BIPOC is an acronym for “Black, Indigenous and People of Color,” and has become increasingly popular in recent years. The acronym came about as a way to address the erasure of Black and Indigenous Peoples and center their unique struggles while promoting solidarity. But BIPOC amalgamates distinct experiences of racism and colonialism and misses those that do not fit within one category, like individuals of mixed ancestry.
Don’t Blame Us Seniors for the Affordability Crisis. Blame Developers.
A Hammock resident rejects the claim that Palm Coast’s and Flagler County’s seniors “contribute least” as they buy up homes, or that they are to blame for the housing affordability crisis. Rather, developers convince your fearless leaders that they cannot make any money unless they cram in as many houses on a property as possible. They convince commissioners to change zoning frequently, for profit.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, September 24, 2023
Matinee of “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” at City Repertory Theatre, Palm Coast Farmers’ Market at European Village, your car is to blame for the largest share of greenhouse gases, Purdue Pharma’s guilt.
How Biases Against Black-Sounding First Names Lead to Job Discrimination
A hiring experiment found that participants systematically discriminated against job candidates with names they associated with Black people, especially when put under time pressure. It also found that white people who oppose affirmative action discriminated more than other people against job candidates with distinctly Black names, whether or not they had to make rushed decisions.
College Football Reflects America As it Really Is: Indefensible In a Civilized World
It’s college football season in Florida and you know what that means: trash talking, martial metaphors, peculiar rituals involving animals, bizarre clothing in colors not found in nature, bad grammar, mansplaining, and racism. College football reinforces some of our least attractive stereotypes — those Black kids sure are fast! — and extreme gender roles, as well: huge dudes on the field knocking the living hell out of each other, while small (though quite athletic) women with incongruously large bows in their hair cheer them on.
Clarence Thomas Secretly Participated in Koch Network Donor Events
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has attended at least two Koch donor summits, putting him in the extraordinary position of having helped a political network that has brought multiple cases before the Supreme Court.
Florida’s Minimum Wage Goes to $12 on Sept. 30
Chambers of commerce and Republican lawmakers have routinely claimed that higher minimum wages would hurt workers, cut back their hours, increase unemployment, or shutter small businesses. Those fears have not materialized in Florida.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, September 23, 2023
Another homage to Krys Fluker, “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” at CRT, Gamble Jam, a few words about the heart-rending Domenico Scarlatti, the pain of the elderly.
Green Growth Is Losing Traction. De-Growth Is Not.
The “degrowth” school of thought proposes a planned reduction in material consumption in affluent nations to achieve more sustainable and equitable societies. Meanwhile, supporters of “agrowth” adopt a neutral view of economic growth, focusing on achieving sustainability irrespective of GDP fluctuations. Essentially, both positions represent scepticism toward the predominant “green growth” paradigm with degrowth representing a more critical view.
Palm Coast Council Member Steps Back from Malacompra Beach Annexation, Opting for ‘Different Options’
After hearing little more than opposition to the idea, Palm Coast City Council member Theresa Pontieri is stepping back from her proposal to explore annexation of the county’s Malacompra Road and beach in the Hammock, opting for “different options,” she told her colleagues on Tuesday. But she still intends to find beach access for city residents somewhere.
Sean Barry, 33, Found Hanging at County Jail and Dies at Hospital. He’d Been Waiting for a Drug-Treatment Bed.
Sean E. Barry, a 33-year-old resident of Butternut Avenue in Bunnell’s Mondex, died at AdventHealth Palm Coast on Thursday afternoon, five days after he was found hanging in an apparent suicide attempt at the Flagler County jail. Barry was not at the jail on a criminal charge, but on a Marchman Act motion his sister had filed with the court in early August as she sought to get him the drug treatment help he needed.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, September 22, 2023
The mania to destroy nature to appreciate it, “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” at CRT, asking a salient question about Trump.
Rupert Murdoch’s Legacy of Lies and Little Accountability: A Round-Up
Rupert Murdoch’s Fox meant that so-called journalists could lie with near total impunity, but Fox News’ settlement with Dominion Voting Systems was a win for all media.
