Shock of Syria Again, Kim Weeks in Court, Surfers for Autism, Lochte's Lie, Trump's Health

Weekend: Partly cloudy days, highs in the low 90s, unpleasantly muggy. Nights hot, muggy, lows in low 70s. Few chances of rain. Details here.
Today’s fire danger is moderate. Flagler County’s Drought Index is at 390.
Today’s tides: at the beaches, at the Intracoastal Waterway.
Today’s document from the National Archives.
The OED’s Word of the Day: pulchrify, v..
The Live Community Calendar
Today’s jail bookings.

Today’s Briefing: Quick Links

First Light
In Flagler and Palm Coast
Local Media Recap
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 Progress Reports
Local Road and Interstate Construction
Cultural Coda

2016 Election Interviews

Supervisor of Elections

Kaiti Lenhart
Kimble Medley
Abra Seay

Sheriff

Jim Manfre (D)
Don Fleming (R)
Larry Jones (D)
John Lamb (R)
Jerry O'Gara(R)
Rick Staly (R)
Mark Whisenant (R)
Chris Yates (R)
Thomas Dougherty (I)

Palm Coast City Council

Robert Cuff (Dist. 1)
Troy DuBose (Dist. 1)
Sims Jones (Dist. 1)
Art McGovern Jr. (Dist. 1)
Nick Klufas (Dist. 3)
Anita Moeder (Dist. 3)
Pam Richardson (Dist. 3)
John Brady (Mayor)
Milissa Holland (Mayor)
Dennis McDonald (Mayor)
Ron Radford (Mayor)

Flagler School Board

Colleen Conklin (Dist. 3)
Jason Sands (Dist. 3)
Paul Anderson (Dist. 5)
Maria Barbosa (Dist. 5)
Sharon Demers (Dist. 5)
Myra Middleton-Valentine (Dist. 5)

Flagler County Commission

Charlie Ericksen (Dist. 1)
Ken Mazzie (Dist. 1)
Daniel Potter (Dist. 1)
Jason France (Dist. 3)
Dave Sullivan (Dist. 3)
Denise Calderwood (Dis. 5)
Donald O'Brien (Dist. 5)

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.

Ongoing Early Voting in Flagler County for a slew of local, state and federal offices leading up to the Aug. 30 primary. Early voting is mandated from Aug. 20 through Aug. 27, but county supervisors of election have the discretion to begin sooner. Flagler’s is among 24 counties choosing to do so. Though it is a primary, numerous races appear on the ballot in which all registered voters are eligible to cast a ballot, regardless of party affiliation, including for Palm Coast City Council (if you’re a Palm Coast resident), for judges, for school board and for Supervisor of Elections. Early voting hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day through Saturday, August 27, at the following locations:

1. Flagler County Public Library
At the corner of Belle Terre and Palm Coast Parkway.
2500 Palm Coast Parkway N.W. Palm Coast
View this location on a map

2. Palm Coast Community Center
At the corner of Clubhouse Drive and Palm Coast Parkway.
305 Palm Coast Parkway NE Palm Coast
View this location on a map

3. Supervisor of Elections Office
Located in the Government Services Building.
1769 E. Moody Boulevard, Building 2, Suite 101 Bunnell
View this location on a map

All the information you need is at the Supervisor of Elections’ website.

Friday: The latest pre-trial hearing in the case of Florida v. Kimberle Weeks, continued from July 22, is scheduled for 3 p.m. before Circuit Judge Margaret Hudson in Courtroom 402 at the Flagler County Courthouse. Weeks now faces nine third-degree felony counts, down from 12, stemming from allegations that she illegally recorded various individuals in her capacity as supervisor of elections and in her private life. Weeks resigned that post in January 2015.

Friday: Robert Zetrouer, accused of raping a 13–year-old girl, is sentenced by Judge Matthew Foxman at 9 a.m. in Courtroom 401.

Friday: Visitations for friends and family of Sophie Zabas, who died Aug. 12 at age 74, held from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Craig-Flagler Palms Funeral Home, 511 Old Kings Road South, Flagler Beach, where a memorial service will be held at 5:30 p.m. Zabas was Flagler County Commissioner George Hanns’s companion of 23 years.

Saturday: 7th Annual “Surfers for Autism” at the Flagler Beach Pier, starting at 9 a.m.

Saturday is International Homeless Animals Day.

Local Media Recap:

Updated jail bookings and day and night shift incident summary reports are available here.

