Stephen Crane’s Red Badge of Courage, Chapter 1: Union soldier Henry Fleming mulls his fears and apprehensions before his first battle against Confederate forces on the other side of the river.
Seeking Thaw, Flagler School Board Pleads Its Case Against Teachers’ Charge of “Bad Faith”
School Board member Colleen Conklin and Superintendent Janet Valentine explain why the controversy over a controversial provision in teachers’ contract doesn’t tell the whole story.
Rush Does SNL
Rush Limbaugh wants you to know that he’s doing just fine with sponsors on his show. The Saturday Night Live cold opening, compliments of Taran Killam.
Special Session of the Legislature Begins Wednesday to Fix Senate’s Gerrymandering
Citing gerrymandering, the Florida Supreme Court threw out eight of the 40 Senate districts, including Flagler County’s District 6, along with the numbering system, which means that most districts have to be redrawn as a special session begins Wednesday.
Rascal With a Cause: The Wiles and Women Of Peter Cerreta, at Hollingsworth Gallery
Peter Cerreta’s one-man show at Hollingsworth Gallery is a jaunt through brash themes, colors and shapes with a common denominator: sympathy for the underdog, and a love of storytelling.
Florida Department of Children and Families Secretary Wilkins Sums Up Legislative Session
Florida Department of Children and Families Secretary David Wilkins writes of the Legislature’s measures improving DCF’s Child Protective Investigative operations and employee pay in light of the Nubia Barahona scandal.
The North Atlantic Garbage Patch: A Plastic Soup Ladled from Consumption
A floating garbage dump consists of billions of small plastic man-made items stretches in the Atlantic from Cuba to Maryland by way of Florida. Here’s what you can do to keep plastics and other litter out of the oceans.
The GOP’s War on Women: Electoral Bombs From Komen to Rush to Virginia’s Vaginal Probes
The Republican war on women, conservative columnist Kathleen Parker writes, is “a perfect storm of stupefying proportions” that may have ruinous consequences for the GOP at election time. But it was a collapse foretold.
In Playhouse’s “Over the River and Through the Woods,” Migrations from Corny to Poignant
Joe DiPietro’s Off-Broadway hit comedy, ‘Over the River and Through the Woods,’ ending its run at the Flagler Playhouse this weekend, has its issues, but is worth seeing if you can make it to the second act.
Parent Trigger Bill: Florida Senate’s Rebel Republicans Help Defeat Charter School Ploy
The Senate on a tie vote defeated a bill that would have let parents turn failing schools into charters, the latest and perhaps final victory for a dissident faction of the GOP caucus as the curtain came down on the 2012 legislative session.
Sorry, Kansas City: FAA Training Facility Will Stay in Palm Coast–For Now
The FAA Center for Management and Executive Leadership training facility will remain in Palm Coast for the foreseeable future, U.S. Rep. John Mica said Friday, but Palm Coast will still have to compete with other cities in the future to keep the facility and its 80 to 100 jobs.
Bike Week Claims First Flagler County Victims As 3 Are Hospitalized After U.S. 1 Wreck
The wreck took place at 3:15 p.m. and sent a woman and two men to hospitals, two of them by air, in trauma alerts. All three are expected to survive.
Palm Coast Observer’s Brian McMillan Is Local Media Association’s Journalist of the Year
The national award by the Local Media Association, formerly known as Suburban Newspapers of America, caps a succession of milestones for the Palm Coast Observer in the midst of its torrid duel with the News-Journal.
Maintaining Momentum, Economy Adds 223,000 Jobs; Unemployment Stays at 8.3%
The U.S. economy is maintaining its job-creation momentum, adding 223,000 jobs in January, and revising upward previous job-creation figures for December and January by 61,000 jobs. Over the past three months, the economy added 730,000 jobs.
Accused of Abuse, Palm Coast Man Uses His 2-Year-Old Son as a Shield Against Deputies
When the deputy made contact with David Romero, 35, he was holding the boy in a headlock and standing in the doorway of the lanai, next to the swimming pool. He’d threatened to throw the boy into the swimming pool if his wife didn’t come out of the house.
Palm Coast At Its Worst: Felled on Old Kings Road, and for 20 Minutes, Nobody Stops
Inna Hardison’s 20-year-old son was traveling on his motorcycle on Old Kings Road the evening of March 3rd when he struck a boar and was thrown from the bike and injured. It was 20 minutes before anyone bothered to stop and help.
Charter School Giveaway Bill Veiled as Parental Control Drawing Frantic Opposition
Democrats are looking to the Senate and a rogue set of lawmakers to help them defeat an education bill they think is a giveaway to the charter school industry at the expense of public schools.
