A federal judge in Maryland Friday ordered the Trump administration to return a national from El Salvador by April 7 who was erroneously deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador, despite an order blocking such removal. Vice President J.D. Vance wrote on social media, without evidence, that Abrego Garcia was a convicted member of the MS-13 gang and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt this week echoed Vance.
Team Wins $4,000 in MedNexus Challenge on ‘Becoming a Mental Health Influencer’
Bright minds, bold ideas, and a passion for mental health advocacy took center stage at the 2025 MedNexus Innovation Challenge, held April 3 at the Palm Coast Community Center. This year’s theme, “Becoming a Mental Health Influencer,” invited students to explore how social media can be used for positive change in adolescent mental health.
Palm Coast Approves Final Step for 489 New Houses, 147 of Them Near Proposed Fuel Depot
The Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday approved final plats for three residential subdivisions at three of the four cardinal points of the city (north, west, south) totaling 489 single-family houses. Of these house, 147 are to be built on land adjacent to an industrial tract slated for a massive fuel depot.
Matanzas High School Student Lands a Punch on Deputy Breaking Up a Fight
N.L., a 16-year-old Matanzas High School student, faces a felony charge of battery against a law enforcement officer after landing what appears to be an inadvertent punch on a school resource deputy attempting to break up a fight between N.L. and another student.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, April 4, 2025
Pastor Charles Silano talks about the Trump-ordered cuts that have drastically reduced the budget of the Grace Community Food Pantry, on Free For All, First Friday in Flagler Beach, campaign diary.
County Pulls Massive US1 Fuel Depot from Consideration for Now as ‘Pause’ Gives Palm Coast Time to Study Options
The Flagler County Commission was set next Monday to approve a $10 million state grant to buy a 78-acre parcel off U.S. 1 in Palm Coast for a planned fuel depot and rail head. The county administration pulled the item from the agenda after the Palm Coast City Council opted to look for a different location in response to mounting public opposition to the plan. The pause is also a reflection of deepening skepticism among elected officials about a plan that was barely vetted before it was sprung on them just weeks ago.
How Tariffs Wreck Trust in the United States
What’s really at stake in the sweeping tariffs just imposed on American allies and other countries is trust – America’s long-standing reputation as a stable and predictable destination for global investment. And once that trust is lost, it’s incredibly hard to win back.
Florida House Approves Draconian Restrictions on Citizen-Led Constitutional Amendments
The Republican controlled Florida House of Representatives has passed a measure that will make it prohibitively harder for a citizen-led constitutional amendment to get on the ballot. The vote was 76-31. Its passage comes just five months after two constitutional amendments that would have respectively enshrined abortion rights and legalized recreational cannabis for adults narrowly fell short of passage.
17 Named Storms Predicted for Hurricane Season
Colorado State University researchers Thursday forecast 17 named storms during this year’s Atlantic hurricane season, with nine reaching hurricane status and four becoming major storms. That would make the 2025 season close to the 2024 season, which included three hurricanes making landfall in Florida.
‘Ritz Carlton Residences’ Will Add 128 Condo Units in Two Towers At Hammock Dunes (not Palm Coast)
Two condominium towers of 64 condos each will rise at Hammock Dunes, to be called the Ritz-Carlton residences, the belated culmination of a project initially approved by the Flagler County Commission in 2006 and still awaiting its final plat. The development will add to half a dozen existing and similar condominium towers at Hammock Dunes. But contrary to a report in the News-Journal, Palm Coast is not involved.
15 Years in Prison for CJ Nelson Jr. in Shooting Death of 18-Month-Old Niece Ja’Liyah Allen
C.J. Nelson, the 24-year-old Palm Coast resident whose reckless gunplay caused the shooting death of his 18-month-old niece at a Ranwood Lane house in September 2023, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Family members and friends of Ja’Liyah Allen, the victim, and of Nelson–all members of the same family–filled several pews in the gallery.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, April 3, 2025
CJ Nelson Jr. Sentencing, Richard Powers on Detroit, consumer confidence falls to its lowest level since 2022, Model Yacht Club Races at the Pond in Palm Coast’s Central Park.
Palm Coast’s Arbor Day Celebration Marks 20 Years on May 3
Palm Coast’s favorite eco-friendly event is back! Get ready to dig in, branch out, and celebrate two decades of environmental stewardship at the 20th Annual Arbor Day Celebration on Saturday, May 3, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Central Park in Town Center (975 Central Avenue, Palm Coast.)
