In response to the NAACP, the ACLU and the Human Rights Campaign warnings that travel to Florida could be hazardous to people of color, LGBTQ people, or people who just believe in decency and tolerance, Scott posted a huffy hunk of mansplaining on that X-thing that everyone still calls Twitter, warning “socialists and communists” and suchlike to stay out of Florida.
Covid Deaths in Florida Near 91,000
As of Thursday, 90,740 resident deaths from Covid-19 had been reported, according to Florida Department of Health data released Friday. That was up from 90,232 reported deaths two weeks earlier.
Harry Kuleski Jr. Garlanded in Awards, Including Lifetime Achievement and Bunnel Police’s Medal of Merit
Harry Kuleski, Jr. was finally recognized at the regular city commission meeting this past Monday for years of service in the military and law enforcement, and thousands of hours of volunteer service.
Felony Charge for Mom Who Left Child Alone With Dead Man After Night of Sex and Drugs at Hammock Resort
The State Attorney’s Office filed a third-degree felony child neglect charge against Amy M. Kemper, 32, of Richland Place in Palm Coast on Thursday. The charge is in connection with an incident at the Hammock Beach Resort on Sept. 9 involving drugs and group sex in the proximity of Kemper’s 11-year-old child, and that ended with the death of a 60-year-old man, according to her arrest report and the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, September 17, 2023
“I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” 3 p.m. at City Repertory Theatre, Palm Coast Farmers’ Market at European Village, what Tchaikovsky looks like from I-95, and what he sounds like from Royal Festival Hall.
Understanding Autoworkers’ Historic Strike
The autoworkers’ union is seeking higher pay, better benefits and assurances that large numbers of its members will work in the automakers’ growing number of electric-vehicle factories. Here’s how success or failure will be defined for the UAW, and why the strike is historically significant.
Florida Under DeSantis Is Ground Zero of Voter Disenfranchisement
DeSantis and the malleable Florida Legislature have cracked down on political protest, asylum seekers, the LGBTQ community, and women and trans men who might need abortions, among others. In elections litigation alone, the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition sued the state in federal court in Miami alleging the state has erected barriers to felons hoping to regain their voting rights under 2018’s Amendment 4, which the organization sponsored.
Hillsborough County Judge Nancy Jacobs Accused of ‘inappropriate and Disparaging’ Remarks
The panel of the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission filed what is known as a “notice of formal charges” against Judge Nancy Jacobs, who unseated then-Circuit Judge Jared Smith in the 2022 election.
City Repertory Theatre’s Audacious New Season Runs from ‘Perfect’ Love to Witch’s Cat to Freud’s Lingerie
Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre’s news season includes heady classics rarely staged in East-Central Florida: “Educating Rita” and Edward Albee’s unnerving “The Zoo Story.” There are acclaimed but off-the-radar, even experimental works: “Vinegar Tom,” Caryl Churchill’s Brechtian take on 17th-century witchcraft trials, and Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour’s bizarro, undirected “White Rabbit Red Rabbit.” Contemporary works include “Edges: A Song Cycle” and the comedy “Hysteria,” wherein Salvador Dalí meets Sigmund Freud.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, September 16, 2023
Flagler OARS’ 3rd Annual Recovery Festival, “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” at City Repertory Theatre, US News judges the best countries in the world a bit tendentiously, a tipping point in Antarctica, Saul Bellow.
Alas, No Extraterrestrials, NASA Says
NASA’s independent study team released its highly anticipated report on UFOs today. Bottom line: The study team found no evidence that reported unidentified anomalous phenomena observations are extraterrestrial. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson wants to shift the UFO conversation from sensationalism to one of science.
Third Cyclist Killed in 6 Weeks, on Narrow CR 302, as Flagler County’s 2-Wheel and Pedestrian Fatalities Rise
A 51-year-old Palm Coast man cycling on County Road 302 early this morning died in a crash involving two vehicles, the third cyclist to die on Flagler County’s roads in six weeks. County Road 302 is a narrow two-lane road with no shoulders, no bike lanes and no street lights.