Picasso and Jackson Pollock’s Glass Symphony
Pablo Picasso in his Vallauris workshop, in the 1950 film by Belgian filmmaker Paul Haesaerts, and Jackson Pollock filmed the same year, doing the same thing, by Hans Namuth.
Timucuan Indians Program
At Faver-Dykes State Park March 31
This unique, hands-on Native America experience at Faver-Dykes State Park will let visitors discover the life ways of the Timucuan Indians and their relationship to the land that they loved.
ICI Homes Gets Its Way, Mostly, in Cypress Knoll Development as Palm Coast Settles Suit
Mori Hosseini’s ICI Homes has been battling Palm Coast since 2004 over a zoning designation in the E Section that ICI claims denied it its development rights. The deal means 58 homes on lots smaller than the norm in Cypress Knoll can now be built there.
The New iPad in High Definition
The new Apple iPad 3, introduced in San Francisco Wednesday (March 7), ships to stores on March 16. Here’s a quick recap of its main new features and what it means to the tablet industry.
Trust-Busting: Union Angered as Flagler School Board Rescinds Its Vote on Teachers’ Contract
Negotiations are back to zero and mutual trust damaged as the Flagler County School Board said it could not legally approve the contract, as it mistakenly did two weeks ago, by carving out a controversial portion of it dealing with teacher evaluations.
Joe the Plumber, Congressman?
While Dennis Kucinich lost his primary in Ohio’s 9th Congressional district, Samuel Wurzelbacher, also known as Joe (the alleged and tax-evading) plumber, barely won his Republican primary, though he has no chance of beating Marcy Kaptur.
Buddy Taylor Middle’s Winnie Oden Moving To Pathways in June, Carla Taylor To FPC
Neither administrator volunteered for the new assignments, but administrators work at the will of the district. No one has been named to the principal’s post at Buddy Taylor Middle School yet.
Flagler Fish Company and Blue at the Topaz Join for Charity “Blue Fish Dinner”
Blue at the Topaz and Flagler Fish Company in Flagler Beach are joining chefs Gary Maresca and Chris Casper to offer dinner for 12 at a place of your choosing, with 10 percent of proceeds going to charity.
In a Major Victory for State Workers, Judge Rules 3% Contribution Unconstitutional
The ruling is major victory for 560,000 state workers, including, cops, firefighters, teachers and other school employees, but it again digs a $2 billion hole for the state budget.
R-Section Argument Escalates, Girlfriend Hits Boyfriend With a Car, and Faces Charges
A 24-year-old man was air-lifted with traumatic injuries from Palm Coast’s R-Section this evening after an argument on Rylin Lane between him and his girlfriend went out of control.
Palm Coast, Tree City USA Again
The City of Palm Coast has been re-certified once again as a Tree City USA and also received a Tree City USA Growth award, from the National Arbor Day Foundation.
Florida Legislators Cut Higher Ed $300 Million Even as They Create a 12th University
House and Senate lawmakers agreed to create Florida Polytechnic University, a pet project of Sen. J.D. Alexander’s, and slash university spending by $300 million, paving the way for an on-time ending to the legislative session.
Florida Highway Patrol’s Move-Over Enforcement Nets 1,200 Citations in 29 Days
Troopers also issued more than 69,000 traffic citations and made 620 arrests for Driving Under the Influence of alcohol or drugs. They also cited nearly 24,000 drivers for speeding in the 29-day campaign.
After 11 Years, Beverly Beach Mayor Steve Emmett Says Farewell a Year Early
Emmett, 70, said he was tired. He won his sixth election last March. He wasn’t up for re-election until a year from now. But he said he’d had enough. Gerry Gersbach replaced him in a ceremony at the Beverly Beach Town Hall.
Flawed Verdict: Ernie Lopez, After 9 Years in Prison for Child Rape, Is Only Half-Free
In Canada and the U.S. at least 23 people who were wrongly accused of killing children based on flawed or biased work by forensic pathologists have been cleared over the last 15 years.
Fire Flight and Ground Crews Contain Black Point Road Wildfire in 2 Hours
Fire Flight and Division of Forestry bulldozers are being deployed around the fire, in a dry, thickly wooded area about half a mile from Deen Road.
Flagler Forest Division Chief Warns of Fire Season “Possibly as Severe as 1998”
Persistent dryness, long-term weather patterns and dried-up swamps are combining for a dangerous fire season ahead for Flagler County, Mike Kuypers, district manager for the Florida Division of Forestry, told the county commission this morning.
