Thursday Briefing: Palm Coast Candidate Interviews Day 1, Steve Jobs on Death, Health Survey, Mozart's 29th

george fraser — The African American Entrepreneurs Association hosted their 2nd Annual Black History Month event on February 20 at the African American Cultural Society. The guest speaker was world renown Dr. George C. Fraser from FraserNet, Inc., a leading global networking and economic development movement for people of African descent. (AAEA)

Today: Sunny. Highs in the upper 60s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph. Tonight: Warmer. Mostly clear. Lows around 50. East winds 5 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: 165
Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day: abecedarian.
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
Flagler Beach A1A Construction Updates
US 1-Old Dixie Highway Roundabout Construction Updates
Announcements
In State Government
In Coming Days in Flagler, Palm Coast and Beyond
Fact-Checking the Knaves
Palm Coast Construction and Development
Cultural Coda

“For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been no for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

–Steve Jobs, from a commencement speech at Stanford in 2005.

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.

The Palm Coast City Council begins two days of interviews with four candidates for city manager. This morning the four candidates–Donald Kewley, Matthew Morton, Robin Hayes and current interim manager Beau Falgout–will be interviewed one-on-one by four council members. Eddie Branquinho, Bob Cuff and Nick Klufas are holding closed-door interviews. Mayor Milissa Holland is opening her interviews to the public, starting at at 8:30 a.m. in the in the Pine Lakes conference room on the 2nd floor of City Hall. The public may meet the candidates during a public reception at City Hall at 6 p.m. On Friday, the council will hold day-long, open interviews with each candidate in succession, also at City Hall.

COMMUNITY INPUT SOUGHT ON HEALTH ISSUES (closes March 15): Flagler county residents are being asked to speak up and voice their opinion on a variety of health-related topics through an online survey. The input from the community will be used to create health improvement plans to address community concerns and improve quality of life. The survey is online here countyhealthsurvey.com and is available in English and Spanish. Results of the survey provide the foundation of Community Health Needs Assessments, which are a collection of data used to inform communities and develop goals to improve health outcomes. Once the assessments are complete, they will be used to create three-year Community Health Improvement Plans for both Volusia and Flagler counties. The assessments are being conducted in collaboration with the Florida Department of Health in Flagler and Volusia counties, Flagler Cares, local hospitals and Volusia and Flagler county government. Residents, employers and community partners are encouraged to share this link and ask others to take the survey as well. The survey will close February 28, 2019. Please take the survey here.

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):

Wednesday: Palm Coast Data Building 3, 2 Commerce Boulevard, Palm Coast, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., Building 1 from 12:30 to 3 p.m.
Thursday: Portuguese Club, 1200 Palm Harbor Parkway, Palm Coast, 1 to 6 p.m.
Sunday: Two Camino Office Complex, Hammock Dunes, 85 Avenue de la Mer, Palm Coast, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sunday: Epic Theaters, 1185 Central Avenue, Palm Coast, 1 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.

Flagler Beach Is Open For Business: A1A Construction Update:

FlaglerLive is providing weekly updates to year-long construction on and near State Road A1A in Flagler Beach as the Florida Department of Transportation rebuilds a 1.5-mile segment from South 9th Street to South 22nd Street, and builds a sea wall at the north end of town. These updates are provided through DOT or local officials. If you have any relevant information or images, you’re welcome to email them to the editor here.

Segment 2: South 22nd to South 9th Street: A significant detour on State Road (S.R.) A1A in Flagler Beach is set to start Tuesday, Feb 26, as construction continues on a project to protect the road from erosion and future storm events. The work is part of a Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) project to construct improvements along three sections of S.R. A1A in Flagler County. A temporary traffic repair has been in place since the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew in late 2016.