A Presidential Order Manipulates U.S. History Through the Smithsonian
Of course, history is contested. There will always be a variety of views about what should be included and excluded from America’s story. But most recent debates center on how much attention should be given to the history of the nation’s accomplishments over its darker chapters. The Smithsonian, as a national institution that receives most of its funds from the federal government, has sometimes found itself in the crosshairs.
Florida House Committee Approves Sales Tax Cut to 5.25% But Eliminates Tax ‘Holidays’
For the first time in 16 years, the state wouldn’t offer sales-tax “holidays” under a House proposal that calls for an overall cut in sales taxes. The House Ways & Means Committee on Wednesday unanimously approved a $5.43 billion package dominated by House Speaker Daniel Perez’ proposal to lower the state’s sales-tax rate from 6 percent to 5.25 percent.
Trump Targets China, U.S. Allies and Others with Sweeping and Steep New Tariffs
The president unveiled a baseline 10% levy on all international imports, plus what he described as additional “kind” and “discounted” tariff rates that will increase but not match the rates other countries apply to American imports. The levies, effective at midnight, will hit U.S. industries from agriculture to manufacturing to fashion. U.S. tariffs will reach 34% on imports from China, 46% on products from Vietnam and 20% on European Union imports, including beer and wine.
Palm Coast Council Seeks Analysis to Move Proposed Fuel Farm Off U.S. 1 as Opposition Builds Fast
The proposed 12.6 million-gallon gas and diesel depot on U.S. 1 has quickly gone from an economic development triumph, as Palm Coast and county officials described it last week, to a political liability fueled by public opposition spreading at the speed of a wildfire. On Tuesday, the Palm Coast City Council agreed to seek an analysis to determine whether there’s an alternative location better suited to the depot, a planned $75 million facility to be built by a start-up, Belvedere Terminals, with no track record in the industry.
Interviews of 10 Candidates for Appointment to Palm Coast Council Give a Choice Between Experience and Ideals
A defining line sharpened as the interviews progressed. It was drawn between candidates who spoke the pragmatism of public-service experience on one side, and candidates who spoke of ideals and private-sector careers they hope to translate into public service. This council has limited time to make a limited appointment with specific aims ahead, in a term limited to less than two years, and for a position whose learning curve typically takes two years fully to scale.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, April 2, 2025
Barring marine LePen from running in the 2027 presidential election endangers French democracy, the Palm Coast Code Enforcement Board, the Flagler Beach Parks Ad Hoc Committee meets, Voltaire on French fanaticism.
Presidential Term Limits Are There for a Reason
No one is supposed to serve more than two full terms as president, according to the 22nd Amendment. The only way someone can serve more than two terms is if they served less than two years in a previous term in which they weren’t elected president. It is worth understanding why the two-term tradition was considered so important that it was turned into constitutional law the first time it was violated.
It’s Randy Fine After All as Election Day Surge Helps Trump Pick Defeat Josh Weil and Democratic Hopes
Powered by an Election Day surge that helped erase early-voting advantages the Josh Weil campaign had built up, Randy Fine, the Melbourne Republican, Florida Senate member and Donald Trump pick, won the special election for the 6th Congressional District this evening–not handily at all, but he won it all the same, to his patron’s (and his own) relief.
Flagler Beach Quietly Signs On to Agreement with ICE, Deputizing Local Cops for Immigration Enforcement
Without discussion or mention of the agreement, the Flagler Beach City Commission last Thursday signed an agreement with U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to deputize some of its police officers to enforce federal immigration laws.
Flagler Beach Ends Debate on Annexation with Final Approval of Measure Scrapping 5% Rule
The Flagler Beach City Commission approved on a 4-1 vote and on final reading the repeal of a decades-old rule that required the city to hold a referendum any time it would annex more than 5 percent of its geographic area in a given year. The repeal was precipitated last year by the city’s interest in annexing Veranda Bay, the huge development along John Anderson Highway that would more than double the city’s population when built out.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, April 1, 2025
It’s Election Day: choose your next Congressman in this special election to replace the secrets-spewing Mike Waltz, the Palm Coast City Council and the planning boards in Bunnell and Flagler Beach meet, ICE raids, Democratic sheep.
Florida Agency Wants Emergency Management to House Migrants Awaiting Deportation
The executive director of the new State Board of Immigration Enforcement is pushing for the Florida Division of Emergency Management to house and transport immigrants awaiting deportation.
