Low-income Americans are pinching pennies to feed their families and pay their bills. And while mega-companies can use their market power to raise prices and generate record profits, small businesses and independent retailers are struggling to keep their doors open.
Four Stetson Students Place 3rd in National Ethics Competition
Graduate counseling students Nicole King (‘23), Melanie Strembel (‘23), Amber Lee (‘23) and Elizabeth Nicks (‘22) woke up on Feb. 25 to some great news. The four-person team received an email stating they placed third in the American Counseling Association (ACA) Graduate Student Ethics Competition.
No Moratorium Here: Palm Coast Approves Another Dollar General, This One on US1 Near White View
The Palm Coast Planning Board approved the addition of a Dollar General–the seventh such discount box store in Palm Coast–on U.S. 1 just north of White View Parkway, currently considered a food desert. Discount stores have faced criticism for exploiting just such food deserts, but the developer pledges to have fresh produce on sale.
In Merciful Sentence, Judge and Prosecution Recognize Defendant’s ‘Huge Service’ in Securing Other Convictions
La Darrien McCaskill, 22, was one of six co-conspirator in one of two armed robberies in 2018 and 2019, which sent others to prison for three to 15 years. He cooperated, and got off with the most merciful sentence so far: no prison. Six months at the local county jail, two years of house arrest, three years on probation.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, March 17, 2022
The Garden Club at Palm Coast’s Treasures in the Attic Rummage Sale, Nat King Cole, Bayard Rustin, Bret Stephens on how World War III begins.
The Risks of a No-Fly Zone in Ukraine
Implementing and enforcing a no-fly zone in Ukraine has significant risk for escalating the conflict. It would be the first U.S. imposition of a no-fly zone during an international conflict. It would also represent the first time that a nuclear power like Russia has been subject to such a ban.
8 Candidates, Most With Strong Credentials, Apply to Fill Palm Coast Council Seat Vacated by Barbosa
The eight applicants for appointment to the District 2 seat of the Palm Coast City Council are Tony Amaral Jr., Bob Coffman, John Fanelli, Larry Gross, Hung Hilton, Carl Jones Sr., Perry Mitrano and William Schreiber. The council meets in special session on March 22 to consider making the appointment, which must be final by the end of the month.
Recognizing Limited Capabilities, Bunnell Outsources Violent Crimes Investigations to Sheriff for $120,000
The Bunnell City Commission on Monday approved a $120,000 contract with the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office to outsource investigations of its most violent crimes to the agency one of its commissioners calls “big brother.”
Court Ruling Stands Against School Board’s Attempt To Close Textbook Committee to Public
The Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to take up an appeal by the Collier County School Board in a case about whether it violated the state’s Sunshine Law in the handling of meetings of committees that evaluated and ranked textbooks.
Badass “Revolutionists” Guillotine France’s Reign of Terror in City Repertory Theatre Comedy
“The Revolutionists” features four women of revolutionary France, three of them famous in their own right, all of them feminists before their time, as they navigate the chaos, intrigue, treachery and murderous violence of France’s Reign of Terror in 1793 Paris.
New Statewide Testing System for Schools Is Now Law, But Hurdles Are Ahead
From how much time students and teachers will spend on the new methods and exams to how the system will gel with federal testing requirements, Florida will have to navigate a new way to test kids.
Flagler County Fire Rescue’s Powell and Lawrence Return from Panhandle Wildfire Deployment
Lieutenant Jason Powell and Firefighter/Paramedic David Lawrence were deployed to Panama City, Monday afternoon, along with members of the City of Palm Coast Fire Department, St. Augustine Fire Department, Marion County Fire Rescue, and Clay County Fire Rescue as part of an engine strike team.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, March 16, 2022
Palm Coast’s Reilly Opelka goes up against Nadal at Indian Wells today, the Palm Coast Planning Board and Flagler County’s Technical Review Committee handle new, big developments, today is Black Press Day.
How to Use Plantations (i.e. Forced Labor Camps) to Teach About Slavery
School boards are attempting to ban books that deal with difficult histories. Lawmakers are targeting initiatives that promote diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education. Such efforts raise questions about whether students in the U.S. will ever be able to engage in free and meaningful discussions about the history of slavery in America and the effect it had on the nation.
Outrage Mixes With Confusion as Public Rips Into Mayor Alfin’s Proposal to Quadruple Palm Coast Council Salaries
The criticism of Mayor David Alfin’s proposal to raise salaries from just under $10,000 to $44,670 was called “exorbitant,” “excessive,” “offensive,” while the manner in which it was proposed drew sharp rebukes, but the public also mixed confusion with misrepresentations of numerous facts some of which the council attorney confused more than clarified.
Palm Coast Fire Chief Jerry Forte, Unequaled in Local Leadership and Admirers, Will Retire in October
Palm Coast Fire Chief Jerry Forte, a managerial guru to some, a mentor and father figure to many, and the self-effacing, sure-handed leader of the fire and other city departments over the past several years, announced today in an emotional address to the City Council that he would be retiring in October.
