The Palm Coast City Council today in an effortless shift from its previous intention to hire new city manager before the election agreed to let the new council make that decision. But it also agreed to help the process along by putting a search firm in place by late summer to get started on the work. The search firm they agreed to hire is Keller, Texas-based Strategic Government Resources, commonly known as SGR, the company that led Palm Coast’s city manager search in 2018.
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Daily Cartoon and Briefing
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Flagler, Palm Coast & Other Local
Bunnell Approves Plan That Would Add 6,000 Homes, a Town Center, and Increase City’s Population Fivefold
The Reserve at Haw Creek would be Bunnell’s largest development yet, and one of the largest in the county’s history. It would sprawl over nearly 3,000 acres west and south of the city. It would add nearly 6,000 homes, mostly single family and some apartments, plus commercial and industrial acreage. It would result in a potential population increase of 15,000 in a city with a current population of 3,500. Bunnell would be unrecognizable.
Tornado Watch In Effect for All of Flagler County Until Afternoon as Rounds of Severe Weather Continue
The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction center in Norma, Okla., issued a tornado watch for Flagler, St. Johns and 17 other northeast Florida counties–but not Volusia–until 1 p.m.. today. The watch is the result of a continuing series of severe weather outbreaks that have left a trail of power outages and a few deaths from Texas going eastward, and that may stretch at least to Wednesday, causing heavy rainfall, localized flooding, damaging winds and isolated tornadoes.
Flagler Fluid and Advisory Group Float Pair of Plans to Keep Belle Terre Swim Club’s ‘True Spirit’ Viable
Flagler Fluid, the independent swim-team organization operating out of the Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club since 2001, has submitted a plan to the school district as part of a proposal to take over and run the club as a business, potentially with a fee-based, public-use component, to reverse the district’s recent decision to end membership access to the club.
More Flagler, Palm Coast & Other Local
36-Year-Old Woman Crossing Moody Boulevard Critical After Collision with Car
A 36-year-old woman who was on foot on West Moody Boulevard in Bunnell was in critical condition following a collision with a car shortly after midnight this morning.
Beyond Memorial Day: A Family’s Journey to Educate and Remember Fallen Heroes
Tim Stanford’s only son, Sgt. Luke Stanford, made the ultimate sacrifice while serving in the Army. He had served a year-long tour in Iraq during the height of the war there, re-enlisted at the end of the tour and was serving as a member of a technical rescue company when he died. He was 28. The loss endures. For most families, it’s not the sort of loss that gets better with time. Amidst the struggle, the Stanfords have found some solace in their mission to educate the nation about the true meaning of Memorial Day.
23 Million Americans Are Losing Federal Help to Pay for Internet, Reopening Digital Divide
The federal Affordable Connectivity Program, launched at the end of 2021, has provided a discount of up to $30 per month toward internet service for eligible low-income households and up to $75 for households on qualifying tribal lands. Now, without additional funding from Congress, more than 23 million households across the country have begun to lose the aid. April was the last fully funded month, with some households receiving partial benefits from their internet service provider through May.
2-Year Investigation Leads to Arrest of P-Section Bomber Who’d Left Trail of Violent and Disturbing Letters
Late Thursday, Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Jason Robert Burns, a 49-year-old resident of 9 Bronson Lane, on a first-degree arson charge and a charge of possessing explosives, both first-degree felonies, each with a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. He is accused of setting off a pipe bomb outside a house in Palm Coast’s P Section in 2022, and had left a trail of handwritten letters filled with grievances and veiled threats and slanders against his ex-wife.
Data Company Wants to Use Veterans Park to Land Undersea Cables; Flagler Beach Wants Appropriate Payment
DC Blox, a data company planning a data center in palm Coast–its Florida subsidiary is called DC Orchid–is now proposing to run its undersea internet cable landing site through the north side of Veterans Park in the heart of Flagler Beach, after a proposal to do so at a South 6th Street location displeased city commissioners. The company is also willing to pay more than the one-time, $100,000 fee it had offered, per cable–a sum city commissioners found paltry.
That Color in Your Water Is Due to Low Rainfall and Palm Coast’s Use of Certain Wells
The City of Palm Coast is actively responding to the challenges posed by the current dry conditions, which have led to significantly increased water usage and heightened demands on our water supply. As a result, residents may notice a change in the color of their water, particularly throughout the summer months.