Marine Le Pen’s Familiar Victim Narrative
Marine Le Pen, figurehead of France’s Rassemblement National (RN), one of the most established far-right parties in Europe, has been found guilty of embezzling funds from the European parliament. Le Pen is highly unlikely to be able to stand as a candidate in the next presidential election in 2027.
Democrat Josh Weil Riles GOP Panic Over Special Election: ‘We Are Going to Have Our Own Surge’
Democrat Josh Weil, the Orlando teacher, and the GOP’s Sen. Randy Fine of Melbourne, are running so close in the special election for Waltz’s 6th Congressional District seat–which includes all of Flagler County–that even if Weil doesn’t win Tuesday, the race is sending seismic waves through a magaland.
Owners Demolish Old Dixie Hotel a Few Weeks from Deadline, Ending Years of Litigation
The Old Dixie motel is coming down. What used to be the Country Hearth Inn, what rapidly became an eyesore after it closed in 2008, then a battleground between Flagler County government and two sets of owners, was being demolished today, making one legal case moot and all but ending the second. The attorney for the property owners says something will be built there, but it’s not yet clear what.
Three Palm Coast Council Members Return from Tallahassee With Some Hope for City’s Utility Needs
Three of the Palm Coast City Council’s four members–Theresa Pontieri, Charles Gambaro and Ty Miller–returned from a lobbying trip to Tallahassee last week with some potential successes to help pay for the city’s utility-infrastructure needs despite legislative appropriations far more constrained than they’d been the previous two years.
Deltona Homicide Suspect Ends Chase at Hammock Dunes Bridge with Self-Inflicted Gunshot
What started with the report of a shooting-death of a woman in Deltona early this morning ended after a police chase before dawn at the foot of the Hammock Dunes Bridge with a man apparently shooting himself after he crashed through the toll bridge’s arm and veered off the road.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, March 31, 2025
Cello Studio Recital presented by the Stetson School of Music, Sara Novak and Principal Kristin Bozeman of Matanzas High School and Assistant Superintendent Dr. Angela O’Brien earn a milestone, Omar el Akkad on becoming American.
That Time Change Affects Your Body and Mind Longer Than You Realize
Your biological internal clock is controlled in a small region of the brain called the hypothalamus. It regulates hormone release, body temperature and metabolism. So if your circadian rhythm is out of kilter, those things will be disrupted too.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, March 30, 2025
‘Violet’ at City Repertory Theatre, Palm Coast Farmers’ Market at European Village, Karen Russell’s “Prospectors” and the Florida writer’s love of weird.
When Canadian Snowbirds Don’t Flock to Florida, Costs Are More Than Financial
Every winter, hundreds of thousands of older Canadians spend the winter in the United States. But in recent weeks, we’ve seen many Canadian snowbirds shifting their attention to other matters. First, stories started to emerge from those who said they would no longer participate in this seasonal migration because of political events in the U.S. Another related concern was the weakened Canadian dollar. This trend has prompted some to consider selling their winter properties in the U.S.
Palm Coast Songwriters Festival Set for April 30
Palm Coast and the Flagler Beaches, the City of Palm Coast and the Flagler County Cultural Council are teaming up to kick off the 2025 Palm Coast Songwriters Festival – and celebrate the grand reopening of Daytona State College’s Flagler/Palm Coast Campus Amphitheater – with a special charity show on Wednesday, April 30.
Company Will Build Massive Fuel Depot and Distribution Plant at Rail Spur Off Peavy Grade in Palm Coast
Belvedere Terminals, a start-up company developing a new gas and diesel distribution network by rail, will build a fuel depot and distribution plant on a 78-acre site on Palm Coast’s Peavy Grade, next to the city’s Water Treatment Plant 3 off U.S. 1. The company intends to start operations in late 2026 at a plant with half dozen fuel tanks with a total capacity of 300,000 barrels of gasoline and diesel storage, or 12.6 million gallons–the equivalent of 17 water towers like Palm Coast’s off I-95.
Flagler Beach’s Randy Jaye Releases ‘Florida Flashpoints,’ His 5th Book, on Florida History
Flagler Beach author and historian Randy Jaye released his fifth book on March 18: Florida Flashpoints: Extraordinary Moments From Spanish Colony to the Space Age. The book highlights Florida’s long, interesting and sometimes turbulent history with what the author consider to be 36 of the state’s most important historic moments.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, March 29, 2025
Peps Art Walk, Phenomenal Women’s Event at AACS, Richard Slotkin turns Star Wars upside down, Curtis Yarvin welcomes the end of American democracy, Christopher Lasch bemoans American narcissism.