Jury Finds Brenan Hill Guilty In Murder of Savannah Gonzalez, and Faces 25 Years to Life in Prison
A jury of four women and two men found Brenan Hill guilty of second degree murder and two other charges in the shooting death of Savannah Gonzalez, 22, after deliberating two hours and 45 minutes today. He faces life in prison when Circuit Judge Terence Perkins, who presided over the five-day trial, sentences him at a later date.
Malacompra Beach Annexation Into Palm Coast Draws Frosty but Not Fatal Response from Joint Committee
The joint local government committee of county and city representatives that met for the second time approached at arm’s length Palm Coast City Council member Theresa Pontieri’s proposal that Palm Coast annex into the city the county beach and access at Malacompra Road.
Florida’s ‘Voucher’ System Adds 123,000 Students Attending Private School at Public Expense
Nearly 123,000 new students have received private-school vouchers after state lawmakers this year passed a major expansion of voucher programs, while a group that administers the programs says they will not bring an “exodus” from public schools as critics have predicted.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, September 15, 2023
“I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” at City Repertory Theatre, Kant’s Notebook at a perfume counter at Dillards, Conan O’Brien’s Dartmouth Commencement Speech, more Didion from Miami.
Sustainable Tourism Depends on Locals’ Help
Making sustainable that which has not been designed as such (a destination, a resort, a mode of transport, etc.) is not easy, fast or affordable. This is especially true since, rather than conforming to standards, labels or certifications, we must change our relationship with the environment in order to be sustainable, rather than just appearing to be so.
Brenan Hill Takes Stand in His Defense, Weeping, then Seething that Shooting Savannah Gonzalez Was an ‘Accident’
It was not an exactly calm man the jury saw when Brenan Hill took the stand this afternoon in his own defense. Not the sort of man who helped himself much in his trial on a second-degree murder charge that could send him to prison for life if he is convicted: when the prosecution cross-examined him, he was angry, exasperated and at times barely responsive.
Ed Danko Attacks City Staffer With Baseless Claims in Public Meeting, Drawing Sharp Rebuke from Mayor
Palm Coast City Council member Ed Danko verbally attacked and disparaged the city’s resiliency and sustainability officer in a public meeting on Tuesday, baselessly calling her presentation “propaganda,” questioning why she had a job, and sparring with Mayor David Alfin, who brought him under control.
Palm Coast Reopens Door to EV Charging Stations, But Only as Conduit to Private Business
The Palm Coast City Council is not as opposed as it seemed a few months ago to expanding availability of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations on public land, but only if private companies lead the way and lease the land at market value–a much stricter standard than the city’s arrangement with its cell phone tower builder and operator.
Kwentel Moultrie Pleads to Murder, Will Serve 45 Years in Prison on Series of Convictions
Kwentel Moultrie, the 24-year-old former Palm Coast resident convicted last year of raping a 16-year-old girl, this morning pleaded guilty to a second degree murder charge and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. He will serve that sentence consecutively to the 10-year sentence for the rape charge.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, September 14, 2023
The Flagler Beach City Commission takes on higher and new impact fees, the Brennan Hill trial on a murder charge is in its third day, Brancusi’s Bird in Space, Bobbie Ann Mason’s In Country.
The Unpredictability of Earthquakes
Almost like aftershocks, questions about earthquake prediction tend to follow disasters like the one that occurred Sept. 8, 2023, in Morocco. Could advance notice have prevented some of the devastation? Unfortunately, useful predictions are still in the realm of science fiction.
Almost a Good Day for Brenan Hill in Murder Trial: Jury Does Not Hear Him Speak. Then the Hammer Falls.
In the third day of trial for Brenan Hill, 34, who faces a second-degree murder charge in the shooting death of Savannah Gonzalez, 22, the prosecution built its case through forensic evidence and almost a dozen witnesses today, including testimony from a firearm expert who appeared to all but demolish the defense’s claim that Hill could fire the gun accidentally, as he claims.
Only Half of Palm Coast’s Land Mass Has Reliable Cell Coverage, with Limited Relief Ahead
For all of the city’s efforts since 2017 to improve cell coverage in Palm Coast, reliability is still a serious problem. Only 14 to 15 percent of the city’s land mass is getting fully reliable coverage. Less than 35 percent of the city is getting fair to mediocre coverage. A deficit of needed towers still looms.
