Coffee With Commissioner Scott Spradley, Gamble Jam, Peps Art Walk, noon to 5 p.m. next to JT’s Seafood Shack, ‘Sense and Sensibility,’ at Daytona Playhouse, Raymond Carver at 86.
Wars’ Other Collateral Damage: Pollution
Colombia’s is seen as the most comprehensive peace accord that has been signed to date. It considers issues ranging from security to social justice and political participation, in great detail. The accord acknowledges that a peaceful postwar society requires not only respect for human rights but also “protection of the environment, respect for nature and its renewable and nonrenewable resources and biodiversity.”
Governor Ron Wants to Pay High School Athletes. But Not At Your School.
Former Flagler Palm Coast High School Head Football Coach Caesar Campana takes on a proposal by the Florida High School Athletic Association to allow student-athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness under what is commonly known as an NIL policy. But while the policy has a place in college sports, it will further divide high school sports between the haves and the have-nots, particularly favoring private schools and leaving public schools behind.
Palm Coast Man Killed in Crash After Girlfriend Reported His Voyeuristic Video of Her 10-Year-Old Daughter
Palm Coast’s Miguel Antonio Moreno, 36, was fleeing cops Thursday evening after his girlfriend had reported finding a voyeuristic video he had taken of her 10-year-old daughter. His vehicle crashed after striking stop sticks on U.S. 1, ejecting Moreno. He died at the scene.
Previously Disgraced Scott DuPont, Running Again for Judge, Offers Orwellian Explanation of His Bar Suspension
Former Circuit Judge Scott DuPont, who served in Flagler County and who is running against Judge Rose Marie Preddy, argues that while he was suspended from the Florida Bar as a result of inappropriate and scandalous conduct on and off the bench, he was still a member of the Bar during that suspension, therefore should still be eligible to run. Preddy’s lawyer argues the Florida Constitution says otherwise.
Florida Preparing for a Hurricane Season with Up to 25 Named Storms
Echoing earlier predictions about the season that will start June 1, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday pointed to warm ocean waters and forecast up to 25 named storms, with up to 13 reaching hurricane strength and four to seven packing Category 3 or stronger winds.
Sheriff Launches New Marine Unit Boat in Time for Memorial Day Weekend Patrols
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office received a grant from Florida Inland Navigation District (FIND) to fund a new patrol boat which will allow for enhanced patrol along the intracoastal waterway, marine search and rescue efforts, law enforcement operations, crime prevention and boater safety and education along the intercoastal waterway and saltwater canals.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, May 24, 2024
Acoustic Jam Circle at the Hammock Community Center, the Scenic A1A Pride Committee meets, the anniversary of the Brooklyn Bridge, Simone de Beauvoir’s memory of the bridge.
How Marijuana and Psilocybin Might Help Millions in Chronic Pain
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency announced in late April 2024 that it plans to ease federal restrictions on cannabis, reclassifying it from a Schedule I drug to the less restricted Schedule III, which includes drugs such as Tylenol with codeine, testosterone and other anabolic steroids. Similarly, the FDA granted a breakthrough therapy designation to psilocybin to expedite drug development. Preliminary studies suggest it may have substantial therapeutic value for treatment-resistant depression and major depressive disorder.
Palm Coast Residents Can Now Use an Improved City Government Customer Service Portal
The City of Palm Coast announced a new initiative aimed at enhancing the quality of interactions between citizens and city staff. In response to feedback from residents, the City is taking significant steps to ensure that every interaction meets the high standards of our mission: “Delivering exceptional service by making citizens our priority.”
Development Is Devouring the Tree Canopy. Palm Coast and Flagler Officials Say They’re Trying to Catch Up With Protection.
There was a bit of a disconnect today in a panel discussion by Flagler County’s five mayors and County Commission chair about how attractive Flagler County is to its residents and those who keep pouring in, and how quickly developments are razing swaths of tree canopy. They spoke of the importance of preserving the region’s quality of life, but also how the torrid growth rate is inevitably bringing congestion, and numerous developments, some of them–as with a 6,000-home plan in Bunnell–colossal.
Palm Coast Mayor Alfin Hints Against Rolled Back Tax Rate This Year, But Says ‘New Sources of Revenue’ Ahead
Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin today hinted that he may not be supportive of going back to the rolled back property tax rate this year as he was last year. He said there may be also be new, alternative revenue sources that don’t rely on the property tax. But he did not say what those would be except in the most cryptic terms: “Eco Dev.,” he wrote in a text, abbreviating the words for “economic development.” “I will share as soon as I can,” he added.