Ukraine’s Minerals Explained
Ukraine is often recognised for its vast agricultural lands and industrial heritage, but beneath its surface lies one of the world’s most remarkable geological formations, the “Ukrainian Shield”. These geological processes created favourable geological conditions for forming several mineral deposits including lithium, graphite, manganese, titanium and rare earth elements. All these are now critical for modern industries and the global green energy transition.
Florida Unemployment Rate Rises to 3.6%, Flagler’s to 4.6% as State Revises Labor Force Numbers Upward
The Florida Department of Commerce on Friday said the unemployment rate increased from 3.5 percent in January to 3.6 percent in February. Florida had a 3.4 percent jobless rate in December. The unemployment rate in Flagler County jumped to 4.6 percent after the Department of Commerce revised figures substantially–adding several thousand people to Flagler County’s labor force.
Our Silent Genocide of Transgender People
The United States in general and Florida in particular are enacting laws that literally erase the existence of an entire class of human beings. Trump signed an order declaring that transgender people don’t exist. Florida is about to adopt a law that would let government employees dehumanize their transgender colleagues by refusing to refer to them by their preferred pronouns. It is a new kind of genocide: bloodless, to be sure, but no less obliterating.
Palm Coast Launches Quarterly Tours of Water and Wastewater Plants
Following the success of the inaugural tour on March 12, 2025, the City of Palm Coast has decided to offer residents quarterly tours of its water and wastewater treatment facilities. Residents who attended the initial tour praised the event, expressing how informative and insightful it was. They noted they gained a deeper understanding of the treatment processes.
Family of Six Loses House to Fire in Palm Coast’s L-Section, 21 Year Old Injured Trying to Save Pets
A family of six, including four children, lost their home to a middle-of-the-night fire on Longfellow Drive in Palm Coast early this morning, and a 21-year-old woman was taken to Halifax hospital with serious injuries.
Stephanie Raimundo, 48, Sentenced to 16 Years in Prison for Death of Calvin Stull as Mother Grieves
Stephanie Raimundo, the 48-year-old Palm Coast woman facing a combined 150 years in prison on 11 felony charges, including manslaughter in the drug-overdose death of 21-year-old Calvin Stull in January 2023, was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Stull’s mother addressed the court and Raimundo.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, March 28, 2025
‘Violet’ at City Repertory Theatre, Acoustic Jam Circle At The Community Center In The Hammock, the curious retention pond in front of Flagler Beach’s coming Margaritaville Hotel.
Freedom of Expression, the Extreme Right’s New Totem
Won with great difficulty by citizens against the powers of the State and the Church in the 18th century, freedom of expression is now brandished like a totem by the bosses of social networks and by the extreme right.
2-Hour Parking Limit Downtown Flagler Beach? ‘Great Idea,’ Planning Board Says, Urging City to Act
The Flagler Beach Planning Board embraced an idea proposed by downtown business owners to impose two-hour parking limits in a small area downtown that is typically overrun by people parking for hours at a time, sometimes all day, preventing the sort of turnover traffic that helps businesses thrive. The board is forwarding the proposal to the City Commission and urging it to consider it.
Derrius Bauer, in a Shift, Agrees to Plea and 15 Years Instead of Life in Prison for Circle K Murder
Two days after he declined yet again to risk life in prison if convicted at trial, Derrius Bauer, 30, this morning signed a plea agreement and was sentenced to 15 years, a term that between time already served and gain time ahead, may have him out of prison when he’s 38. For the court, prosecutors and the Flagler County Sheriff’s detectives who cracked the case, the plea ends the longest and most expensive investigation in the Sheriff’s Office’s history.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, March 27, 2025
The Flagler Beach City Commission meets, the Marineland Town Commission meets, Model Yacht Club Races at the Pond in Palm Coast’s Central Park, the eternal adolescence of Air Force One.
The Heritage Foundation’s Long War Against the Education Department
The Heritage Foundation first called for limiting the federal role in education in 1981. That’s when it issued its first Mandate for Leadership, a book offering conservative policy recommendations. It renewed the call in its Project 2025, a conservative political initiative to revamp the federal government.