Palm Coast Council’s Pontieri Makes Startling Move to Annex Malacompra Park: ‘Our Citizens Are Entitled to Their Own Beach’
In a startling proposal that may revive city-Hammock conflicts dormant since the mid 2000s, Palm Coast City Council member Theresa Pontieri on Tuesday said the city should consider annexing the county’s Malacompra Park so Palm Coast can have its own beach. The idea did not get a warm reception from fellow council members or others.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Brenan Hill’s trial on a second degree murder charge enters its third day, cities and the county’s representatives meet in a joint committee, a yoga class mistaken for a mass murder, Alvin Kernan on death, atheists and foxholes.
An Even Application of Justice Would Be Appreciated
We need, for example, to believe that someone who is rioting in the streets of Philadelphia, smashing store windows and stealing flat-screen TVs under the guise of social justice, is going to be charged with a crime. We are not asking that they receive 17-year prison sentences. We are not asking that they be kept in solitary confinement. We are not calling them traitors to the state. We just want them to, at the very least, have a criminal record that can later be expunged if they stop acting like vandals.
Volunteers Collect Nearly a Ton of Trash in 16th Annual Intracoastal Waterway Cleanup
Since 2008, volunteers participating in the event have collected over 27,000 pounds of trash. This year, over 190 volunteers participated in the event and recovered over 1,800 pounds of trash.
No Evidence of Wrongdoing, But GOP Launches Impeach Biden Spectacle Anyway
GOP-led congressional inquiries of presidential son Hunter Biden’s records to date have not shown any foreign payment to his father, Joe Biden, or any other evidence of wrongdoing. But yielding to pressure from hard-line members of the GOP House caucus, U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy today directed the top Republicans in Congress to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
Jury Hears Brenan Hill in a Confederacy of Lies About Shooting that Led to Girlfriend’s Death
Brenan Hill lied at least six times times about what led to him shooting Savannah La-Rynn Gonzalez in the head on March 26, 2021, including a lie to his mother. The 22-year-old Palm Coast woman never recovered. She died last Nov. 9. The jury heard most of those lies today in Hill’s second day of trial on a second-degree murder charge that could send him to prison for life if he’s convicted.
Flagler Beach Will Consider New Impact Fees for Fire, Police, Parks, and Library, and Higher Fees for Water and Sewer
The Flagler Beach City Commission Thursday will vote on what could be the single-largest tax increase on development in the city’s history. The city is considering adopting higher impact fees on water and sewer connection, and imposing new impact fees for police, fire, parks and recreation services, which it has not had until now.
Pedestrian Reported to Have Jumped in Front of Car Is Killed on Belle Terre Parkway
A 39-year-old Palm Coast man on foot was killed Monday evening in a collision with a sedan on Belle Terre Parkway, just north of Palm Coast Parkway.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, September 12, 2023
The Palm Coast City Council discusses cell phone coverage in the city and its electric vehicle and EV charging station infrastructure, a Bach partita, Bobby Ann Mason’s In Country and Florida.
Stetson Breaks Fund-Raising Record with $65 Million Haul
Stetson University set another fundraising record for a second year in a row, raising $65 million last year for student scholarships, renovations and other areas across the institution. The outpouring of gifts and pledges from donors during the 2023 fiscal year, ending June 30, came a year after Stetson raised $52.2 million, then the largest amount on record.
Managers’ Attempts to Empower Their Employees Often Fail
When companies design and implement empowering leadership initiatives, they often overlook key factors that are necessary for empowerment to work. Their efforts to empower employees often result in little impact or are entirely ineffective. In fact, they can even lead employees to engage in unethical behavior.
Florida Wants ‘Marsy’s Law,’ Designed for Crime Victims, to Prevent Death Penalty Appeals
Nearly five years after voters passed a constitutional amendment about victims’ rights, Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office Monday urged the Florida Supreme Court to use the measure to make it harder for Death Row inmates to get stays of execution.
Jury Selection in Brenan Hill’s Trial on Murder Charge Keys In on Guns, Violence and Intent
Brennan Hill, 32 at the time, shot Savannah Gonzalez in March 2021 near the Microtel in Palm Coast. Hill’s attorney, made his intentions clear in his remarkably brief interactions with potential jurors at the end of a day of jury selection Monday: the shooting was accidental. It had nothing to do with domestic violence. It was a homicide, but not a murder.