Brendan Depa’s Sentencing Will Not Resume Until Aug. 6, Giving Defense Time to Recover from Bad Day
The defense for Brendan Depa, the 18-year-old former Matanzas High School autistic student to be sentenced in the beating of his teacher’s aide, faces a steep climb back from a prosecution case that portrayed Depa as a willful, intelligent, chronically violent man who knows right from wrong and who knew what he was doing that day at Matanzas. The prosecution is developing an argument that sidelines Depa’s autism as irrelevant, and calls prison time essential. The defense has yet to make its case.
At Law Enforcement Memorial, Solace in the Language of a Flag and the Bond of Shared Loss
Some 150 people and law enforcement officers from different agencies turned out for the annual Law Enforcement Memorial Service hosted by Sheriff Rick Staly in Bunnell Wednesday evening. Earlier in the day the sheriff had unveiled a memorial plaque to Perry Hall, for whom the county jail is named, and who was the county’s first fallen officer, on Aug. 21, 2027.
Congestion-Prone Stretch from Royal Palms Parkway to Town Center and Old Kings Road Will be Four-Laned
The Palm Coast City Council approved the first leg of a $4 million plan to redesign and widen the congestion-prone intersection of Royal Palms Parkway and Town Center Boulevard, the intersection of Town center Boulevard and Old Kings Road, and Old Kings Road from there to just south of Palm Coast Parkway. But it will be more than a year before anyone sees construction.
Flagler Schools Paid Former Indian Trails Middle School Teacher $40,000 to Settle Discrimination Lawsuit
The Flagler County school district paid JaWanda Dove $40,000 to settle a federal lawsuit Dove filed in 2020, alleging that as a Black teacher at Indian Trails Elementary, she had repeatedly been passed over for promotion by white applicants. Dove transferred to Rymfire Elementary last year, where she was promoted to dean and where she remains. Dove had been seeking Dove is seeking $100,000 in back pay and benefits, and an appointment as assistant principal.
Flagler School Board Will Send Letter of Support for Locating Museum of Black History in St. Johns
Following the recommendation of Will Furry, its chair, the Flagler County School Board will send a letter of support to a state task force in hopes of luring the future Museum of Black History to St. Johns County. St. Johns was ranked first among three finalists for the location. Its competitors are Eatonville in Orange County and Opa-locka in Miami-Dade County.
The Conversation
Trump Wants To Deport All Undocumented Immigrants. He’ll Fail.
Trump says that he can replicate the 1950s’ failed Operation Wetback on a much grander scale by setting up temporary immigration detention centers and relying on local, state and federal authorities, including National Guard troops, to remove the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants now living in the U.S. Trump’s proposal is disturbing and misleading.
Florida and Beyond
Bacardi Jackson , New Florida ACLU Leader, Points to ‘Urgency of Now’ at ‘Deeply Disturbing’ Juncture
Bacardi Jackson, a veteran litigator seeped in civil-rights advocacy, took the leadership of of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida on Monday amid a growing number of challenges to laws passed by the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Jackson views her new position as an opening to spur action at a critical juncture in the history of the state and the nation.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, May 13, 2024
The Bunnell City Commission recognizes several of its law enforcement officers for various achievements, the library board meets, recalling the other “It Can’t Happen Here”: Nathanael West’s “A Cool Million.”
Federal Hate Crime Laws Have Been Remarkably Ineffective for Decades
The federal hate-crime law is ineffective at both accumulating data and enforcing penalties. Not only was the first federal conviction for a hate crime on the basis of gender identity made 15 years after the law’s passage, but hate crimes generally are also subject to chronic underreporting.
Briefs and Releases
Daytona State College’s Automotive Service Technology Program Re-Accredited
DeSantis Office Dismissed from Open Records Case Over Travels, But Lawsuit Against FDLE Continues
Flagler County Cultural Council Awards $25,000 in Scholarships
Sen. Rick Scott Attends Trump Trial and Calls Prosecutors ‘Thugs’
No, Feeding Wildlife Isn’t Kind. It’s Potentially Dangerous, and Illegal.
More Florida and Beyond
I Run a Food Pantry. Without Food Stamps, It’s Not Enough.
