The SMA Healthcare Foundation celebrated a landmark evening at its Annual Dinner Celebration & Auction, themed “Photo Finish”, where the community came together to hit the funding goal for its new, state‑of‑the‑art West Volusia Outpatient Center. Held at the prestigious Daytona 500 Club at Daytona International Speedway, a record $480,000 was raised during the sold-out event.
Archives for September 25, 2025
The Extremist Federalist Society’s Lock on the Supreme Court
Justices affiliated with the Federalist Society will advance the conservative legal agenda decades into the future. The Federalist Society’s educational mission is pursued chiefly in law schools. That’s where it trains the next generation of lawyers in the approaches and goals of the conservative legal movement. This includes promoting the judicial philosophy of originalism – the idea that the best way to interpret the U.S. Constitution is according to how it was understood at the time of its adoption.
Florida CFO Ingoglia Targets Blue Alachua County with Unspecified Claim of ‘Wasteful Spending’
Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia traveled to Alachua County Thursday, where he said his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team of auditors had determined that the local government had indulged in more than $84 million in “wasteful spending” over the past five years. As has been the case with the other local government budgets that Ingoglia’s team has reviewed this year, he did not mention any specific programs that constituted what he defined as wasteful spending.
Looking Beyond the Turning Point of Charlie Kirk’s Death to the Soil We’re Tilling for the Next Generation
Charlie Kirk’s assassination feels like more than another entry in America’s long and tragic list of political violence. It feels like a hinge point, writes former School Board member Colleen Conklin. But history suggests scars can be the beginning of strength. If the pattern holds, today’s youth may yet rise to become the next Greatest Generation. Now is the time to cultivate compassion stronger than ideology, courage rooted in empathy, the ability to separate people from their ideas. What then grows could astonish us.
Snubbing Near-Unanimous Public Opposition, Bunnell Commission Approves Rezoning 1,259 Acres to Industrial
Snubbing near-unanimous public opposition just as it had snubbed it when approving a mammoth 6,100-home development last month, the Bunnell City Commission on Monday approved on a 4-1 vote the first reading of an ordinance that will rezone 1,259 acres just east and south of the city’s core from agricultural to industrial, including heavy industrial, in what could potentially change the complexion of the city. Commissioner John Rogers was the lone dissenter.
Routine Palm Coast Meeting Turns Into Tense Clash Over Tax Rate as Gambaro Seeks ‘Rollback’ at 11th Hour
Sounding like former Palm Coast City Council member Ed Danko, Charles Gambaro in the final budget hearing Wednesday asked his colleagues to adopt the so-called rolled-back property tax rate rather than the rate proposed, which was already lower than this year’s. Gambaro’s proposal would have equated to a saving of $13 for the homesteaded owner of a $200,000 house, but would have required an immediate $1 million cut in the general fund. That led to a clash with Council member Theresa Pontieri, and the rest of the council held to the original proposal in a 4-1 vote.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, September 25, 2025
Palm Coast Concert Series brings SoulFire to The Stage at Town Center, Connecting to Palm Coast Expo at the Palm Coast Community Center, the Flagler Beach City Commission meets, AI compares Captain nemo and Ahab.