Obviously, the prosecution disagrees, though it did not tip its hand today as Bettman did.
Flagler County Joins St. Johns in Banning ‘Floating Structures’ Used as Unregulated Party Stores on Waterways
A month after St. Johns County did so, the Flagler County Commission last week banned all floating structures used on county rivers, lakes or inlets “like a neighborhood convenience store on the water,” as a county memo describes them, and that the county considers unregulated nuisances that at times damage the surrounding ecology.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, September 11, 2023
September 11 commemoration at heroes Park in Palm Coast, the Bunnell City Commission approves its budget and tax rates for next year, Don DeLillo’s Falling Man and Samuel Hynes.
Rebuilding Ground Zero: How Lower Manhattan Was Reshaped
The destruction of the massive complex created a rare opportunity for New York City to rethink its long-term economic needs in the downtown area, while sending a message to the world that regardless of whatever al-Qaida terrorists aimed to do, New York City would come back stronger than ever. It was an unparalleled opportunity in the city’s history that otherwise would not have happened.
Paul Renner Signals Focus on Health Care with Creation of New House Committee
Signaling that health care could be a key issue during the 2024 legislative session, House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, announced Friday that he has created the House Select Committee on Health Innovation. The committee, which will be chaired by Rep. Kaylee Tuck, R-Lake Placid, will “review issues relating to access and affordability in health care,” Renner said in a memo to House members.
Law Enforcement, Court and Incident Round-Up: Sept. 1-8
Running a stop sign leads to an arrest on two felonies, a bored inmate triggers a fire sprinkler, four are arrested for illegally picking palmetto berries, a child drowns in Seminole Woods, Brendan Depa’s pre-trial is postponed.
Dead White Males Return: Behind Florida GOP’s Push for Christian-Leaning Classic Learning Test Instead of SAT
The new Classic Learning Test has been pushed by conservative politicians and religious activists as an alternative to the SAT and ACT, and will now be accepted as a measure of admission in Florida colleges and universities. Of the 12 private institutions in Florida that now accept the CLT, 11 are religiously affiliated.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, September 10, 2023
Palm Coast Farmers’ Market, Hamdi Ulukaya, the Turkish or rather Kurdish immigrant sheep herder who became Chobani billionaire, Colin Thubron on the Hills of Adonis and Jabal Sannin.
Do Unbiased Jurors Exist for Trump’s Trials?
Finding unbiased jurors in the pre-digital age, even in high-profile cases, was challenging but nothing like today. Once chosen, jurors needed to maintain that unbiased status and were told not to discuss the case with anyone and to avoid radio, television and newspapers. If the case involved the death penalty, jurors might be sequestered. Today, that same approach won’t work.
Nikki Haley’s Fascist-Flirting Flip-Flops
Haley won pundit praise for her recent GOP debate performance – at times she sounded saner and smarter than some of her rivals (an admittedly low bar). But then she hit the wall. She described Inmate #P01135809 as “the most disliked politician in America,” someone who would not be electable in 2024 – but she signaled, by raising her hand, that she’d still support Trump as the party’s nominee, even if he were criminally convicted prior to the election.
Palm Coast Fire Department’s Lt. Richard Cline Retires After 25 Years of Service
The Palm Coast Fire Department bids a fond farewell to Richard “Rich” Cline as he embarks on a well-deserved retirement after a proud career spanning 25 years, dedicated to serving the City of Palm Coast.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, September 9, 2023
Gamble Jam at Gamble Recreation Area in Flagler Beach, keeping an eye on the tropics, Philip Roth and Michiko Kakutani on on Saul Bellow, reading the Bellarosa Connection.
Even A Great Superintendent Can’t Fix a Clueless School Board
If you think the appointment of LaShakia Moore as superintendent will make a difference, think again. Moore’s biggest job will be to run interference to save what’s left of this district from the Huns, because the problem was never with the administration or the ranks. It’s with the majority of a board that doesn’t know its role, doesn’t know its limits, and doesn’t know education from flip-flops.