Florida Icon and Pulitzer Prize Winner Lucy Morgan Dies at 82
Lucy Morgan, an icon in Florida politics and American journalism, has died. She was a Pulitzer Prize winner and chief of the St. Petersburg (now Tampa Bay) Times capital bureau in Tallahassee for 20 years, retiring in 2006 and serving as senior correspondent until 2013.
Flagler County Approves Higher Taxes, Palm Coast Stays Level, But Claims of ‘Historic’ Rollback Are Inaccurate
Palm Coast and Flagler County government this week adopted their budgets and tax rates for the 2023-24 fiscal year with little controversy and so few people in the audience at final hearings that you could count them on one hand. The county raised taxes, the city kept its taxes flat. Palm Coast going back to the rolled back rate was not unique, as some council members claimed or thought.
At Root of Palm Coast’s Affordable Housing Crisis: We Got Our Own. Screw the Rest.
We have a housing crisis in Palm Coast. Too few houses, too few apartments, discriminatory zoning and homesteading laws that make the problem worse. We who live in our sprawling, property-tax-sheltered single-family houses not only see these laws as entitlements. We want the door to more development closed behind us. We got our own. Screw the rest. So just when we need it most, affordable housing is becoming a dirty word.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, September 21, 2023
Drug Court meets, the Democratic Women’s Club meets, the decade we lost Earth to global warming, the etymology of “divine wind,” otherwise known as kamikaze.
How Local Law Enforcement Could Help Prevent Another Jan. 6-Style Insurrection
If police had treated Proud Boys as members of a street gang from the group’s inception in 2016, the events of Jan. 6, 2021, might have been avoided, or at least reduced in severity. Instead, police continues to mistakenly focus on the belief that, like terrorist groups, white supremacists are coordinated in ideology and intent. Evidence shows that perception actually diverts local police agencies’ attention from identifying and managing these groups.
Flagler County Drug Court Foundation Announces Fall Ride for Recovery Fundraiser on October 14th
The Flagler County Drug Court Foundation hosts the Fall Ride for Recovery fundraiser on October 14th. This exciting event promises a day filled with fun, food, and activities for a noble cause. The primary objective of this fundraiser is to provide assistance to individuals in Flagler County who are on their journey to recovery from substance abuse.
Up to 210 Homes Approved on Old Kings Road South of SR100 But Polo Club West Neighbors Have Worries
The Palm Coast Planning Board recommended approval of a rezoning of 62 acres on Old Kings Road some 2.5 miles south of State Road 100 that will clear the way for up to 210 small homes, hours after the Palm Coast City Council annexed the property into the city, from the county. The property is adjacent to Polo Club West, an upscale equestrian community where residents have been worried about the effects of a more dense development on their privacy and property values.
Redirected: Flagler County’s Inventory of Homes for Sale Reaches 13-Year High as Unemployment Remains Above 4%
After rising to a three-year high last month, Flagler County’s unemployment rate declined a statistically insignificant fraction, to 4.4 percent. In one troubling indicator: The local inventory of available housing is now at 1,225 single family homes–the highest number in 13 years. It was last at that level in may 2012, when the inventory was shrinking fast in the recovery from the housing boom.
‘Faith’ Bridge Over SR100 Goes from Maligned to Acclaimed as It Opens, But in the Absence of Its Champion
Flagler County and city officials inaugurated the formal opening of the $12.3 million pedestrian bridge over State Road 100, five years in the making, with speeches and a dedicatory run by the Flagler Palm Coast High School track team. But its leading champion, Faith al-Khatib, was absent.
UCF May Close Three Campuses
The state university system’s Board of Governors on Wednesday will consider proposals by the University of Central Florida to close three campuses no longer in use. The proposals involve the South Orlando Campus, the UCF Leesburg campus and the UCF Palm Bay campus.
All-Beethoven Concert Opens Daytona Solisti Chamber Orchestra’s New Season
The Daytona Solisti Chamber Orchestra will open its 2023-24 season with “Beethovenfest,” an all-Beethoven concert, at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 8, at Lighthouse Christ Presbyterian Church in Ormond Beach, with pianist Michael Rickman, violinist and Solisti founder Susan Pitard Acree, and cellist Joseph Corporon.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, September 29, 2023
The Palm Coast Planning and Land Development Board meets, Separation Chat, the horrors of flying according to Robert Reich and Henry David Thoreau.
Moms for Liberty: Joyful Warriors or Anti-Government Conspiracists?