We Bought a Home in the Hammock. Vacation Rentals Are Turning Our Street Into a Commercial Strip.
Angela and David Bailus bought what they thought was their dream home on Hernandez Avenue in the Hammock. Now their short street is a cluster of vacation rentals that has changed the complexion of their residential serenity into a commercial zone.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, March 15, 2022
The Palm Coast City Council meets and will hear about its financial health, it’s Food Truck Tuesday in Palm Coast’s Central Park, and if you’re into oxymorons, it is Belarus Constitution Day.
Affordable Housing Is Increasingly Scarce. Where Are Renters to Go?
Workers have faced stagnant wages for the past 40 years. Yet the cost of rent has steadily increased during that time, with sharp increases of 14% to 40% over the past two years. Now, more than ever, workers are feeling the stress of the affordable housing crisis.
Lawmakers Approve Record $112 Billion Budget as DeSantics Calls Session ‘Year of the Parent’
Lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis met in the afternoon at the 4th floor of the state Capitol building to close out the Legislature’s work, with the annual “sine die” tradition of the handkerchief drop to adjourn the two-month session.
He Beats His 7 Year Old Then Has Her Cover the Welts so She Doesn’t Get in Trouble at School
Joshua Rodriguez, 33, a resident of Palm Coast’s P Section, is accused of whipping his 7-year-old daughter with a belt because she was screaming. Authorities uncovered evidence of additional alleged abuse. He faces a felony charge.
Florida’s Employment Level Falls Back to Pre-Pandemic Level; Flagler’s Revised Unemployment Jumps to 3.9%
The number of Flagler County residents with jobs–46,902–is almost 1,000 greater than it was in January 2020, just before the pandemic caused widespread job losses. Flagler County’s labor force, at 48,779, is still shy of the record set in 2021, when it hit 49,000 in October.
Not Just in Elementary School: GOP Targets University Tenure to Mum Discussions of Race and Sex Orientation
Tenure is facing threats to its survival, at least in some parts of the country, as Republican politicians in Texas and other states push to restrict or eliminate it, with continuing efforts to restrict the teaching of race and sexual orientation in college and university classrooms.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, March 14, 2022
The Bunnell City Commission sets up a charter review commission and considers handing over major crime investigations to the Sheriff’s Office for $120,000 a year, An NBC radio interview with Albert Einstein upon his naturalization as an American.
The Puerility of Putin’s Machismo
A scholar who has spent years writing a book on George Washington’s leadership and masculinity has no qualms about stating that, for that long-gone generation that created an independent country, wars didn’t feed their egos.
DeSantis and Florida Republicans Discover Their Inner Soviet
It’s been a grim few weeks. Democracy, human rights and free speech are under assault as they’ve not been in generations. Misinformation and fabrications are carpet-bombing reality. Thought policing is muzzling expression and rewriting history as a worship-jerk. Individual freedom is in retreat. Authoritarianism–bullying, vengeful, exultant–is triumphant.
Man and Woman Are Shot At in Reported Drive-By on I-95 Near Matanzas Woods Parkway
A man and a woman were reported shot at and one of them wounded in an apparent drive-by on I-95 near Matanzas Woods Parkway in Palm Coast late Saturday night. The man was taken to a hospital as a trauma alert. The woman was treated and released at the scene.
Racing Up U.S. 1, Palm Coast Man, 24, Crashes Into Flagler Sheriff’s Deputy’s Car and Faces Felony
Brandan Ingram, a 24-year-old resident of Rolling Sands Drive in Palm Coast, was arrested early this morning and charged with leaving the scene of a crash with an injury, a felony, after allegedly racing recklessly on U.S. 1 through Bunnell and crashing into a Flagler County Sheriff’s patrol car, slightly injuring a deputy.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, March 13, 2022
The Flagler Playhouse’s last performance of “Company,” a Clarence Darrow special, including Henry Fonda in the one-man performance of the David Rintels play directed by John Houseman.
Understanding the Latest Oil Shock, Minus the Spin
Price shocks aren’t new. Viewed historically, they are an integral part of oil market dynamics, not anomalies. They have occurred since the birth of the industry. Even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, prices were climbing rapidly because of roaring demand and limited supply growth.
For the Flagler Youth Orchestra, an Unsettling and Emotional Moving Day
After 13 years in one location, Friday was moving day for the Flagler Youth Orchestra, which has been providing string-music instruction to hundreds of students every year for 17 years. Its director reflects on a transformative day amid anxious and enduring uncertainties.
District Plugs 62 Artesian Wells, Saving 10.4 Million Gallons of Water Per Day
Since October, the St. Johns River Water Management District has plugged 62 free-flowing wells saving 10.4 million gallons of water a day. With about six months left in this fiscal year, the District is on track to plug more wells than any other year over the District’s 50-year history.
The Insurgent History Calendar: March 13
Clarence Darrow, the lawyer who defended murderers Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb, Eugene Debs, and John Scopes in the Monkey trial, died on this day in 1938.