Palm Coast Planning for YMCA on Central Avenue in Town Center, Raising Questions About Arts’ Place
Palm Coast government is getting ready to build a 30,000 square foot YMCA on a 12-acre city-owned parcel on Central Avenue in Town Center, next to what used to be the Palm Coast Arts Foundation’s stage and a 5-acre parcel that had been dedicated to arts and culture. Plans at the moment do not include a pool. A director of United We Art, the organization overseeing arts development in Town center, fears picking that location for the Y may crowd out the city’s pledge for an arts center there.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, May 23, 2024
The Flagler County Association of Realtors hosts its 16th annual Meet the Mayors, the Flagler Beach City Commission meets, ‘Sense and Sensibility,’ at Daytona Playhouse, the grammar of texting’s kinship with Medieval scriptoriums.
California Will Add 11% Tax Guns and Ammo. That Could Diminish Violence.
Starting in July, California will be the first state to charge an excise tax on guns and ammunition–11% on each sale on top of federal excise taxes of 10% or 11% for firearms and California’s 6% sales tax. The National Rifle Association has characterized California’s Gun Violence Prevention and School Safety Act as an affront to the Constitution. But the reaction from the gun lobby and firearms manufactures may hint at something else: the impact that the measure, which is aimed at reducing gun violence, may have on sales.
Flagler School Board Supportive of Leasing Old Courthouse in Bunnell as Christian School Exits
The Flagler County school district is likely to take over the lease of the old Flagler County courthouse in Bunnell, which since August 2015 has been the home of First Baptist Academy, a Christian school. The school is leaving in August. The county has been looking for a new tenant. The school district has been looking to consolidate a half dozen programs under one roof. It would do so at the courthouse t a cost of at least $212,000 a year, not including the cost of reconstructing the building according to district needs.
St. Augustine/St. Johns County Win Nod for Museum of Black History; Getting It Built Is Next Challenge
A state task force assessing possible sites for a proposed Florida Museum of Black History voted 5-4 Tuesday in favor of St. Johns County, where Martin Luther King once rallied protests against segregation in the city of St. Augustine but where the site would require extensive development, including roadbuilding. The close vote followed intense lobbying by St. Augustine/St. Johns, which branched out to support from surrounding counties, including Flagler County, where Palm Coast and the School Board lent support.
School Board Appears Clueless as Unexpected Conflict Over Fair Use Emerges at Belle Terre Swim Club
Flagler Fluid, the private swim-team organization that’s been renting the Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club for years, is suddenly facing scheduling conflict provoked by the school district division controlling access to the club that the school board earlier this year voted to close to all but specific uses. Board members were unaware of the conflict.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Both Flagler County high schools hold their graduation ceremonies at the Ocean Center, stormwater community workshop for Flagler Beach residents, high-profile court cases, nuclear weapons’ neolithic shadow.
Implications of the Death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi
Concern in Tehran over the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi may extend beyond the potential human tragedy of the crash. The change forced by it will have important implications for an Iranian state that is consumed by domestic chaos, and regional and international confrontation.
Former Recruit Sues UF Over $14 Million Endorsement Deal Gone Sour
Saying his experience is “emblematic of the abuses running rampant in the world of big-time college football,” Jaden Rashada , a former high-school star quarterback on Tuesday filed a lawsuit accusing University of Florida football coach Billy Napier, a top Gators booster and others of wrongdoing related to a $13.85 million endorsement deal gone sour.
Flagler Sheriff’s Deputies Rescue 1-Year-Old Child Locked in Car for 8 to 10 Minutes
On the afternoon of Monday, May 20, Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) deputies rescued a 1-year-old child that was locked inside a vehicle with the engine off and all windows closed.
‘No Credible Threat to Flagler Schools’ as String of Menaces Take Toll on Students, Parents and Faculty
Flagler Schools Superintendent LaShakia Moore said today that while the series of phoned-in threats to district schools has taken a toll on students, faculty and parents, none were credible, and she would not give the caller the satisfaction of cancelling events. The district’s crisis-intervention teams have been spending time in schools.
264 Apartments Approved Across Imagine at Town Center, Near 300-Unit Complex, Raising Traffic Concerns
The Palm Coast City Council this morning approved plans for a 264-unit apartment complex on Town Center Boulevard, across from Imagine School at Town Center, and from a 300-unit high-end apartment complex the Planning Board greenlighted last August called The Legacy. The new units are expected to help reduce the shortage of apartments and possibly slow the rise in rental costs, which have been hurting working families and retirees who choose to move away from the burdens of home ownership.
