Supporters of eliminating taxes on home sales, a bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, say it would benefit working families by eliminating all taxes on the sales of family homes. But most Americans who sell their homes already do so tax-free. And the households that would gain most under Trump’s proposals are those with the most valuable real estate.
The Paradise Where Millions of Floridians May Go Hungry and Lose Their Insurance
The federal government could pay for SNAP, Head Start, flood insurance, heating assistance, WIC, and all the rest of it if the regime weren’t so busy wasting your money on Trump’s expensive whims, such as bailing out his friend, the right-wing fruitcake president of Argentina, to the tune of $40 billion. Or retrofitting his Qatari gift-jet as Airforce One, which reportedly could cost us about $1 billion.
Palm Coast Fire Department Lands $26,000 Firefighter Cancer Decontamination Grant
The Palm Coast Fire Department was awarded a $26,000 Firefighter Cancer Decontamination Grant from the Florida Department of Financial Services.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, November 9, 2025
Grace Community Food Pantry, noon to 3 p.m., Thornton Wilder’s ‘Our Town,’ at Limelight Theatre in St. Augustine how the Swiss see Zohran Mamdani, and how he interviewed with the New Yorker, an excerpt from Aeschylus’s Persians.
Mindfulness Is Gaining in Schools. Is It Helping?
Writing, reading, math and mindfulness? That last subject is increasingly joining the three classic courses, as more young students in the United States are practicing mindfulness, meaning focusing on paying attention to the present moment without judgment. Mindfulness programs vary in what particular mindfulness skills are taught and what lesson objectives are. This makes it difficult to compare across studies and draw conclusions about how mindfulness helps students in schools.
TDS
In France, a former president just got imprisoned for taking money from an Arab despot. Donald Trump just accepted a $400 million gift from another Arab despot in the shape of a 747. He has raided nearly $1 billion out of the country’s missile defense modernization budget so he can retrofit the plane in gold and gaud. If the secret project is completed before Trump is scheduled to leave office, which is doubtful, the plane will fly at most for a few weeks, then get parked as a re-gift to the Trump library in Miami, on land stolen from the public trust and handed over to Trump at no cost, Qatari style.
Chaining Record, DeSantis Signs Another Death Warrant: Mark Geralds, Who Murdered Tressa Pettibone in 1989
Expanding a modern-era record for executions in a year, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a death warrant for a man convicted of murdering a Bay County woman in 1989. Mark Allen Geralds is scheduled to be executed Dec. 9 for the murder of Tressa Lynn Pettibone, a 33-year-old Panama City Beach mother who was beaten and stabbed to death in her home. Pettibone’s body was discovered on the kitchen floor by her 8-year-old son, Bart, when he returned from school on Feb. 1, 1989, according to court records. Tressa Lynn Pettibone was stabbed three times in her neck.
Bill Would Require Professors to Sign Oath
State college and university administrators and instructors would have to take an oath to the nation and Florida, under a proposal filed Friday by Sen. Clay Yarborough, R-Jacksonville. The measure (SB 430) also calls for public school administrators and instructional personnel, including prekindergarten instructors, to perform a similar oath.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, November 8, 2025
Grace Community Food Pantry, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Second Saturday Plant Sale at Washington Oaks Gardens State Park, Peps Art Walk in Flagler Beach, how François Le Lionnais survived Dora-Mittelbau, the Nazi subcamp of the Buchenwald.
Understanding who benefits from Food Stamps in 5 Charts
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has helped low-income Americans buy groceries for decades with few disruptions. A political scientist who has researched the history of government nutrition programs explains who SNAP helps, how enrollment varies from state to state and what the program costs to run.
Paul Renner’s ‘Health’ Plan: Kill Obamacare, Kill Vaccine Mandates
Former House Speaker and Republican gubernatorial hopeful Paul Renner is calling for Congress to eliminate the Affordable Care Act and for the Florida Legislature to nix “medical vaccine mandates” and prohibit patients who refuse to be vaccinated from being excluded or segregated from others. While Florida leads the nation in enrollment in the federal health exchange with more than 4.6 million residents relying on the marketplace (healthcare.gov) for their insurance, Renner, called the law a failure and said its caused the costs of health care to skyrocket.
