) 506-3650, Karla.Moore@DaytonaState.edu; or John Brady, (386) 506-3837, John.Brady@DaytonaState.edu. ♦ June 8: The 2019 Flagler County Republican Club's annual barbecue is scheduled from 4 to 9 p.m. at Caldwell Dairy Barn at the Florida Agricultural Museum, 7900 Old Kings Road, $20 per ticket, $35 for couples, with a live auction. Be sure to get your cookbook out and slip on your apron if you're taking part in the 3rd Annual Blue Ribbon Cake & Pie Contest. One of the most anticipated competitions of the year, bakers tempt celebrity judges with their skill and guests get to enjoy sampling the entries! Enjoy tours of the museum's grounds and historic buildings from 4-6 pm, followed by food, music and live auctions in the evening. ♦ June 10-14: Tennis Summer Camp (Session 1) – Monday-Friday, 9 a.m-4pm. at Belle Terre Park, 339 Parkview Drive, Palm Coast. Tennis and so much more! Please come with athletic clothes and shoes, swimsuit (for the pool), water bottle, sunscreen, lunch, snacks and drinks. For ages 6-13 years. $175/week. Registration required at www.parksandrec.fun/camps. More info: 386-986-2550. ♦ June 10: Daytona State College holds another session in its strategic planning process for 2020-2023 and wants your ideas and insights about initiatives the college might pursue during that timeframe. The session, the only one in Flagler, is from 9 to 11 a.m. at DSC's Student Center Building on the Palm Coast campus, Room 106. Interactive focus groups are scheduled on each campus, starting at the end of April and ending the second week of June. Faculty, staff, students and the public are invited to attend and participate. Plan to attend and share your vision for DSC’s future. To participate, bring your mobile device (cell phone, tablet, etc.). For more information, contact Dr. Karla Moore, (386) 506-3650, Karla.Moore@DaytonaState.edu; or John Brady, (386) 506-3837, John.Brady@DaytonaState.edu. For events beyond this date, see the fuller Coming Days here.

Keep Up with Donald Trump’s attacks on the press through the ACLU’s running tab here.

Keep Up with mass shootings in a running database here.

Palm Coast Construction and Development Progress Reports

Here’s a summary of the latest city developments as of Sept. 14, 2018, with a link to the full week in review here.

Road and Interstate Construction:

• Florida Department of Transportation Road Project List

Cultural Coda

Hilary Hahn Plays Brahms’s Violin Concerto, Cond. Paavo Jarvi

Previous Codas:

• Hilary Hahn Plays the Presto from Bach’s Violin Sonata Nr. 1
• LP: Lost On You
• Final Fantasy X: To Zanarkand
• 2 Cellos: Thunderstruck
• Igor Stravinsky : Le Sacre du Printemps, Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France, Mikko Franck
• Giuseppe Tartini: Violin concerto in D minor
• Víkingur Ólafsson: Philip Glass, Étude No. 5
• Ignaz Brüll: Sonata for Pianoforte, op. 73, 1st Mvt.
• Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A major, K.622, Iceland Symphony Orchestra
• Couperin, Second Concert from ‘Concerts Royaux’
• Covering the New Wars: A Conversation with C.J. Chivers
• Erroll Garner: Where or When (1962)
• Joaquín Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez, Performed by Pepe Romero
• Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, Vienna Philharmonic (Salzburg Festival 2005)
• Barenboim & Argerich : Mozart Sonata for Two Pianos, K.448