Daytona North/Mondex Residents Have Been Paying a Special Tax Since the 1980s. Is It Fair, ‘Wise’ and Worth It?
Flagler County Commissioner Leann Pennington is hoping county government will rethink the special tax Daytona North–also known as the Mondex–residents have been paying since the 1980s for road maintenance, either to scrap it altogether or to better define its purpose, and lay out specifically what benefits residents get out of it.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, May 21, 2024
The Palm Coast City Council meets, Food Truck Tuesday in Palm Coast’s Central Park, the day Shirley Chisholm shook Congress with a speech on women’s equality.
Arrest Warrants for Israel’s Netanyahu and Hamas’s Sinwar Reflect ‘Crimes Against Humanity’
Karim A.A. Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, often known as the ICC, said in a statement that both the Israeli and Hamas leaders “bear criminal responsibility” for “war crimes and crimes against humanity”–Hamas’s extermination, murder, taking hostages, and committing rape and other acts of sexual violence, and Israel starving Palestinians in Gaza, “intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population,” as well as persecution and “willful killing.”
Federal Appeals Court Will Decide Whether Florida Ban on Strippers Younger Than 21 Is Constitutional
A panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments June 6 in Jacksonville about whether a city ordinance barring dancers under 21 in adult establishments violates First Amendment rights.
Flagler Sheriff’s SWAT Snipers in Top 10 at National Competition
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) SWAT sniper team placed ninth out of 45 teams at the annual Snipercraft Challenge. This is the third year in a row that FCSO’s SWAT snipers have placed in the top 10.
‘It’s Not a Big Deal,’ Cop’s Son Said After Hit-and-Run That Left a Woman Dead. Court Denies Permission to Drive.
Circuit Judge Terence Perkins denied a motion to allow Jayden Jackson, 21, to drive while on bond after hearing the prosecution describe the alleged callousness with which Jackson reacted when the car he drove collided with and killed Shaunta Cain on U.S. 1 in late 2022. Jackson allegedly told his passenger that he would not get in trouble.
Rymfire Elementary Students Celebrate School Year’s End With Another Battle of the Books
Last week students from every grade at Rymfire Elementary organized in teams and competed to show their reading prowess after spending the school year reading at least six titles out of a list of 15, for students in grades 3-5, or 12 books out of 15 for students in grades K-2. Team captains had to read all the books on the lists, though many students end up doing so as well–and more.
Sustained ‘Grit and Determination’ Essential to Saving Flagler’s Beaches, Al Hadeed Tells Decision-Makers at Tiger Bay
In a talk at Flagler Tiger Bay, County Attorney Al Hadeed, who for almost a decade has led the administrative charge to rebuild and protect the county’s beaches, told a sold-out audience at Flagler Tiger Bay that feelings of futility in the face of constant erosion must be countered with “grit and determination” to protect the county’s seaside heritage.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, May 20, 2024
Jayden Jackson asks permission to drive, the Flagler County Commission talks roads and bridges in the Mondex, Robert Reich asks if we need billionaires, Louis Brandeis on how the rich encourage socialism.
Why America’s Offshore Wind Power Industry Is Struggling
America’s first large-scale offshore wind farms began sending power to the Northeast in early 2024, but a wave of wind farm project cancellations and rising costs have left many people with doubts about the industry’s future in the U.S. Altogether, projects that had been canceled by the end of 2023 were expected to total more than 12 gigawatts of power, representing more than half of the capacity in the project pipeline. So, what happened, and can the U.S. offshore wind industry recover?
How Dare These College Kids Protest for Humanity Toward Palestinians Instead of Getting Wasted?
Standing around on college lawns, protesting against genocide, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to arms shipments — what are they thinking? These students should be shopping, getting wasted at end-of-semester parties, and engaging in meaningless sex. Instead, they’re going around acting like citizens, engaging in civil disobedience, exercising their right to free speech, telling university administrations to get rid of all investments in Israel, and demanding humanitarian aid for Palestinians.
Democrats Condemn Rep. Matt Gaetz’s Homage to Proud Boys
U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz described himself as “standing back and standing by” while attending former President Donald Trump’s New York City trial. That’s a reference to Trump telling the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” in a 2020 debate with Joe Biden, in a response to a question urging Trump to condemn White supremacy.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, May 19, 2024
Meet the artists at an art show presented by Expressions Art Gallery on Colbert, ‘Sense and Sensibility,’ at Daytona Playhouse, when the Olympics included an arts and literature competition.