Illinois Could Join Vermont, Maine and DC in Allowing Imprisoned Felons to Vote
Lawmakers in Oregon considered a similar bill in February which would have restored voting rights to roughly 12,000 to 15,000 incarcerated Oregonians, but the effort failed for the second time.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, March 12, 2022
The Strawberry Festival in Town Center is cancelled, weather will be an issue today ahead of a freezing front, remembering Mustafa Kamal Aataturk’s role in the Armenian genocide, DeSantis as Cesar, FRD’s first Fireside Chat.
Daylight Saving Time Sucks. Here’s What You Can Do to Unsuck It.
Is there something to be done to help to deal with this loss of sleep and change of body clock timing? Of course. The first step is increasing awareness and using the power of knowledge to combat this issue. Here are some quick tips to prepare yourself for the upcoming weekend.
Palm Coast Fire Department’s Tim Wilsey Leads Series of Promotions
The Palm Coast Fire Department is proud to announce the next wave of promotions for the growth of the organization.
School Book Inquisitions and School Board Term Limits Head for Governor’s Signature
School board members soon could be limited to serving 12-year terms under a bill that is headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis — but the measure also includes a controversial provision that would intensify scrutiny of school library books and instructional materials.
I’m a Christian Mom. I Love My Trans Daughter. The State Sees Me as an Abuser.
Texas Governor Abbott recently issued horrifying, unconstitutional orders directing our state’s office of Child Protective Services to investigate parents of transgender children for child abuse. The only one engaging in child abuse here is Abbott — and his equally cruel attorney general, Ken Paxton.
The Insurgent History Calendar: May 1
Daylight Saving Time, “that puzzling ritual of mass clock-winding ill befitting freeborn Americans,” as Bill Kauffman described it in a 2005 Wall Street Journal review of Spring Forward, Michael Downing’s book on that pointless, aggravating, jet-lagging ritual, was first imposed on this day in 1916fuel-conserving measure during World War I, which the United States had […]
The Insurgent History Calendar: March 12
Mustafa Kamal Aataturk, the man who modernized and secularized Turkey, led the Turkish revolution after World War I and played a significant role in the Armenian genocide, was born on this day in 1881.
On 2nd Anniversary of Pandemic, Flagler Health Department ‘Winds Down’ Covid Operations in Dearth of Cases
Flagler County recorded just 36 confirmed cases of covid in the week ending today, the lowest weekly total since June 18. Just three patients were at AdventHealth Palm Coast on a primary diagnosis of covid. But the county’s total number of deaths attributed to covid rose by 20 in the last two weeks, to 331.
Bova Again Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder of Mother of Six, Ending 9 Years of Trauma for Family
More than nine years after he murdered Zuheili Roman Rosado, the mother of six, at a Palm Coast convenience store, Joseph Bova II this afternoon pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Again. Bova is 34.
Flagler Beach Commission Votes 5-0 to Break Ocean Palms Golf Lease and Seek New Management Company
Seven years into a rocky marriage that never lived up to its promise and twice before verged on dissolution, the Flagler Beach City Commission Thursday evening finally ended its relationship with Flagler Golf Management, the company that since 2015 had managed Ocean Palms Golf Club, the city-owned, nine-hole golf course framed by scores of homes at the south end of town.
Severe Weather Tonight Into Saturday with Potential for Isolated Tornadoes, Followed By Freeze
The National Weather Service in Jacksonville is cautioning residents of northeast Florida, including all of Flagler County and northern Volusia, to be prepared for severe and potentially dangerous weather today, tonight and through late in the day Saturday, with the slight possibility of isolated nighttime tornadoes. The unsettled weather will be followed by a freeze in much of the area.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, March 11, 2022
The mercurial Joseph Bova is again in court on a hoped-for plea, ending his nearly decade-long murder case, Sondheim at the Flagler Playhouse, Christopher Hitchens.
How a Hurricane Fueled Wildfires in the Florida Panhandle
It might sound odd – hurricanes helping to fuel wildfires. But Michael’s 160 mph winds left tangles of dead trees that were ready to burn.Here’s an explanation of the role the hurricane played in wildfires that forced over 1,000 people to evacuate their homes.
Dedorius Varnes, Ex-Flagler Sheriff’s Deputy, Gets 19 Months in Prison for ‘Disgusting’ Stalking
Dedorius Varnes, 30, a Flagler County Sheriff’s deputy for almost three years, was arrested (and fired) and charged in two aggravated stalking cases as he abused his authority and threatened residents with harm.
Flagler Beach Government’s Audit Eviscerates Golf Course Company’s Books, Leaving Its Fate in Doubt
A long-awaited audit of Flagler Golf Management, the company that runs Flagler Beach’s city-owned Ocean Palms Golf Club, found serous irregularities, unaccounted dollars and unexplained expenses as the city commission and the management company’s officials prepare to meet face to face for the first time since 2017 this evening.
Bill Creating Elections Policing Squad, 1st of Its Kind in the U.S., Heads for Governor’s Signature
In part, the bill would create an Office of Election Crimes and Security in the Department of State. Also, it would require the governor, working with the commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, to appoint special FDLE officers to investigate allegations of election violations, with at least one officer in each region of the state.