Democrat Charlie Crist denounced Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday as an “oppressive tyrant” willing to send coronavirus-infected children into the public schools and risk the health of other children to please his covid-skeptical political base.
Palm Coast Fire Department Honor Guard Presents Colors on House Floor at Rep. Renner’s Invitation
Florida State Representative Paul Renner invited the Palm Coast Fire Department Honor Guard to present the Nations Colors on the House Floor at the Speaker Designee Ceremony in Tallahassee on Tuesday.
‘We’re Running Out of People’: Flagler’s Covid Case Load Drops Sharply, But Vaccinations Also Plummet
Flagler County recorded just over 200 covid cases in the week ending today, the lowest total since early summer, but vaccinations have plummeted to a new low since after the initial rollouts. While school cases have also dropped, the Flagler school district is struggling through significant teacher and other staffing shortages.
Palm Coast’s Brittany Myers, a NICU Nurse, Arrested for Aggravated Child Abuse; 4 Children Describe Chronic Beatings
Brittany Myers, a 38-year-old mother of five and a nurse at an AdventHealth newborn intensive care unit, was arrested on a charge of aggravated child abuse after her 16-year-old daughter took video of her mother brutalizing her 14-year-old brother on Tuesday evening at their P-Section home in Palm Coast.
Stetson University Achieves 70% Vaccination Goal on Both Campuses
The DeLand campus hit its +70% vaccination rate following its recent on-campus vaccination clinic on Wednesday, Sept. 22. The campus includes nearly 3,000 undergraduate students, along with more than 400 graduate students and approximately 400 faculty and staff. Stetson’s College of Law campus in Gulfport topped the 70% vaccination rate nearly two weeks ago and is currently closer to 77%.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, September 24, 2021
Builders and a couple of elected push against the school board’s impact fees on WNZF, Richard Dunn, who killed his father 15 years ago, has a status hearing on his march back to the full freedom he’s seeking, and all stages come alive in Palm Coast, Bunnell and Daytona this weekend.
47 Million Americans Think Biden Is ‘Illegitimate.’ 21 Support Violence to ‘Restore’ Trump
The survey found that many of these 21 million people with insurrectionist sentiments have the capacity for violent mobilization. At least 7 million of them already own a gun, and at least 3 million have served in the U.S. military and so have lethal skills. Of those 21 million, 6 million said they supported right-wing militias and extremist groups, and 1 million said they are themselves or personally know a member of such a group, including the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys.
Alachua School Board Gets $150,000 Federal Grant to Cover Salaries DeSantis Cut Over Mask Fight
State Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran announced Aug. 30 that the Florida Department of Education had started to withhold funds from the Alachua and Broward County school districts in amounts equal to the monthly salaries of school board members who voted for student mask requirements.
The Story Behind the Pipe Failure on Royal Palms Pkwy: What Went Wrong, How It’ll be Fixed, What to Expect
The pipe failure beneath Royal Palms Parkway that closed the busy east-west road on Sept. 16 and will keep it closed until near mid-October is an example of Palm Coast’s aging infrastructure, which sometimes outruns the city’s ongoing $75 million plan to reinforce, repair or replace it.
Stop Yelling. Have a Point: Advice for School Board Meeting Disrupters from Someone Who’s Been There.
In the wake of two turbulent school board meetings, Randall Bertrand was left wondering what all the sound and fury was about since many speakers’ loud and disruptive message was already made moot by school board votes or state policy.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, September 23, 2021
Weekend performances on stage kick-off with the final weekend of Neil Simon’s “Rumors” at the Flagler Playhouse, tonight at 7:30 p.m. Nixon’s Checkers speech at 69. Shock and awe and Trump’s hydroxychloroquine.
Evidence Shows That, Yes, Masks Prevent Covid, and Surgical Masks Are the Way To Go
The largest randomized controlled trial to date testing the effectiveness of mask-wearing provides gold-standard evidence that confirms previous research: Wearing masks, particularly surgical masks, prevents covid-19.