Pantries are a critical piece of the anti-hunger puzzle, but they’re filler pieces. Government nutrition programs — with the infrastructure and funding to get the job done — should be the centerpiece. SNAP is the nation’s most effective anti-hunger program, feeding nearly a quarter of all U.S. children. But the end of a Covid-era boost in benefits is leaving nearly 13 percent of the population experiencing food insecurity.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, May 12, 2024
‘First Date,’ at St. Augustine’s Limelight Theatre, Shine Mindfulness for Kids Group, Israel’s growing censorship regime and American bombings of al-Jazeeras past.
Beethoven’s Ninth at 200
Symphony No. 9, sometimes referred to as the Choral Symphony, was the capstone to Beethoven’s extraordinary career. In the 200 years since its debut, the symphony has become an essential composition in the orchestral repertoire and is often cited as the crowning achievement of Western classical music.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, May 11, 2024
LGBTea Social at Flagler Tea Company, Bartram Living History Fest, The City of Palm Coast Public Works Department hosts its Touch-a-Truck event, the lowdown on Stormy Daniels and her full disclosures.
Media Coverage of Campus Protests Is Out of Focus
To the students taking part they are, in the words of one protester, “uplifting the voices of Gazans, of Palestinians facing genocide.” But to many people outside the universities, the focus has been on confrontations and arrests. Where does this disconnect come from? Most people don’t participate in on-the-streets protests or experience any of the disruption that they cause. Rather they rely on the media to give a full picture of the protests.
Florida Opposes Federal Rule to Limit Power Plants’ Greenhouse Emissions
Florida and two dozen other states Thursday filed a legal challenge to a new U.S. Environmental Protection rule aimed at reducing carbon emissions from power plants. The states filed a petition at the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that alleged the EPA overstepped its legal authority.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, May 10, 2024
Church Folks Ain’t Laughing Enough variety show at AACS, LGBTQ+ Night at Flagler Beach’s Coquina Coast Brewing Company, “The Color Purple” Movie Matinee 1 p.m. at the Flagler County Public Library.
Election Laws Hamper 3rd Party Candidates Beyond Spoiler Role
The two major parties have largely run minor-party competitors out of business in intentional ways. Democratic and Republican officeholders adopt laws making it more difficult for others to run. But although a third party is not likely to have much electoral success anytime soon, they do enrich American politics.
Florida Chancellor Balks at Extending In-State Tuition to Pacific Islanders
The tuition breaks, required by a new federal law, would apply to students from the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau. The small Pacific Island nations entered into what are known as “Compacts of Free Association” with the U.S. starting in the 1980s.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, May 9, 2024
Evenings at Whitney Lecture Series: Novel Approaches to Control Mosquito-Borne Diseases, the Flagler Beach City Commission meets, the Palm Coast Democratic Club, ‘First Date,’ at St. Augustine’s Limelight Theatre.
Can Biden Stop Israeli Sadism?
Israel entered Rafah, a city that marks Gaza’s southern border crossing with Egypt, on May 7, 2024, launching a military offensive that the U.S. and others have cautioned Israel not to pursue. As always, Israel ignored the cautions and pressed on, running up the mass-killing tally despite Hamas accepting a cease-fire proposal.
Commentary
Paul Auster, An American Writer with a European Sensibility
With the passing of Paul Auster, who died of lung cancer on April 30 at the age of 77, the aesthetics of postmodernism retreated another significant step back into the past tense of history. Auster became closely associated with postmodern style because of his highly self-conscious and self-reflexive fiction. In 2017, he wrote that he “wanted to turn everything inside out.”
Do Americans Really Think the Country Is ‘On the Wrong Track’?
Researchers who run the American Communities Project, which explores the differences in 15 different types of community in the United States, believe the surveys are asking a question with no real meaning in the United States in 2024 – a question that may have outlived its usefulness.
Ancient Rome Knew LGBTQ Rights Better Than the Catholic Church Ever Has
A Vatican declaration, the “Infinite Dignity,” opposes gender-affirming surgery and surrogacy. Yet even in the ancient Roman Empire, individuals could transgress traditional conceptions of gender roles in various ways. While Roman notions of femininity and masculinity were strict as regards clothing, for instance, there is evidence to suggest that individuals could and did breach these norms, although they were likely to be met with ridicule or scorn.