The mothers group dominating media attention is Moms for Liberty, self-described “joyful warriors … stok[ing] the fires of liberty” with the slogan “We Don’t Co-Parent with the Government.” Others see them as well-organized, publicity-savvy anti-government conspiracists.
School Board Trio Will Hire an Attorney to Help Them Fire Board’s Attorney of 17 Years
The Flagler County School Board has assigned fellow-board member Will Furry to hire a labor attorney–at the district’s expense–who will then shepherd them through firing Kristy Gavin, the board’s attorney, without risking a lawsuit. Board members Sally Hunt and Christy Chong pushed the idea of outside counsel. Board Chair Cheryl Massaro joined them in assigning Furry.
Rezoning Enabling Up to 850 Homes in Seminole Woods Causes Sharp Debate Before Palm Coast Approval
The Palm Coast City Council today approved on a pair of 4-1 votes land use changes that clear the way for up to 850 housing units on 375 acres on the west side of Seminole Woods Boulevard, three miles south of State Road 100. The proposal, for a project called Cascades, drew sharp opposition from City Council member Theresa Pontieri and an equally sharp defense from the developer, Jeff Douglas of Douglas Properties. The exchange drew in the mayor and other council members and reflects a recurring debate in Palm Coast over the speed, density and purpose of development.
2-Hour Standoff Involving Threats of Gunfire on Brunswick Lane Ends with Arrest of Michael Wells, 57, on 4 Felonies
Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies were involved in a two-hour, high-risk standoff at 94 Brunswick Lane in Palm Coast Monday night that ended with the arrest of Michael H. Wells, 57, who had barricaded himself and threatened a deputy with what appeared to be a gun after luring him into the house to pick up another firearm. He is being held at the county jail on $102,500 bond.
A Mixed Bag in New Rankings of Florida’s Colleges and Universities as DeSantis Polarization Dims Luster
Florida universities, which have been in the center of national polarization for months, have seen a mixed bag in U.S. News & World Report college rankings, with both positive and negative views and some changes in the methodology. Florida has been bombarded by the anti-woke rhetoric and action of Gov. Ron DeSantis and conservative politicians who are pushing higher education reforms and policies such as post-tenure reviews that have been blasted by faculty unions.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, September 19, 2023
The Palm Coast City Council takes up land use matters, the School Board takes up Board Attorney Kristy Gavin’s contract, the great crash of democracies around the world.
We Gave $7,500 to Homeless People. Here’s What Happened Next.
Present approaches to staving off homelessness are failing, as evidenced by the rapidly increasing number of people experiencing homelessness. Relying on short-term shelters has been shown to be more expensive than providing stable housing. It is therefore imperative to try something else. Cash transfers represent a dignified way to empower people to escape homelessness.
Fractured Leadership: Few Questions Asked, Fewer Concerns Raised Ahead of Segregated Assemblies, Investigation Reveals
Bunnell Elementary school’s leadership environment that enabled a trio of teachers to hold assemblies targeting only Black students last month was disjointed, incurious, careless and oblivious to the optics of segregating Black students in the name of improving test scores, regardless of their academic standing, a pair surprisingly limited and identical internal investigations reveal.
‘Savannah Asked Me To Never Be Silent.’ A Survivor of Brenan Hill’s Violence Speaks.
Brenan Hill was convicted on Friday for the murder of Savannah Gonzalez, 22. Shanell Torchia was a previous victim of Hill’s violence, and the mother of his child: he was a fugitive from justice, and the charges she had filed, when he shot Gonzalez. Torchia speaks out about her experience, her friendship with Savannah, and the dangerous leeway granted abusers.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, September 18, 2023
The Flagler County Commission meets, it’s another trial week in felony court, but nothing high-profile, Paul Renner’s successor is crowned, reflections at a bus stop on love and fallen humanities, Chris Abani on our shared humanity.
The Hunter Biden Stain
As Hunter Biden’s legal peril rises, with all its ensuing political complications, people have rediscovered the likes of Ulysses Grant Jr., Alice Roosevelt and Neil Bush, as if the best way to make sense of Hunter Biden is found in a rogues’ gallery of difficult presidential relatives.
Crazy and Cruel Sell Well in Florida. So Scott Is Running Again.
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.