Jeff Gray, Activist Wrongfully Arrested Outside Funky Pelican, Demands $200,000 in Pre-Suit Offer
Jeff Gray, the 55-year-old St. Augustine activist wrongfully arrested outside the Funky Pelican restaurant in Flagler Beach on a trespassing charge last March, is seeking $200,000 in compensation from the city, or he said he will sue. The $200,000 claim may not be all that Gray will seek.
Flagler County Appropriates $50,000 in Emergency Aid to Local Food Pantries to Help Counter SNAP Cut
Flagler County government will be appropriating $50,000 from its reserves to be split among the county’s food banks, based on the volume of clients they serve, county officials announced this morning on Flagler Broadcasting’s Food-A-Thon. County Commissioner Kim Carney made the announcement alongside County Administrator Heidi Petito and Deputy County Administrator Percy Sayles. The appropriation follows in the wake of the St. Johns County Commission on Tuesday voting to appropriate $200,000 in emergency funds.
Sailboat Runs Aground in Flagler Beach, Close to Pier’s Construction Zone
A 30-foot sailboat from Hilton Head, S.C., ran aground just north of the Flagler Beach pier shortly after 9 p.m. Thursday. A crew of two-a man and a woman in their late 30s, early 40s–were aboard the boat. Neither was injured. But the boat’s keel has been damaged, making the boat inoperable.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, November 7, 2025
Free For All Fridays with Host David Ayres is all about today’s Food-A-Thon on Flagler Broadcasting radio stations, Sealing and Expungement Clinic for Flagler and Volusia Residents, a French magazine cuts to the chase on American tyranny.
Uthmeier Sues Planned Parenthood Over Abortion Claim
Attorney General James Uthmeier on Thursday filed a lawsuit accusing Planned Parenthood of falsely advertising that abortion medication is “safer than Tylenol.”
Are High School Sports Living Up to Their Ideals?
Good coaching candidates are getting hired and doing their best to keep high school sports fixtures in their communities. But coaches often feel like they’re missing something, and they wonder whether they’re living up to those aspirations.
St. Johns County Will Give $200,000 to Food Pantries for Food Stamps Emergency and Suspend Utility Disconnections
The St. Johns County Commissioners on Tuesday unanimously supported County Administrator Joy Andrews’s recommendation to appropriate $200,000 from the county’s emergency reserves to local food pantries through its Health and Human Services Department. The commission also supported suspending water utility disconnections for non-payment through the end of November. No similar plans have been discussed at any of Flagler County’s local governments.
Appeals Court Upholds 5-Year Prison Sentence for Brendan Depa in Matanzas Teacher’s Aide Attack
The Fifth District Court of Appeal on Tuesday upheld the five-year prison and 15-year probation sentence against Brendan Depa, the former Matanzas High School student whose video-captured beating of a teacher’s aide unconscious in February 2023 drew worldwide attention. In a long interview, Gene Lopes, a teacher and mentor of Depa’s who just visited him, describes his progress in prison and his plans after prison.
Chick-Fil-A Opening 2nd Palm Coast Location Next Tuesday Near BJ’s, But No More ‘First 100’ Giveaway
Ten years after the fanatically popular brand’s first local restaurant opened off Palm Coast Parkway, Chick-fil-A is set to open its second restaurant next Tuesday–Veterans Day, curiously, but at half past the sixth, rather than the 11th, hour–off State Road 100, in the BJ’s Wholesale shopping center. Glenn Efford, an old hand with the company who opened the previous Palm Coast Chick-fil-A (and has been opening restaurants for two decades), is the owner-operator of the new one as well.
For WNZF and Grace Community Pantry, a Food-A-Thon with Urgency as Food Stamps Vanish For Thousands of Families
With the government shutdown, there’s obviously something very different about this year’s Food-A-Thon, the fourth organized by Flagler Broadcasting’s David Ayres since 2022. There’s a food crisis in the country as the Trump administration, defying a judge’s order, has stopped providing food stamps benefits known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, compounding a decrease in food aid from the USDA even before the shutdown. The Food-A-Thon is broadcasting Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on WNZF and three other local radion stations.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, November 6, 2025
Visiting old Moody Homestead Park again in unsung Bunnell, Thornton Wilder’s ‘Our Town,’ at Limelight Theatre in St. Augustine, Model Yacht Club Races at the Pond in Palm Coast’s Central Park, “Stand By Me” in the treehouse.
How Dick Cheney Enabled Donald Trump
Former Vice President Dick Cheney was arguably the most powerful vice president in American history. He also thought that the assertive Congress of the 1970s had gone too far and had emasculated the presidency, making it nearly impossible for the president to get things done. Under Bush, he the unitary executive theory, a conservative thesis that calls for total presidential control over the entire executive branch. Now, nearly two decades later, President Donald Trump is using this theory to push his agenda.
Palm Coast Fire Department’s Battalion Chief Gary Potter Is “Lest We Forget Award” Recipient
The Knights of Columbus Corpus Christi Assembly 2810 and Santa Maria Del Mar Catholic Church recognized Palm Coast Battalion Chief Gary Potter with the Tony Gasparino “Lest We Forget Award.” Chief Potter accepted the award alongside his wife, Jacqui, and their children during the annual Veterans Day Celebration hosted by the Knights of Columbus.
Home Builders Association’s Lawsuit Over Impact Fees is ‘Legally Insufficient,’ Palm Coast Argues in Response
Palm Coast government has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit the Flagler Home Builders Association filed against the city in October, arguing that the lawsuit is legally insufficient. The association is challenging the city’s new schedule of steeply higher development impact fees. Motions to dismiss are often filed as a first step in response to a civil action. Barring terribly flawed arguments and legal grounding by the party filing the suit, motions to dismiss are just as often denied. But they block out the grounds where the battle will be fought. and signal where a settlement may take shape.
Not Just Yet: Palm Coast Tables Ordinance Relaxing Commercial Vehicles Allowance in Driveways for Further Tweaks
The proposed change allows for pickup trucks and vehicles like the typical work van to park for more than work calls or for lunch in residential driveways even if the vehicles have commercial markings and advertising. The hang-up this time is the length and height of vehicles. The proposed ordinance would allow vehicles of up to 18 feet in length and 10 feet in height to park in driveways, which Mayor Norris coonsiders too short and too high.
Sheriff Staly Recalls the Great, the Good and the Bad of 50 Years in Law Enforcement as Community Pays Tribute
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly was honored Tuesday at the Sheriff’s Operations Center just renamed for him, in a tribute to his 50 years in law enforcement. The event, attended by some 150 people, included elected officials from every major local government except the school board, two other sheriffs, a congressman, a pair of constitutional officers (other than Staly), and County Judge Andrea Totten.
Thus Spoke Lazarustra
Reports of Democrats’ death, Samuel Clemens telegraphs in Innocents at Home (his Substack), have been greatly exaggerated. But let’s not turn Tuesday’s Democratic sweep into a greatly exaggerated victory just yet. This was Lexington, not Yorktown. And Zohran Mamdani has a distance to go yet for his Hattin: those Christian nationalists have a stranglehold on this unholied America.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, November 5, 2025
Women United Flagler Grant Awards, the Flagler County Republican Club meets, the Palm Coast Code Enforcement Board meets, the way President Millard Fillmore improved the White House.
Trump Won’t Try For Third Term
Trump makes historic policy decisions the way other men pick out neckties so we can expect third-term speculation to be reopened, maybe a few times, in the next few years. But Bill Cotterell argues that for three reasons, Trump will not test the 22nd Amendment and run for a third term. Age is one of them.
Zohran Mamdani and Sewer Socialism’s Revival
Zohran Mamdani’s approach to democratic socialism is less about an abstract political ideology than it is about practical solutions. As he has put it: “We want to showcase our ideals, not by lecturing people about how correct we are, but rather by delivering and letting that delivery be the argument itself.” Because of this, he has also been described as an heir to the historical tradition of “sewer socialism”, a brand of left-wing thinking that favoured incremental, practical reform over revolutionary rhetoric.
Nicholas Alo, Who Served Prison in Notorious Flagler Beach Case, Is Re-Sentenced to Probation After Violation
Nicholas Alo, the 24-year-old Palm Coast resident sentenced to two years in prison in late 2023 for his role in a violent assault on a teen in Flagler Beach, was rearrested on a probation violation and today sentenced to a restoration of his three-year probation term.
Serenity Falls: 18-Hole Mini Golf Course Coming to Palm Coast’s Town Center Opposite Epic Theatres
Serenity Falls Mini Golf, owned by Roland Delbois of Palm Coast, is to be located on 2 rectangular acres at 1208 Central Avenue, almost directly opposite Epic Theatres, closer to Brookhaven Way. Delbois’ Serenity Falls corporation, established in January, bought the parcel from Palm Coast Holdings/Allete in mid-April for $523,000. The 18-golf course’s design will have a tropical look, will serve beer and wine, and will have a party pavilion.
Wednesday, Star Chihuahua and ‘Soul’ of Flagler Beach’s Hang 8 Dog Surfing Event, Has Died
Wednesday, the white-collared, shade-wearing daredevil showgirl of a Chihuahua who’s been the face of the Hang 8 Dog Surfing competition in Flagler Beach since its first swell in 2022, has died. She was around 10 or 11 years old. She’d developed congestive heart failure a year and a half ago, and took a turn for the worse before the weekend. It is not just a dog’s loss, but the sort of loss that could impact one of Flagler County’s fast-developing and popular annual events and attractions.
Town Center Developer Sues Palm Coast, Accusing City of Breaking Promise on Water and Sewer Capacity
The developer of Palm Coast’s Town Center is suing the city for breach of contract, alleging that Palm Coast government has failed to guarantee water and sewer service for Town Center holdings it was planning to sell. Palm Coast Holdings, the successor to Florida Landmark Communities and a subsidiary of Duluth, Minn.-based Allete Corp., sued Palm Coast in Circuit Court in Bunnell on Oct. 23. They are asking a judge to enforce the city’s promise of providing water and sewer service to Town Center, or require it to pay unspecified damages.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, November 4, 2025
The Palm Coast City Council meets, a celebration marks Sheriff Rick Staly’s 50 years in law enforcement, The Bunnell zoning board meets, Thornton Wilder’s ‘Our Town,’ at Limelight Theatre in St. Augustine, how data centers are raising your electric bill, whether they’re in your town or not.
The Vile TV Stereotypes About Muslim Men
For over a century, Hollywood has tended to portray Muslim men through a remarkably narrow lens: as terrorists, villains or dangerous outsiders. From shows such as “24” and “Homeland” to procedural dramas such as “Law and Order,” this portrayal has seldom allowed for complexity or relatability. Such depictions reinforce Orientalist stereotypes – a colonial worldview that treats cultures in the East as exotic, irrational or even dangerous.
Chiumento Law’s Diane Vidal and Vincent Sullivan Land Honors
Chiumento Law announced that Diane A. Vidal has been recognized as one of Florida Trend’s Legal Elite Notable – Women Leaders in Law in the 2025 statewide publication. Chiumento Law also announced that Partner Vincent Sullivan has been named the recipient of the Kathy Para Outstanding Pro Bono Service Award.
Only Reduced Food Stamps Benefits Will Be Issued, and May Take Months to Get To You
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will pay about half of November benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, though benefits could take months to flow to recipients, the department said Monday in a brief to a federal court in Rhode Island, despite a court order to tap the necessary money to distribute them.
Man Who Stole Coquina Rocks from Tuscany Subdivision Hawks Them on Facebook, Tipping Off Victim and Cops
Thomas Cameron Dupree, 37, was arrested on three felony charges after allegedly stealing numerous coquina rocks from a construction site at the Tuscany subdivision in Palm Coast then posting several pictures of the rocks on Facebook to sell them, tipping off his victim, who arranged a “buy.” Dupree was arrested in a sting operation.
Palm Coast Charter Review So Far: A Preamble, a Bill of Rights, Penalties for Misbehaving Council Members
No health benefits for Palm Coast City Council members, no pay increases beyond inflation, fines and penalties for misbehaving members (mayor included), prohibitions on meddling with city staff: those, along with a proposed preamble and a Bill of Rights are among the proposals the Palm Coast Charter Review Committee members appointed by the City Council have been discussing.
Flagler Beach Annexation of Veranda Bay Hits Another Obstacle; County Eyes a 215-Acre Buy
As the Veranda Bay development on the outskirts of Flagler Beach nears another attempt at annexation into the city, county government is throwing two new, seemingly contradictory wrinkles in the mix: a new, legal obstacle to annexation, and a hail Mary pitch to acquire over 200 flood-plain acres from the developer to protect Bulow Creek and minimize construction in flood zones. It’s not clear how raising a legal issue against the developer could win his support for a land sale.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, November 3, 2025
The Palm Coast Charter Review Committee meets, the Flagler County Commission holds a morning meeting, the Beverly Beach Town Commission meets, Joan Didion’s later writings, the Library of America edition.
Congress’ Path to Irrelevance
Throughout the shutdown battle, Congress – particularly the House of Representatives – has been unwilling to assert itself as an equal branch of government. Beyond policymaking, Congress has been content to hand over many of its core constitutional powers to the executive branch. This renunciation of responsibility is difficult to watch. Yet Congress’ path to irrelevance as a body of government did not begin during the shutdown, or even in January 2025.
Florida Education Is a Model of Regression
The DeSantis administration seems happy to trash that pesky First Amendment whenever they feel like it, forbidding educators to discuss systemic racism — no learning about redlining, unequal access to justice, Jim Crow, habitual dumping of toxic waste in minority communities, or denying Black veterans access to GI Bill benefits — policing college course descriptions for naughty words such as “gender” and “decolonize,” or hyperventilating over the possibility sex might be mentioned in the classroom.
9/11 Memorial Tribute Climb and Partners Raise $8,000 for National Fallen Firefighters Foundation
The 9/11 Memorial Tribute Climb, Hammock Beach Golf Resort & Spa, and the Flagler County Fire Rescue Annual Golf Outing presented an $8,000 check to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF). The funds were raised through the 2024 9/11 Memorial Tribute Climb and Golf Outing, along with early contributions from 2025 events.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, November 2, 2025
Jon Stewart on the ballroom for Trump’s third term, Palm Coast Farmers’ Market at European Village, ‘The 39 Steps,’ at the Daytona Playhouse, a few lines from “The Autobiography of Jane Pittman.”
Daylight Saving Time Is Against Human Nature
Biologically speaking, it is normal, and even critical, for nature to do more during the brighter months and to do less during the darker ones. Animals go into hibernation, plants into dormancy. As far as we humans know, we are the only species that chooses to fight against our biological presets, regularly changing our clocks, miserably dragging ourselves into and out of bed at unnatural hours.
More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by ICE and Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days
Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents. They’ve had their necks kneeled on. They’ve been held outside in the rain while in their underwear. At least three citizens were pregnant when agents detained them. One of those women had already had the door of her home blown off while Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem watched. About two dozen Americans have said they were held for more than a day without being able to phone lawyers or loved ones.
Florida Lawmakers File Bill for Stricter E-Bike Rules and Reporting
Naples Rep. Yvette Benarroch and St. Johns Rep. Kim Kendall have introduced a measure (HB 243) that seeks to strengthen Florida’s traffic safety laws by integrating electric bicycles, motorized scooters and electric motorcycles into the state’s regulatory framework. Under the legislation, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) would be required to maintain a separate database of crash statistics involving tandem-trailer trucks, motorized scooters, electric bicycles, and electric motorcycles to support future policy development and public safety initiatives.





















