Evening Fire in a Home on Palm Coast’s Federal Lane Is Contained to a Bedroom
One resident was taken to the hospital with smoke inhalation. The fire broke out at about 9:10 and was out about 15 minutes later as the Palm Coast Fire Department made it to the scene within moments of a 911 call.
The Myth of Liberal College Indoctrination
Attacking liberal professors and universities as elitists or snobs like Rick Santorum did helps position the conservative movement as a populist enterprise by identifying a predatory elite to which conservatism stands opposed — an otherwise difficult task for a movement strongly backed by holders of economic power.
Excluding Themselves, Florida Lawmakers Pass Drug-Testing Program for State Workers
The House voted largely along party lines to allow state agencies to set up drug testing programs for their workers over the objection of Democrats who said it wasn’t just unconstitutional, but a bully tactic.
What It’s Like to Be The Whale Guy: The True Story of Getting A Life
In his debut column for FlaglerLive, Frank Gromling relates his long association with the Marineland Right Whale Project and the Atlantic right whales’ 1,400-mile annual migrations along Flagler and Florida shores.
Bio: Frank Gromling
Frank Gromling, owner of Ocean Publishing in Flagler Beach, is an author, publisher, adventurer, conservationist, and entrepreneur, and now a regular contributing columnist to FlaglerLive.
Sheriff Fleming, Under Oath, Contradicts His Own Records in Hit-and-Run Case
Sheriff Fleming followed his under-oath interview with the Florida Highway Patrol with a written statement the next day that changed his story for a fourth time regarding his phone calls to and from John Fischer, the school board member and husband of the woman charged in a hit-and-run fatality on Nov. 10.
Public Pressure Works as State Funds Return to Flagler’s Disabled Adults Services
Flagler County would have lost $600,000 and 18 jobs, and disability and job-learning skills to 248 adults in the affected programs, had a Senate proposal to end funding prevailed. A public-awareness campaign led by school board member Colleen Conklin helped reverse the cuts.
Rush Limbaugh, Slander Slut
If there ever was a need for a prophylactic to syphilitic discourse, Rush Limbaugh’s latest attack on women makes the case. But insurers won’t cover it.
Florida House Passes Sweeping Abortion Restrictions, Including 24-Hour Waiting Period
The bill requires all abortion clinics to be owned and operated by a doctor (only one of Florida’s 68 clinics fits the bill) and presumes, with little scientific evidence, that pain for the fetus begins at 20 weeks.
In a Response, Jim Manfre Recasts Sheriff Fleming’s 8 Years in Harsh Terms
Responding to Sheriff Don Fleming’s earlier criticism, Jim Manfre, a candidate for sheriff, calls Fleming a liar while assailing him over employment lawsuits, issues at the jail and other matters.
53-Year-Old Man Tries to Set Himself and Doctors on Fire at St. Augustine VA Clinic
Gregorio Iglesias-Cruz, 53, is in jail in St. Johns County today after reportedly walking into a VA clinic in St. Augustine and attempting to set himself and a doctor he was speaking with on fire.
Why Santorum Flops, Atheists and Muslims
Thursday, 4 p.m. A minor crash causes bigh headaches near Belle Terre Elementary. Kathleen Parker on Santorum’s pandering flops, Jacksonville’s No meat March movement, Florida-style literacy, video of John Steinbeck’s Nobel speech, and the Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.
Hit-and-Run: More Doubt Than Urgency in Fischers’ Call to Sheriff’s Non-Emergency Line
As John and Jamesine Fischer’s call to the sheriff’s office is released, they’re are heard casting doubt on the nature of the collision that eventually killed Francoise Pecqueur. The call, and a private investigator’s report, raise more questions.
Give Us This Day Our Daily Contraceptive
Six in ten Americans, including Catholics, said they support a requirement by the Obama administration that health plans supply free contraceptives as a preventive benefit for women. Women registered as independents favor the rule by a 2-1 margin.
Public Mostly Rejects State Proposal for 2.7 Miles of Manatee Speed Zones in Flagler Waters
Three-quarters of the people who addressed a Florida Fish and Wildlife delegation on the proposed speed zones on the Intracoastal Waterway rejected the argument that manatees are endangered, or that further regulation is needed.
Too Many Streetlights? Palm Coast Readies to Remove 41 Redundant Ones For Future Savings
The city will remove 41 lights–out of 2,876 in the city–at a cost of $15,444, money the city says it will make back in just over three years as savings from monthly bills it won’t be paying for those lights. Meanwhile, new light strings must wait for lack of money.