Palm Coast Man Accused of Abusing 8-Year-Old After Taunting He’d Feed Him to Alligators

Judge Allows European Village Shooter Daniel Noble to Seek Help in Indiana Pending Trial

Ryan Lochte and teammate Feigen indicted for false reporting of a crime (Paywall-protected)

Undone in White House Bid at Trump’s Hands, Rubio Retreats to Battle Beruff

Flagler Veterans Court Pitch Framed in Crude Attack on Court System by DeSantis Envoy

In Florida and in State Government:

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

The Dozier Task Force, which was created this year by the Legislature, will meet to discuss recommendations related to site of the former Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys. The shuttered school has been at the center of allegations about abuse and deaths of youths. (Friday, 9 a.m. Central time, Jackson County Agricultural Center, 3631 Highway 90, Marianna.)

Unemployment: The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity is scheduled to release July unemployment numbers. (Friday, 10 a.m.)

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORTS DUE: State political candidates and committees face a Friday deadline for filing reports showing finance activity through Aug. 12.

–Compiled by the News Service of Florida and FlaglerLive

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

♦ Aug. 22: The Flagler County Stamp and Coin Club meet at 6 p.m. at the VFW Post 8696, 47 N. Old Kings Road, Palm Coast. The public is welcome.
♦ Aug. 28: Families Faith Fun Festival at St.Thomas Episcopal Church from 1 to 5 p.m. with free food, family-oriented games, lots of prizes, and raffle drawings. All invited, whether members of the church or not. See the website at stthomaspalmcoast.com.
♦ Sept. 7: The Flagler Youth Orchestra holds its open house for all new or prospective students who’d like to join the county’s largest (and free) music program. The open house is at the Indian Trails Middle School cafeteria at 5:30 p.m. Any Flagler student, including homes chooled students, in grades 3-12, are eligible to enroll (must be 8 years old by Sept. 1, 2016.) Students may elect to play violin, viola, cello or doublebass. One-hour classes are held at Indian Trails Middle School Mondays and Wednesdays, from 3 to 6 p.m., with students enrolled in the hour block appropriate to their skill level and schedule. The first class for first-time students is Sept. 19. (Auditions for returning students start on Aug. 22, the first class for returning students is Aug. 31.)
♦ Sept. 8: Second of two town hall meeting giving the public a chance to weigh in on the Flagler County school district’s strategic plan, the school district’s goals for the next five years, which the district’s Strategic Plan Steering Committee has been working on for the past few months. 5:30 to 7 p.m., Third Floor main conference or training room 3, Government Services Building, Bunnell.
♦ Sept. 10: African Art: Ancient Egypt to the Contemporary World, a pair of presentations by Bertrand Green, former chairman of African American studies at Lehman College, City University of New York. The first session is from 10 a.m. to noon, the second session from 2 to 4 p.m., at the Hilton Garden Inn, Palm Coast. $20 for PCAF members, $25 for general admission. Call 386/225-4394 or email [email protected] to reserve your seat.
♦ Sept. 17-18: Staged Reading of Neil Simon’s “Chapter Two,” at the Flagler Auditorium’s Black Box Theatre, directed by Bruce Heighley, a volunteer production to benefit the auditorium’s the Arts in Education Scholarship Fund and Temple Beth Shalom. Performance times are 7 p.m. on Sept. 17, 2 p.m. on Sept. 18. Tickets: $29 for adults, $18 for students. Call the Flagler Auditorium, 437-7547, for tickets, or go to flaglerauditorium.org.
♦ 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.

The Day’s Best Reads:

It is unlikely that any successor of Obama will easily renounce the seductions of the drone.
https://t.co/S2KCuHzWfQ via @nybooks

— naseerganai (@naseerganai) August 11, 2016

In light of conspiracy theories about Hillary’s health, here's Trevor on Trump's totally authentic medical report.https://t.co/zcZppXgoti

— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) August 17, 2016

"He was gifted and haunted, and you saw that right off" Terry McDonell says of David Carr https://t.co/L1uAWhg5Sx pic.twitter.com/FwtbSRreKs

— CJR (@CJR) August 17, 2016

The Ryan Lochte story has played perfectly into Brazil’s national deficit of self-esteem. https://t.co/aTXl4vKic4

— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) August 18, 2016

Paul Klee's Notebooks Are Now Online. 3900 Pages of Bauhaus Teachings (1921-1931) https://t.co/4hLwA5BOC7 pic.twitter.com/hrUmRdKuhH

— Open Culture (@openculture) August 17, 2016

Fact-Checking the Knaves:

Palm Coast Construction and Development Progress Reports

The following is an update of ongoing permitting, construction and development projects in Palm Coast, through July 15 (the city administration’s full week in review is here):

Click to access week-in-review-july1.pdf

Road and Interstate Construction: