Vincent Sullivan is one of four candidates in two races for Flagler County School Board in the Aug. 20 primary, facing Lauren Ramirez in District 5. School board elections are non-partisan races: all registered voters in Flagler County are eligible to cast a ballot in the two races–whether registered Democratic, Republican, Independent or from a minor party.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, July 23, 2024
The school board holds its pair of meetings–afternoon workshop, evening meeting–the Palm Coast council meets, Book Dragons at the Flagler Beach Public Library, the sprawls of Palm Coast.
Already Vile, GOP Attacks Against Kamala Harris Are About to Get Worse
The anti-Harris rhetoric is part of what a report by the Wilson Center, a nonpartisan think tank, described as a broad pattern of gendered and sexualized attacks on prominent women in public discourse.
Miller’s Ale House Preps Opening Aug. 5 Ahead of BJ’s Warehouse, With Luring Appetizer for First Guests
Miller’s Ale House is opening its 113th restaurant in Palm Coast on Aug. 5, in one of the five satellite businesses in front of BJ’s Wholesale Club, which opens a few weeks later. Miller’s Ale will host a ceremonial ribbon-cutting and offer recurring goodies to the first 100 guests that day.
Florida Democrats, Mirroring Nation’s, Quickly Rally Around Kamala Harris
Members of Florida’s delegation to the Democratic National Convention threw their support Monday to Vice President Kamala Harris, a day after President Joe Biden dropped his re-election campaign. As part of a rapidly moving effort to coalesce support behind the vice president, a group of Florida party leaders held a call with reporters to back Harris’ bid to become president and pointed to increased enthusiasm they hope translates down the ballot.
Palm Coast’s David Chenowith, 32, Faces Charges of Human Trafficking of a Child, Statutory Rape and Molestation
David Chenowith is a 32-year-old resident of Palm Coast, the father of a 10-year-old girl, and a convicted felon with an extensive arrest record and a previous state prison stint of almost three years. On July 18, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office arrested him on charges of statutory rape of a 16 year old, molesting a girl younger than 16, and human trafficking of a minor–two second-degree felonies and a life felony if convicted.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, July 22, 2024
“The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals” in its final performance at City Repertory Theatre, the Flagler County Beekeepers Association meets, Hemingway’s recollection of Paris.
HIV Breakthrough: Injection Could Prevent Infection
A large clinical trial in South Africa and Uganda has shown that a twice-yearly injection of a new pre-exposure prophylaxis drug gives young women total protection from HIV infection. The trial tested whether the six-month injection of lenacapavir would provide better protection against HIV infection than two other drugs, both daily pills. All three medications are pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP) drugs.
DeSantis’s Florida: The Who Cares State
Florida’s current regime (motto: “Ignorance is Strength”) operates on the theory that if you refuse to utter certain words — ”racism,” for example, “Covid,” or “climate crisis” — and pretend with all your might that what you see in front of you isn’t real, then the problem disappears.
The Solution to Homelessness Is Not Criminalization. It’s Housing.
With half of all renter households now spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing, millions are one emergency away from homelessness. Punishing people for our country’s failure to ensure adequate housing for all is inherently “cruel and unusual.” Widespread homelessness directly violates the human right to housing under international law, which must be recognized in the United States.
Recreational Pot Amendment Backers Raise $61.5 Million as DeSantis Attacks
The political committee sponsoring a ballot initiative that would allow recreational marijuana collected nearly $314,000 in new donations, according to its latest campaign finance filing. Smart & Safe Florida has now raised nearly $61.5 million in its effort to pass the initiative.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, July 21, 2024
Iration and Pepper at the St. Augustine Amphitheater, Idith Zertal and Akiva Eldar’s “Lords of the Land,” Ilan Pappé and the biggest prison on earth in Gaza and the West Bank.
Just One Drink a Day Can Bump Up Your Breast Cancer Risk by 5% to 9%
Did you know that casual drinks with friends or having a “wine mom” moment to unwind could actually be nudging up your risk for breast cancer? It sounds like a buzzkill. But it’s a truth that many might not know: Alcohol actually causes breast cancer.
J.D. Vance Praised Alex Jones as a Truth-Teller and Said the ‘Devil Is Real’
Sen. J.D. Vance, whom Donald Trump named as his vice presidential running mate Monday, told a group of influential young conservatives in a closed-door speech in 2021 that they should stand up for “nonconventional people” who speak truth, such as Infowars founder Alex Jones, projected a time when Kamala Harris would imprison conservatives in droves, and said the financial elite is full of sex perverts.
Palm Coast and Flagler Schools Collaborate at Annual Principals Breakfast
The City of Palm Coast and Flagler Schools joined forces on Wednesday for the annual Principals Breakfast, a collaborative event aimed at fostering a stronger partnership between the city’s leadership and the educational community.
To Neutralize Write-In Fraud, Switch to Republican: An Open Letter to My Flagler County Neighbors
Jake Scully, a lifelong Democrat until this summer, says the only way to get around the fraud of two-write-in candidates closing two County Commission races to almost 50,000 voters is to switch to Republican before the July 22 deadline.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, July 20, 2024
The Saturday Flagler Beach Farmers Market, Democratic Women’s Club of Flagler County meeting, Buddy Guy performs a rescheduled show in St. Augustine, and on casuistry.
The Free Market Myth: How the US Manipulates Global Markets for Economic Supremacy
For years, Democratic and Republican administrations in the US have touted the virtues of free trade to the rest of the world, working towards establishing a multilateral trading system that limits the use of protectionist policies. But it’s hypocritical.
Sheriff Issues Cease and Desist to Ed Danko Over Unauthorized Use of Images and ‘Endorsement’ Reference
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office today issued a sternly worded letter to Ed Danko, the Palm Coast City Council member and a candidate for the County Commission, immediately to remove images of and references to Sheriff Rick Staly from a campaign video Oliver North recorded for the Danko campaign.
Police Investigating ‘Suspicious’ and Violent Death of Sally J. Byrd, 66, in Flagler Beach
Flagler Beach Police are investigating the “suspicious” death Thursday morning of “Sally J. Byrd, 66, a resident of Pebble Beach Village at the south end of Flagler Beach. A man is in custody in Georgia in connection with the case, after stealing the woman’s car and fleeing the area.
Pam Richardson, Flagler County Commission District 5 Candidate: The Live Interview
Pam Richardson is one of two Republican candidates for Flagler County Commission, District 5, in the Aug. 20 primary. It’s an open seat as Commissioner Donald O’Brien has elected not to run for a third term. Richardson faces Ed Danko, currently serving as a Palm Coast City Council member. Only registered Republicans may cast a ballot in the election.
Ed Danko, Flagler County Commission Candidate District 5: The Live Interview
Ed Danko is one of two Republican candidates for Flagler County Commission, District 5, in the Aug. 20 primary. It’s an open seat as Commissioner Donald O’Brien has elected not to run for a third term. Danko, a one-term Palm Coast City Council member, faces Pam Richardson.
Ben Sasse Resigns University of Florida Presidency to Care for Wife’s Health
Former Nebraska U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse announced Thursday he was stepping down as president of the University of Florida to help his family cope with his wife’s worsening health.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, July 19, 2024
“The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals,” at City Repertory Theatre, Flagler and Florida unemployment numbers released at 10 a.m., the Blue 24 Forum, the many meanings of July 19, rocking the kasbah in Beirut.
Flagler Cares and One Voice for Volusia Merge Safety Net and Substance Use Prevention Services
Flagler Cares and One Voice for Volusia announce that the two organizations have merged into one corporate structure under Flagler Cares. Flagler Cares will remain committed to providing social safety net, behavioral health and outpatient counseling, and prevention services for Flagler County. One Voice for Volusia is doing business as the Substance Use Prevention Coalition and neutral community facilitator in Volusia County, focusing on addressing risk factors and building protective factors to prevent initiation of youth substance use.
Trump’s Strategic Nostalgia for America’s More Racist and Sexist Past
Trump’s nostalgia is more than simple retrospection. Trump’s appeal isn’t just about a better economic past or a more stable society. It serves as an evocation of a time in America when women and minorities had less power.
Florida Is Sitting on $198 Million in Federal EV Money That Could Provide More Chargers
Florida is one of 15 states that won’t allow any companies to apply for $198 million in federal money the state is receiving over the next five years the Biden Administration’s National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program. The state is doing so on purpose, citing a laundry list of culture-war complaints, such as “Covid tyranny,” as well as criticism of electric vehicles.
Sheriff Staly Rejects as ‘Misleading’ Ed Danko Campaign Claim of Endorsement in Latest Ollie North Video
As he did in 2022 regarding a different campaign using almost identical techniques and using Oliver North, Sheriff Rick Staly today said he was never endorsed by Ed Danko, as a Danko campaign video claims, and called the Danko video–which uses two images of Staly with Danko–“misleading” at best. Danko said he’s frequently spoken of his support of the sheriff and equates support with endorsement.
Alien Menace and Combustible Dancing Shake Up City Repertory Theatre with “The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals”
“The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals,” which opens tonight at City Repertory Theatre in Palm Coast, takes its cue from the body snatching school: After an extraterrestrial presence stealthily arrives via a meteor that crashes into a small-town theater and proceeds to uncork “some kind of blue” something, the townsfolk are suddenly and inexplicably breaking into song and dance routines in everyday life situations. Soon the infected townsfolk begin acting more and more like zombies.
Dominic F. Addesso, 1930-2024
Dominic F. Addesso passed away peacefully at the Stuart F. Meyer Hospice House in Palm Coast, Fla., on Wednesday, June 26, 2024. He had shared 93 years of unconditional love, infectious laughter, and unforgettable memories with family and friends.
Bill Clark, Flagler County Commission Candidate District 3: The Live Interview
Bill Clark is a Republican candidate for Flagler County Commission, District 3, in an open-seat election, as Dave Sullivan has opted not to run again. Clark faces Republicans Kim Carney and Nick Klufas in the Aug. 20 primary.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, July 18, 2024
Story Time at the Flagler Beach Public Library, getting ticketed in France, Jean-Paul Belmondo plays Dale Earnhardt, a few lines from Jeanne Stafford’s “Reluctant Gambler.”
Abortion Bans Are Changing What It Means To Be Young in America
Following the Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme Court decision, more than half of U.S. adolescents, ages 13-19, now live in a state with severely restricted or no legal abortion access. As a result, today’s young people are coming of age in what one expert in health law and bioethics has termed an “era of rights retractions.”
Escambia School Board Wants 7 Year Old Deposed in Book Fight
As it tries to fend off a constitutional challenge to removing and restricting school library books, the Escambia County School Board on Tuesday argued that it should be able to take a deposition of a 7-year-old student who is part of the lawsuit. Attorneys for the board, in a 20-page court document, urged U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell to reject a request for a protective order that would shield the child, identified by the initials J.N., from having to testify in a deposition.
Flagler County Jail Wins Health Care Accreditation as Sheriff’s Office Becomes 5-Diamond Agency
The Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility has earned accreditation from the National Commission on Correctional Health Care by demonstrating compliance with NCCHC’s nationally recognized standards of care for correctional health services in jails. Accreditation recognizes the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office’s commitment to providing quality health services for inmates.
Flagler County Library’s $14 Million South Branch ‘Nexus Center’ Breaks Ground in August, Ending 10-Year Wait
Almost a decade after Holly Albanese and the Library Board of Trustees first conceived it, the south branch of the Flagler County Library–to be called the Nexus Center–will break ground on Aug. 5 on the 7-acre parcel opposite the Flagler County Sheriff’s Operations Center, a short walk down from the future Bunnell City Hall now under construction. The 23,000-square-foot, one-floor library, combined with the county’s social services offices, will open at the end of October 2025.
Jury Finds Man Guilty on 9 Counts in Video Voyeurism of 12-Year-Old Stepdaughter in Her Bathroom
At the end of a three-day trial today, and after deliberating barely an hour, a jury found Tyler Habdas, now 32, guilty on nine charges of voyeurism of an underage child, child abuse, and illegal use of a cell phone. He’d secretly and repeatedly taken video of his 12-year-old daughter as she showered at her grandmother’s home in Flagler County. He faces up to 75 years in prison when he is sentenced in September.
Kim Carney, Flagler County Commission Candidate District 3: The Live Interview
Kim Carney is a Republican candidate for Flagler County Commission, District 3, in an open-seat election, as Dave Sullivan has opted not to run again. Carney faces Republicans Bill Clark and Nick Klufas in the Aug. 20 primary.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, July 17, 2024
Flagler County’s Technical Review Committee meets, Separation Chat, Open Discussion, Bridge and Games at Flagler Woman’s Club, doping and the Tour de France, on the rapidity of change.
Ignore Most Articles About Vice Presidential Picks
Veepstakes media coverage deserves its poor reputation as little more than an electoral parlor game. Too bad: Given the vice presidency’s importance and the media’s opportunity to educate Americans about who could be next to serve in the office, it should be so much more than that.
More than 1 Million Floridians Couldn’t Afford to See a Doctor in 2022
Approximately 28% of Florida adults can’t afford to see a doctor when they need to, according to newly published data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The data for 2022, the latest available, put Florida among the states with the highest rates of people who skipped medical visits because of high costs. Texas, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi — other states that haven’t expanded Medicaid — were also listed, according CDC Disability and Health Data System data published Tuesday.
‘I Don’t Want to Wrestle With Pigs’: Palm Coast Rejects Danko Push to Lock City Into $2.3 Million Budget Cut
Overcoming what Council member Nick Klufas called fellow Councilman Ed Danko’s “pontification,” the Palm Coast City Council today rebuffed an attempt by Danko to remove $2.3 million from the city’s proposed budget and adopted instead a slightly reduced tax rate for next year while preserving funding for the addition of nine new sheriff’s deputies and three new firefighter-paramedics.
BJ’s Wholesale Club Readies to Open as County Raises Traffic Concerns and Palm Coast Annexes
BJ’s Wholesale Club on State Road 1100 will open in a matter of weeks, its parking lot paved on Monday and its certificate of occupancy soon to be issued, Flagler County’s planning director said, while Palm Coast government today took the first step toward annexing the property. But county officials raised concerns about traffic lights and traffic patterns ahead. The 32-acre property will consist of BJ’s and its gas station, Miller’s Ale House, opening around Aug. 1, Longhorn Steakhouse and Chase Bank.
Tendentious ‘Statement’ on Florida Abortion Ballot Measure Sparks Controversy
A state panel late Monday finished revising a “financial impact statement” that will appear on the November ballot with a proposed constitutional amendment on abortion rights — with amendment supporters accusing the panel of a “dirty trick to mislead voters.” The statement makes several unsubstantiated claims about costs the abortion measures could impose on the state budget.
Nick Klufas, Flagler County Commission District 3 Candidate: The Live Interview
Nick Klufas is a Republican candidate for Flagler County Commission, District 3. The two-term Palm Coast City Council member, who is term-limited, faces Kim Carney and Bill Clark, both Republicans, in the Aug. 20 primary. Because a write-in candidate has filed expressly to close the election to non-Republicans, only registered Republicans may cast a ballot in this race.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, July 16, 2024
Identity Theft/Scams/Fraud Workshop at Flagler Woman’s Club, Food Truck Tuesdays in Palm Coast’s Town Center, Hammock Harbour public hearing before a special magistrate, tales of Scheherazade.
‘One Inch from a Potential Civil War’: the Trump Near Miss Was a Close Call for U.S. Democracy
If Donald Trump would have suffered fatal injuries, the level of violence witnessed so far will be nothing in comparison to what would have happened in the next couple of months. It would have unleashed a new level of anger, frustration, resentment, hostility that we haven’t seen for many, many years in the U.S.
Flagler Photographers Wanted to Showcase County’s ‘Stormy Skies’ in State Association’s Calendar Contest
Flagler County is seeking photographers who would like to submit their images for the Florida Association of Counties (FAC) 2024-2025 calendar contest “Stormy Skies.”
Trump Chooses J.D. Vance Over Rubio for Vice President
Former President Donald Trump on Monday bypassed U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio in making his vice-presidential pick, averting what could have been a major change in Florida’s political landscape. Trump announced freshman U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio as his 2024 running mate, a short time after the Republican National Convention opened in Milwaukee.
Reviled Daytona North Special Tax Will End as County Adopts Proposed 2025 Budget with Modest Tax Increase
The Flagler County Commission this afternoon adopted a proposed tax rate for next year that, absent further decreases before two September hearings, will be a hair lower than the existing rate. County Administrator Heidi Petito, in a shift from last year, is proposing suspending the increasingly reviled special tax in Daytona North (or the Mondex), eliminating $260,000 in revenue to the general fund that will be more than made up by tax collections.