Lebanon’s Far-Right ‘Soldiers of God’ Are Stirring Sectarian Tensions
Since the start of the war in Gaza, Israel, Hezbollah and other armed groups in Lebanon have exchanged almost 5,000 attacks across the border. Lebanon is being pulled into a war it cannot afford. But the country’s weak state has little power against the militias that operate within its territory, among them a private militia named Jnoud al-Rab (Soldiers of God). It is a far-right, Christian group made up primarily of young working-class men who see themselves as “guardian angels.”
Florida City Calls for Protection of Civilians in Gaza and Israel. DeSantis Calls It “Fraud.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday blasted a resolution passed by a local government last week in Miami-Dade County — the most populous county in Florida — that calls for supporting peace and security for “all innocent civilians in Israel, Gaza and Occupied Palestinian Territories.” Gov. DeSantis called it a “fraud.”
Ballot Proposal to Adjust Homestead Exempting to Inflation Would Hurt Renters, Businesses and Local Governments
Florida voters will get to decide in the November election whether to shield more of the value of their homes from property taxes under a proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution, but the measure might mean higher taxes for renters, landlords, and other commercial property owners.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, May 18, 2024
Free housing fair and financial wellness clinic, Coffee with Flagler Beach Commission Chair Scott Spradley, Live From the Waterworks, Mortimer Adler’s “Six Great Ideas” with Bill Moyers.
Electric Vehicles Are Safer for Their Occupants. Everyone Else? Not So Much.
EV safety is that crash test results, field injury data and injury claims from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety all reveal that EVs are superior to their internal combustion counterparts in protecting their occupants. While the inherent weightiness of EVs offers a natural advantage in protecting occupants, it also means that other vehicles bear the burden of absorbing more crash energy in collisions with heavier EVs. This dilemma is central to the concept of “crash compatibility,” a well-established field of safety research.
13 Year Old Arrested in Daytona Beach in Copycat ‘Dare’ to Blow Up Buddy Taylor Middle School
A 13-year-old adolescent was arrested by Daytona Beach police today and charged with making one call threatening to blow up Buddy Taylor Middle School in late morning today. Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said the threat is believed to be a copycat following a week of similar calls threatening to shoot up Flagler County schools, shoot cops who’d respond to the threats or detonate bombs.
1st Three Months of 2024 Drew Record Number of Tourists to Florida
An estimated 40.6 million people traveled to Florida during the first three months of the year, a 1.2 percent increase from the same period in 2023. The state also issued revisions that increased totals for all of 2023.
Affordable Housing in Palm Coast-Flagler: Plenty of Ideas, Not Enough Political Follow-Through
The Palm Coast Community Center was not the place to be this afternoon if you wanted to hear cheery answers and simple solutions to increasing the dismal stock of affordable housing in the city and the county. But it was the only place and one of the rare times in recent years where local governments–the county and Palm Coast–devoted a serious forum to explore difficult questions and realistic possibilities to bring more affordable housing to the region.
Bunnell Police’s Shane Groth, Chief’s ‘Right-Hand Man,’ Is Promoted to Lieutenant
In Bunnell, any change in a police department of 14 uniformed officers radiates disproportionately on a small town of 3,500, as did the promotion of Shane Groth to lieutenant–essentially, second in command–in a pinning ceremony before the City Commission earlier this week.
After Some Tactical Chest-Beating, Flagler County and Ormond Beach Swoon to Resolution of Lawsuit Over Road
Flagler County’s and Ormond Beach’s attorneys started off an unprecedented meeting of the two government boards Thursday evening at Ormond Beach City Hall with a good deal of “chest-beating” in the legal dispute about a county easement over a dirt road that crosses into Ormond Beach. The language was sharp, accusatory, and legally threatening on both sides. Yet by the end of the meeting, the two sides were lobbing gallantry at each other, with all issues resolved and the lawsuit set to be dismissed.
Florida’s High School Athletes Could Soon Get Paid Through Endorsement Deals
The Florida High School Athletic Association held a discussion Tuesday about a potential change to the organization’s bylaws that would allow student-athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness under what is commonly known as an NIL policy. The 13-member board, which includes eight members appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in August, is slated to vote on the proposal during a June 4 meeting.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, May 17, 2024
From Blueprint to Action: Local Strategies for Housing Policy Advancement, Flagler and Florida unemployment numbers released today, ‘Sense and Sensibility,’ at Daytona Playhouse, how colleges and universities are destroying equity.
DeSantis Signs Bills Adding Judges and Revising “Live Local Act”
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed 11 bills, including a measure that will increase the number of circuit-court and county judges and a bill that will revise a major housing law, known as the “Live Local Act,” that passed in 2023.