After Parents Object to ‘Equity’ and Race-Driven Balance, Rezoning Plan Now Limits Impact to Palm Coast’s R-Section
After facing a relatively small but angry group of parents who accused the district of wanting to balance school populations in part based on racial and socio-economic equity, the Flagler County school administration on Tuesday announced it was drastically scaling back what would have been a county-wide rezoning plan set for next year. The district is opting instead for rezoning that will affect only the two middle schools, the two high schools and the entirety of Palm Coast’s R-Section and parts of west Flagler, but none other.
Two Child Care Centers in Flagler Report Outbreak of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease
The Florida Department of Health in Flagler County has received reports of Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease in two childcare centers in the community. The Health Department is not disclosing the names of the two child care centers, nor it clear for now whether they are large centers or home-based centers with a limited number of children.
Joseph Ladapo, Florida’s New Surgeon General, Signals Sharp Turn Away from CDC’s Covid Guidance
Florida’s new surgeon general is Dr. Joseph Ladapo, a UCLA heart specialist who has fully embraced Gov. Ron DeSantis’ approach to the covid-19 pandemic, which favors natural infections as a means of combating the pandemic and minimal state interference with parental discretion over masking, quarantining and vaccines.
Quarantining for Asymptomatic Students Is Now Optional as Florida Issues New Rules Further Limiting Safety Measures
Pointing to a need to “minimize the amount of time students are removed from in-person learning,” the Florida Department of Health on Wednesday issued a revised rule that gives parents more authority to decide whether children go to school after being exposed to people who have covid-19. The new rule replicates the same standard in effect for masking: it’s permissible, but only at parents’ discretion.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, September 22, 2021
The Palm Coast City Council holds its second and last public hearing to set next year’s property tax rate and budget. The county’s parks and recreation board meets. A few words from Sally Rooney.
Anti-Maskers Turn Another Flagler School Board Meeting Into Virulent, at Times Bigoted and Threatening Spectacle
Even though there was no chance of a mask mandate, the Flagler County School Board meeting Tuesday evening again devolved into an ugly spectacle of anti-mask militancy that at times turned threatening, homophobic, Islamophobic and covid-denying, and required the meeting again to be briefly recessed and board members sent to a safe room.
The Connection Between Containers and Your Missing Christmas Presents
An estimated 90 percent of the world’s goods are transported by sea, with 60 percent of that – including virtually all your imported fruits, gadgets and appliances – packed in large steel containers. Without the standardized container, the global supply chain that society depends upon – and that I study – would not exist.
Plan Would Reinvent Belle Terre Swim Club as Home to Several District Programs, Preserving Pool
The Flagler County school district is proposing a plan that would reinvent the Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club either as a hybrid or as a site exclusively used for several school programs. The school board is favoring the plan, with a hybrid model.
Palm Coast’s Paul Renner Ready to Take Reins as Florida House Speaker in 2022
Rep. Paul Renner formally became the next speaker of the Florida House on Tuesday, as the Palm Coast Republican prepares to move into one of the most-powerful positions in the state after the 2022 elections.
Between Bouts of Rudeness, Palm Coast Votes Against Removing Ban on Commercial Vehicles in Residential Driveways
The Palm Coast City Council this morning voted 3-2 against changing its ordinance banning the parking of commercial vehicles in residential driveways, unless the vehicles are on a work call. An attempt to consider a referendum on the issue, assuming the question can be appended to the 2022 ballot at no additional cost, was set aside.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, September 21, 2021
The Palm Coast City Council finally takes an up-or-down vote on whether to relax the ban on commercial vehicles in driveways, the school board hears a scaled-back re-zoning plan affecting the two middle schools, Goethe on what he believes.
New Treatments Staving Off the Worst of Covid
For hospitalized covid-19 patients, these new treatments, along with supportive care advances – such as placing some patients on their stomachs in a “prone position” – were helping bring down mortality rates before the Delta variant hit and are continuing to improve patient outcomes today.
Another Juvenile Is Arrested at Indian Trails Complex For Illegally possessing 2 Guns, One of Them Stolen
Amarilis Merino, a 17-year-old resident of a group home on Burgundy Place in Palm Coast, and Justin Brown, 19, of Lake Gray Blvd. in Jacksonville, were arrested at the Indian Trails Sports Complex after a deputy’s search uncovered two guns and drugs.