Fast Facts:

Southbound traffic on S.R. A1A will be detoured onto a local road, South Central Avenue, between South 7^th Street and South 23^rd Street.
Northbound traffic will remain on S.R. A1A.
The detour will be in place throughout the reconstruction.
Access to all businesses and homes will be maintained.
Access will also be available using side streets.
For those with driveways only on S.R. A1A, access will be available from northbound S.R. A1A.

Since this is a popular destination for tourists and visitors, drivers are asked to obey the posted speed limits on both S.R. A1A and Central Avenue, and to be alert for pedestrians and bicyclists in the area. Due to safety concerns, bicyclists and foot traffic are urged to stay in designated, safe areas throughout the project.

Segment 3: North 18th Street to Osprey Drive: The contractor continues to bring in sand and prepare for installation of the new buried seawall. Residents may have noticed the contractor installing forms near North 18th Street. This is not the seawall itself. These forms will be used to guide the drill and form the new concrete shafts of the wall. These shafts will be about 36 feet deep. The contractor is expected to move its drilling equipment onto the work site this week. This movement is likely to require short stoppages of traffic using flagging operations along A1A.

Dune Walkovers:

The contractor will continue to remove dune walkovers as needed to accommodate construction of the buried seawall. The affected dune walkovers include both public and private walkovers between North 18^th Street and Osprey Drive. By contract, all affected dune walkovers will be reconstructed once work is complete to their pre-construction condition. The contractor is carefully removing and storing separately the existing materials for each walkover. Photographs also are being taken to document existing conditions and will be used to assist with reconstruction.

Please note that the walkovers must remain closed during construction for safety reasons.

The project team has announced that reconstruction of the walkovers is tentatively scheduled to begin in fall 2019. This timeframe is based on the current work schedule. Please note the schedule may be affected by weather or unforeseen circumstances.

The contractor has 300 days to complete the work.

Caution! Flagler Beach police and and Sherriff’s deputies are actively monitoring speed and writing tickets. “I got a warning on north section of A1A before construction actually began so I keep to the 25 limit, but still getting tailgated by cars wanting to go faster,” a reader tells us.

See Also:

The proposed roundabout at the intersection of Old Dixie Highway and U.S. 1 is intended to drastically reduce the number of severe crashes at one of the county's most dangerous intersections. Two other such roundabouts are proposed for other dangerous intersections in Flagler. Click on the image for larger view. (DOT) — The proposed roundabout at the intersection of Old Dixie Highway and U.S. 1 is intended to drastically reduce the number of severe crashes at one of the county’s most dangerous intersections. Two other such roundabouts are proposed for other dangerous intersections in Flagler. Click on the image for larger view.
(DOT)

U.S. 1 and Old Dixie Highway Roundabout Construction Updates:

FlaglerLive is providing weekly updates to the planned 15-month, $4.1 million construction of a roundabout at U.S. 1 and Old Dixie Highway. The project started in late January and is scheduled for completion by spring 2020.

The Florida Department of Transportation will be closing Old Dixie Highway and C.R. 325 at U.S. 1 on Monday night, March 4, from about 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. The closure is needed to allow the contractor to make improvements to the crossover at the temporary intersection. U.S. 1 will remain open in both directions.

More details here.

See Also:

Announcements:

None.

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.

JUSTICES HEAR PRISON MURDER CASE: The Florida Supreme Court will take up five cases, including an appeal by a man sentenced to death for killing another inmate in 2012 at Santa Rosa Correctional Institution. The case stems from the beating death of Ricky Martin by cellmate Shawn Rogers. (Thursday, 9 a.m., Florida Supreme Court, 500 South Duval St., Tallahassee.)

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

—-Compiled by the News Service of Florida and FlaglerLive

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

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To include your event in this section, please email the details, including date, time, a brief description of the event, contact information, and, if you wish, an image, please use this form.

A Twitter List by PierreTristam

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 March 1, 2019, with a link to the full week in review here.

Click to access week-in-review-march-1-2019-developments.pdf

Cultural Coda

Mozart: Symphony No. 29 in A major, K.201, Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra