Palm Coast Council and County Commission Joint Workshop on Animal Control services, the Palm Coast Code Enforcement Board meets, Colleen Conklin’s birthday and the emptiness she left behind.
Hiroshima Survivors, 80 Years On
The 16-kiloton bomb dropped on Hiroshima at 8.15am by a US B-29 bomber was codenamed “Little Boy” by the Americans. The scars of the bomb remained untreated, for generations. The US occupation – which lasted until the San Francisco treaty was signed on April 28 1952 – established an extensive Civil Censorship Department (the CCD) which monitored not only all newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, books, films and plays but also radio broadcasts, personal mail, as well as telephone and telegraph communications.
Advocates Blast FPL’s Request for Nearly $10 Billion Rate Hike as ‘Greed’
Consumer activists said Tuesday that the proposed $9.8 billion rate hike that Florida Power & Light (FPL) is asking for is excessive and should be rejected by state regulators. In February, FPL, the state’s largest public utility servicing approximately 12 million people, submitted a four-year request for the Public Service Commission (PSC) to set new rates once its current base rate agreement expires at the end of this year. FPL is, with rare exception, the only power provider in Flagler County and its cities.
Flagler Commission Ratifies $195,000-a-Year, Open-Ended Contract with County Attorney Michael Rodriguez
The Flagler County Commission unanimously approved an open-ended contract with Michael Rodriguez, the county attorney replacing Al Hadeed starting Aug. 11. One commissioner had a few quibbles but there were no changes to document Rodriguez negotiated with the administration. The commission voted to hire Rodriguez on July 17.
Palm Coast Fire Department’s David Faust Appointed Battalion Chief of Training
The Palm Coast Fire Department today announced the appointment of David Faust as Battalion Chief of Training. In his new role, Faust will lead the department’s efforts to recruit, train, and develop both current and future members of the organization.
Two Defendants in Disturbing Cases Get a Taste of Terence Perkins as Senior Judge: No Bond for You
Retirement isn’t dulling the admonitory edge of Circuit Judge Terence Perkins in his role as senior judge. In a pair of rulings today, Perkins denied bond to two men, one accused of brutalizing his wife after she denied him sex, the other awaiting sentencing on a jury conviction for a hit-and-run crash that left the victim mangled and unable to work for months.
Atlantic Awakens: Hurricane Center Eyes Two Weather Systems with Tropical Storm Potential
The National Hurricane Center is monitoring two weather systems for potential tropical development over the next seven days, including one near the southeast Atlantic coast. This system now has a 40 percent chance of tropical cyclone formation on Friday or Saturday, up from 30 percent. Another system, currently in the eastern, tropical Atlantic, has a 50 percent chance of tropical storm formation in seven days.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, August 5, 2025
Flagler Beach Police Chief Matt Doughney’s tribute to Al Hadeed, The Palm Coast City Council meets this evening, as do the planning boards of both Bunnell and Flagler Beach, Wendell Berry on life’s purpose.
How Tariffs Are Hurting America’s 35 Million Small Businesses
More than 70% of small-business owners say constant shifts in trade policy create a “whiplash effect” that makes it difficult to plan, a recent national survey showed. Unlike larger organizations with teams of analysts to inform their decision-making, small-business owners are often on their own. In an all-hands-on-deck operation, every hour spent focusing on trade policy news or filling out additional paperwork means precious time away from day-to-day, core operations. That means rapid trade policy shifts leave small businesses especially at a disadvantage.
21 Infections Tied to Raw Milk in Florida
Florida Department of Health officials said Monday there have been 21 cases of Campylobacter and E. coli infections tied to raw milk consumption in the central and northeast portion of the state, and seven people have been hospitalized. The agency said the tainted milk was “linked to a particular farm” but did not disclose the name or location. In Florida, raw milk can only be sold for non-human consumption. The DOH, headed by Dr. Joseph Ladapo, did not recommend against drinking raw milk.
Slew of Groups Are Filing Appeals of Florida’s New Law Restricting Ballot Initiatives
The League of Women Voters of Florida, the League of United Latin American Citizens and two individual plaintiffs filed a notice Friday that was a first step in appealing to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Florida Decides Healthcare and FloridaRighttoCleanWater.org political committees, which are trying to put proposals on the 2026 ballot, and individual plaintiffs filed similar notices July 25.
Sheriff Recognizes 911 Dispatcher Megan Flores and Deputies Manka and Held Who Saved 9-Year-Old Boy
On May 8 Flagler County 911 dispatcher Megan Flores got a call about a 9-year-old boy who wasn’t breathing. She dispatched deputies and paramedics while continuing to issue instructions to family members by phone. When Sheriff’s deputy Christopher Nguyen arrived, he immediately used his automated external defibrillator (AED) as deputies Kyle Manka and Sierra Held assisted and cared for two other children at the scene. By the time the boy was on his way to the hospital, he was conscious and breathing.
County’s Greg Hansen Accuses Kim Carney of ‘Sabotaging’ Beach Protection Plan; She Accuses Staff of Stumbling
What started as a position statement on beach policy quickly degenerated into accusations–Commissioner Kim Carney accusing the administration of inaction, Commissioner Greg Hansen accusing Carney of “sabotage,” Commissioner Pam Richardson accusing Hansen of making things up (he wasn’t). The discussion uncovered the rifts that led to the collapse of the commission’s long-term beach-management plan, and the county with few options ahead and underscored the inescapable: Flagler County and its cities have no plan to save their beaches beyond a cluster of temporary and thinly funded stopgaps.
Palm Coast Relieves Itself 3 Years Late as Much-Needed $31 Million Sewer Plant Expansion Doubles Capacity
Almost three years late and 55 percent over the original budget, Palm Coast’s expansion of its Waste Water Treatment Plant Number 2 is now operational but for a punch-list, doubling the plant’s capacity to 4 million gallons per day and relieving the city’s older, overburdened WWTP1 in the Woodlands, which is getting its own expansion. When presented to the City Council in January 2020, the expansion was scheduled for completion by November 2022, for $20 million. Not including design, the project’s construction cost rose to $30.9 million.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, August 4, 2025
The Flagler County Commission meets, the Beverly Beach Town Commission meets, the geopolitical bigotry and economic suicide of tariffs in color, a Johnny Carson monologue, a sum-up of the so-called New South.
When Nazis Stole a Fragment of the Great Bayeux Tapestry
In March, it was reported that a fragment of the Bayeux tapestry had been discovered in Germany in the Schleswig-Holstein state archives. It has often been observed that art seems to have been of disproportionate concern to the Nazis. However, their manipulation of visual and material culture should be understood as central to – not separate from – Hitler’s genocidal regime and its efforts towards global domination.
New York Latest State to Offer Free Phone Calls from Prison
New York will offer free phone calls to people incarcerated in its state prisons starting Aug. 1, becoming the sixth state to do so. The change is projected to save roughly 30,000 families across the state an estimated $13.3 million per year in phone call fees, according to Worth Rises, a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to dismantling the prison industry. New York joins California, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Minnesota in offering free phone calls in state prisons.
Never as Powerful, Florida Republicans Warn Against Complacency and Ridicule Protesters at Orlando Forum
Several top-leading GOP leaders at the Florida Freedom Forum in Orlando on Saturday warned that complacency and infighting could give an opening to their political rivals even though the Republican Party of Florida has never been more powerful than right now. Gov. Ron DeSantis, Attorney General James Uthemier and others faced more than half-a-dozen outbursts that took place throughout the day at the Rosen Shingle Creek hotel.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, August 3, 2025
Palm Coast Farmers’ Market at European Village, Harley Schwadron on the Lunatic Fringe, lying about reading Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities and whether that’s such a bad thing.
Britain and France Are on Brink of Recognizing Palestinian Statehood
The UK will formally recognize the state of Palestine in September unless Israel acts to end the “appalling situation” in Gaza. The UK’s decision follows a pledge by French president Emmanuel Macron on July 24 to formally recognise Palestinian statehood in September. If this is acted upon, France and the UK would be the first G7 members and the first members of the UN security council to recognize the state of Palestine.
Keep Your ICE Raids Out of Our Schools
Immigration raids have escalated — often under questionable pretenses. This spring, immigration agents tried to enter two elementary schools in Los Angeles. At the door, agents said they wanted to determine students’ well-being and claimed to have authorization from the children’s caretakers. Administrators denied them entry — and when they spoke with caretakers later, they learned that agents had lied about receiving permission.
Vance 46 Points Ahead of DeSantis in Early 2026 Presidential Poll
Florida’s Governor continues to struggle in early surveys of what could be the 2028 Republican race to replace Donald Trump. Per a survey from Emerson College, Ron DeSantis has 7% support in North Carolina, well behind Vice President JD Vance’s 53%.
‘Yes, We Signed the Damn Thing Because We Really Had To,’ Orlando Mayor Says of Forced Transports for ICE
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings signed an updated agreement with U.S. Immigration and Enforcement (ICE) on Friday, although he later said he did so under “protest and extreme duress.” It came days after Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier threatened the mayor and all six county commissioners that their failure to do so would result in their removal from office by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, August 2, 2025
The annual Back to School Jam is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Flagler Palm Coast High School 800 gym, the Flagler Beach All Stars hold their monthly beach clean-up, when Daniel Boorstin turned repulsive.
The Catholic Clergy Takes a Stand on Immigration
Catholic priests across the U.S. discuss immigration with their congregations more than leaders in many other faith traditions. Catholic priests also said they discussed immigration more than nearly all other political issues, including hunger in their communities, capital punishment, health care and the environment. Abortion was the only one priests discussed slightly more often.
DeSantis Sours on ICE Poaching Local Police with $50,000 Bonuses
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday encouraged sheriffs and police chiefs to fight to keep staff members as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement seeks to recruit Florida officers who recently completed immigration-enforcement training. DeSantis said he had not seen an ICE recruitment letter that offers a $50,000 signing bonus to recruits who work five years, but he questioned the need to “poach our people who are already in the fight.”
Zakrzewski Killed for Murdering His Family, and DeSantis Sets Modern-Day Record for Executions in a Year
Edward Zakrzewski was executed Thursday evening for the 1994 murders of his wife and two children in their Okaloosa County home, as Florida set a modern-era record for executions in a year. Zakrzewski, 60, was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. at Florida State Prison, according to the state Department of Corrections. He was the ninth inmate put to death by lethal injection this year. Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed death warrants for two more executions in August.
County Attorney Al Hadeed, Now a Flagler Sheriff’s Deputy, Is Regaled Into Retirement
The sheriff’s naming of County Attorney Al Hadeed an honorary sheriff’s deputy was among the surprises at Hadeed’s retirement party Thursday evening at the Government Services Building. There were numerous local tributes, a proclamation, the dedication of a bench in Hadeed’s name at Princess Place Preserve, recognitions wrapped in gifts and held-back tears and choked-up memories and overhead screens projecting a lifetime of pictures.
Palm Coast Council’s Charles Gambaro Announces Congressional Run Against ‘Outrageous’ Randy Fine
Palm Coast City Council member Charles Gambaro late Thursday announced he will challenge U.S. Rep. Randy Fine in the 2026 primary for the 6th Congressional District seat Fine won in a special election last April. With Council member Dave Sullivan’s plan not to run in the 2026 election, Gambaro’s decision creates the second open seat on the council–an opening that gives the embattled mayor a chance to make a play for a majority aligned with him.
U.S. Job Creation Stalls to Lowest 3-Month Total Since Covid, Bankruptcies Spike 27% in Florida’s Middle District
The national economy added 73,000 jobs in July and 106,000 in the last three months combined, the poorest quarter in job creation since the massive job losses of April 2020 as Covid shut down much of the economy. The unemployment rate edged up to 4.2. It has hovered between 4 and 4.2 percent for the past 14 months. In a related trend, personal and business bankruptcy filings rose nationally 11.5 percent in the last 12 months, and 27 percent in the Middle District of Florida that includes Flagler County, from 18,471 last year to 23,442 in the last 12 months. A bankruptcy attorney says the trend is here to stay.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, August 1, 2025
First Friday Garden Walks at Washington Oaks Gardens State Park, First Friday in Flagler Beach, confusing ethics and aesthetics, Walker Percy and Consumer Reports.
Supreme Court Justices’ Political Leanings
Politics has a much stronger presence in articles about the U.S. Supreme Court today than in years past, with a notable increase beginning in 2016. Across the five major newspapers, reporting about the court has gradually become more political over time. That isn’t surprising: America has been gradually polarizing since the 1980s as well, and the changes in news media coverage reflect that polarization.
Hires of Palm Coast Utility and Development Directors Termed Capstones of Mark Strobridge’s Brief Tenure
Flagler County Sheriff’s Chief Mark Strobridge considers the long-needed appointments of directors to two of Palm Coast government’s most important departments–utilities and growth management–as the capstone to his unusual tenure as an assistant city manager on loan to Interim City Manager Lauren Johnston. The city on Wednesday announced the appointments of Brian Roche as director of the Utility Department, and John Zobler as Community Development Director, a position vacant since Jason DeLorenzo was named chief of staff in September 2022. DeLorenzo left the city earlier this month.
Two Turtle Nests Halt Flagler Beach Pier Construction Until September as Workarounds Prove Impractical
The Flagler Beach pier demolition and reconstruction project is coming to a halt next Wednesday. Two new turtle nests burrowed in the path of the large trestle under construction are stopping work on the $16 million project. It will resume in about two months, after the turtles have hatched. The due date for the newest turtle nest is not before Sept. 10.
Committee’s 15-13 Vote Sends School Board’s Derek Barrs Nomination for Transportation Post to Full Senate
Flagler County School Board member Derek Barrs is a step closer to resigning the seat and leaving Flagler County to become the administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on Wednesday voted 15-13, strictly along party lines, to send the nomination to the full Senate, where Barrs is expected to be confirmed.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, July 31, 2025
Palm Coast Concert Series featuring Landfall, 6 to 8 p.m. at the Stage at Town Center, Model Yacht Club Races at the Pond in Palm Coast’s Central Park, reading the perplexing and sublime Andre Gide.
Ring of Fire: What the Strongest Earthquakes Ever Recorded Have in Common
The Pacific region is highly prone to powerful earthquakes and resulting tsunamis because it’s located in the so-called Ring of Fire, a region of heightened seismic and volcanic activity. All ten most powerful earthquakes recorded in modern history were located on the Ring of Fire.Here’s why the underlying structure of our planet makes this part of the world so volatile.
As Mayor Norris Misrepresents Ethics Complaint Dismissal, Council Focuses on Charter and Governor Action
The Florida Commission on Ethics tossed out a complaint filed by four Palm Coast City Council members against Mayor Mike Norris, citing “legal insufficiency.” Norris had said as much in a social media posting last Friday and at a town hall meeting Monday, misinterpreting the order as a victory. To the council members, the ethics commission’s decision is one more reason to revise the city charter to add disciplinary clauses that would enable a council majority–or a supermajority–to deal with a rogue or derelict member.
Flagler Turtle Patrol and County Fire Rescue Save 5 Hatchlings on A1A
Five leatherback sea turtle hatchlings are in the care of Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience following their harrowing journey across State Road A1A near Beverly Beach and became trapped in two storm drains at the Oceanside Condominiums.
16 Years in Prison for Justin Maddox, 32, in Overdose Death of Jeremy Kocorowski, 40
Indicted on a capital murder charge for his role in the drug-overdose death of 40-year-old Jeremy Kocorowski of Bunnell in March 2024, Justin Maddox, 32, of Palm Coast, was sentenced today to 16 years in prison in a plea deal that reduced the charge to manslaughter. “Addiction is a disease,” the victim’s mother told the court in a statement she read after the sentencing. “But exploiting someone who’s struggling is not. it is predatory. It is lethal. And in this case, it was murder.”
On Flagler County School Board, Competing Views Underscore District Tensions Behind Vouchers and ‘Choice’
At the end of a 15-minute hearing on Tuesday to approve Flagler County schools’ tentative property tax and budget for the coming fiscal year–a budget that includes the siphoning of $17 million to subsidize private school “vouchers” for almost 2,000 students, with the district’s dollars–School Board member Janie Ruddy delivered a brief speech decrying the erosion of public dollars for public schools, and addressing its consequences. Will Furry followed with a rejoinder, illustrating district tensions at the heart of the voucher and “choice” program. Both statements follow in full.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, July 30, 2025
Flagler Cares hosts its quarterly Help Night, Separation Chat, Christopher Weyant on Netanyahu, John Oliver on the Big Beautiful Bill, the decline and fall of X, Jeff Sharlet on the F word.
Citing Costs, Flagler Beach Commissioners Reject Design of New ‘Beachwalk’ on and Around Pier for 2nd Time in 4 Weeks
The design of a new “Beachwalk” and “Promenade” beneath and around the Flagler Beach pier drew raves from city commissioners. But what started as a $1.5 million project has ballooned to at least $2.8 million, with several design elements that were not part of the original concept as commissioners understood it, including a covered portion of the 4,200-square-foot promenade. Commissioners have tabled the project and asked for a third redesign.
The Smokescreen of Food Air Drops in Gaza
A third of Gazans have gone without food for several days and 90,000 women and children now require urgent care for acute malnutrition. Local health authorities have reported 147 deaths from starvation so far, 80% of whom are children. Air-dropping food supplies is considered a last resort due to the undignified and unsafe manner in which the aid is delivered. The UN has already reported civilians being injured when packages have fallen on tents. Air-dropped pallets of food are also inefficient compared with what can be delivered by road.
Justices Will Publicly Reprimand Broward Judge Stefanie Moon
As part of discipline that also included a 10-day suspension, Broward County Circuit Judge Stefanie Moon will go before the Florida Supreme Court on Sept. 9 for a public reprimand, the court said Tuesday.
DeSantis Signs 11th Death Warrant of Year: Curtis Windom, 1992 Murderer of 3
Continuing to quickly order executions, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed a death warrant for a man convicted of killing three people in 1992 in Orange County. Curtis Windom, 59, is scheduled to be executed Aug. 28 at Florida State Prison. Windom would be the 11th inmate executed this year in the state — a record-breaking pace.
Janie Ruddy Rips Vouchers, Will Furry Defends Them as School Board Sees Erosion of Nearly 2,000 Students to Hand-Out
The Flagler County School Board in a 15-minute meeting this evening approved the tentative school property tax for the next fiscal year, a small decline from last year that continues a 20-year trend of cutting the school tax rate every year but in the three years of the Great Recession. Board member Janie Ruddy pointedly noted the discordance between falling tax rates and local needs, and between the expansion of vouchers–public funding for private education–at the public schools’ expense. Will Furry, who chairs the board, countered with a defense of vouchers.
At Mike Norris ‘Mayoral Town Hall,’ an Impressive Crowd Starring Cast of Familiar Faces, Fictions and Grievances
Palm Coast Mayor Norris’s self-vaunted, well-attended and uneventful “Mayoral Town Hall” at the VFW hall on Old Kings Road Monday evening was almost identical to a grousing public comment segment at a City Council meeting, but stretched to two hours, and with a larger audience primed by pizza, beer and wine on the mayor’s personal generosity. The two-hour event drew 154 people, based on a head count just before the halfway mark.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, July 29, 2025
Food Truck Tuesday this evening in Palm Coast’s Town Center at Central Park, Random Acts of Insanity Standup Comedy at Cinematique, the Yankees’ Ryan McMahon meets Bruce Dern of “The Cowboys.”
As Israel Starves Gaza
Already around 60,000 Gazans have been killed and growing numbers are now dying from hunger and malnutrition. More than 90% of the private homes in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed. Israeli officials continue to speak of moving Gazans into what has been termed a “humanitarian city” but what former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert described as a “concentration camp”. In the same interview Olmert called decision to move Gazans into the camp as “ethnic cleansing”. All the while, the world’s leaders look on. Most are apparently content to condemn – but little action has been taken.