Gov. DeSantis Reshaped Florida’s Appeals Courts. It Seems to Be Working Out for Him
The question is whether the conservative monoculture DeSantis and his predecessors have built within the judicial branch is willing to check excesses committed by the executive and legislative branches, which the Republican Party has dominated for decades. The question is being answered in the negative.
Flagler District Prepares to Re-Zone Schools for the First Time in Over a Decade in Face of Some Sharp Objections
The Flagler County School Board will vote on a rezoning plan in December, and on Tuesday will hear an updated, phased-in approach that will focus on the two middle schools first, where sixth graders will be shifted starting next year. Localized but intense opposition to rezoning plans compelled the administration to propose a more phased-in approach than a county-wide rezoning.
County Approves $16 Million for Next Phase on Sheriff’s HQ Construction, and October 2022 Move-In
The project’s “substantial completion date” of the 51,615 square-foot, two-story, $23 million building is now slated for Oct. 10, 2022, almost a year later than projected last December. But there have been no further delays since June.
Replacing David Ottati, Audrey Gregory Is Named President and CEO for AdventHealth’s Central Florida Division, North Region
Audrey Gregory, PhD, has been named president/CEO for AdventHealth’s Central Florida Division – North Region, which includes the AdventHealth facilities in Volusia, Lake and Flagler counties. Gregory replaces David Ottai, a former CEO of AdventHealth Palm Coast, who was named CEO of AdventHealth’s West Florida division.
Covid Numbers Fall Across the Board in Flagler and Florida, Now Matching Winter Peak; Experts Stress Continued Caution
The covid numbers are falling across the board: in the community, in schools, in hospitals locally and across Central Florida, but with a caveat: the numbers today, while falling, are at the exact point where they were at the height of the winter wave–the third and until then most severe wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
I Got a ‘Mild’ Breakthrough Case. Here’s What I Wish I’d Known.
The vaccines aren’t a force field that wards off all things covid. The rise of delta has changed the odds of having a breakthrough infection. Best advice: Wear masks, stay away from big gatherings with unvaccinated people and cut down on travel, at least until things calm down.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, September 20, 2021
The Flagler County Commission holds a trio of meetings, including approval of $16 million for the next phase of the Sheriff’s HQ, the mosquito board meets, and Thomas Mann on the Artist vs. the State.
Arbor Day Post-Mortem: One-Third of the World’s Tree Species Face Extinction
One in three of the world’s tree species are at risk of becoming extinct. More than 400 species have fewer than 50 individuals remaining in the wild, and 142 tree species are already extinct. Human activity is the overwhelming culprit, especially forest clearance for farming, logging for timber and the spread of invasive pests and diseases.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, September 19, 2021
Royal Palms Parkway from Belle Terre Parkway to Rickenbacker will remain closed for the foreseeable future, Billie Holiday’s story at CRT, Calvinism as an economical way to sheriff the soul.
Democrats’ Tax-the-Rich Plan Isn’t Fixing the Slide from Progressive Taxation
The progressivity of the U.S. tax system has dramatically declined over the past seven decades. The upshot is that for most income levels the U.S. tax system now resembles a flat tax that becomes regressive at the very top end, meaning the super-rich pay proportionately less.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, September 18, 2021
Why Royal Palms Parkway remains closed for now, Arbor Day in Palm Coast’s Central Park, Billie Holiday at City Repertory Theatre, “Rumors” at the Flagler Playhouse, “Godspell” at the Daytona Playhouse.
Half the World Is Waiting for Its 1st Covid Shot. You’re Getting Your 3rd. You’re OK With That?
Of the 5.76 billion doses of vaccine that have been administered globally, only 1.9% went to people in low-income countries. Meanwhile, many wealthy countries have begun offering COVID-19 boosters to fully vaccinated, healthy adults.
Flagler School Board’s ‘Retreat’ Unravels in Rancor and Accusations as Deep Dysfunctions Are Laid Bare
The Flagler County School Board’s day-long “retreat” on Sept. 9, designed to hone leadership and cohesion skills, was a grueling, at times a shocking display of mistrust, dysfunction, dissembling and exasperation by the board members as the fallout from recent issues revealed deep fissures. Whether the board can bridge huge gaps of mistrust remains uncertain.
“I Was Threatened With Death”: School Board’s Janet McDonald Re-Writes History With Fabrication
Flagler County School Board member Janet McDonald at a public workshop of the board last week falsely accused Randy Bertrand, the parent of a student in the district who often addressed the school board, of charging the dais and threatening her life, and accused the board of doing nothing–all proven false by video of the June 2020 meeting.
Flagler Sheriff’s Office Thanks Community for Support for Fallen Hero Detention Deputy Paul Luciano’s Family
The Flagler Sheriff’s Employee Assistance Trust (F.S.E.A.T.) established a GoFundMe account to support DFC Luciano’s family in his line-of-duty death from complications of COVID-19 and the community graciously donated $7,655.
Being Billie: Laniece Fagundes Embodies Jazz singer Lady Day as City Repertory Theatre Opens 11th Season
Laniece Fagundes stars in the role of Billie Holiday in “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill,” the play that opens City Repertory Theatre’s 11th season tonight. Written by Lanie Robertson, “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” premiered in 1986 at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta and landed Off-Broadway soon after, winning a Tony on Broadway in 2014.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, September 17, 2021
Billie Holiday tells her story at City Repertory Theatre’s latest production, “Godspell” at the Daytona Playhouse, “Rumors” at the Flagler Playhouse, and Voltaire on reason’s foothold.
Facebook Has Known of Instagram’s Documented Harm to Teens for Years
Facebook officials had internal research in March 2020 showing that Instagram – the social media platform most used by adolescents – is harmful to teen girls’ body image and well-being but swept those findings under the rug to continue conducting business as usual.
School District’s Request to Double Impact Fees Turns Into Hostile Inquisition by County Commission and Builders
In an unexpected turn, what the Flagler County school district thought was a mere formality before the County Commission turned into a 90-minute grilling by commissioners and a parade of doubt by builders who consider the district’s request to double impact fees ill-thought and ill-timed.
Illegal Images Lead to Allegations that 29-Year-Old Palm Coast Man Was Sexually Victimizing a Child
The case started only as one of possession of illegal images, but took an unexpected turn when some of the illegal images turned out to have been produced by him, involving a child victim. The child and objects in the background were traced to Steven J. Card’s whereabouts at one of two locations.
The Gardens Development Wins Key Battle as Court Finds County Commission Acted Properly in Clearing Project
Preserve Flagler Beach, the grass-roots group opposing The Gardens development on John Anderson highway, had sued the county commission and the developer, charging that the commission’s Nov. 16 decision clearing the way for the development was illegal. Circuit Judge Terence Perkins disagreed.
Volusia and Other School Districts Are Backtracking on Mask Policies and Broadening Opt-Outs at Parents’ Discretion
At least two school districts — Volusia and Lee — that previously adopted strict mask mandates have decided to allow parents to opt their students out of the policy for any reason, while a third, Indian River, now requires masks only at certain times when Covid-19 surges in isolated schools.
University of Florida Is Ranked 5th Best Public University in the Nation as Other State Schools Also Rise
Florida universities on Monday heralded their advancement in a national ranking of public universities, but none celebrated harder than the University of Florida after cracking the top five on U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Colleges” for the first time.
What the Expanded Child Tax Credit Means to Me
The expanded child tax credit is on track to lift half of all kids living in poverty out of it. That will help them lead safer, happier lives well into adulthood. If we have the political will, we can make more smart economic choices like these to give all children a safe and secure childhood, writes the author.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, September 16, 2021
A pair of plays showcasing Flagler’s dramatic talent: “Godspell” at the Daytona Playhouse, filled with talent from FPC and Matanzas, and Neil Simon’s “Rumors” at the Flagler Playhouse, plus a farewell to Norm MacDonald and words of endings by Edith Wharton.