The UF/IFAS Extension Office of Flagler County is offering a new course, entitled Florida 101, beginning September 26, 2023. Florida 101 is a four week course designed for both new and seasoned residents of Flagler County who are interested in learning about the ecology of Florida and how to best take advantage of our unique climate, flora and fauna.
School District’s Cost for Security at Alternative School with 2 Teachers and 25 Students: $142,500
The Flagler County school district is paying $142,500 a year for security at its relatively new alternative school on the campus of Flagler Palm Coast High School–an alternative school with just two teachers and an average of 20 students per quarter, some of them virtual, and that operates only four days a week.
Sheriff’s Deputy Hospitalized During Investigation of DUI Suspect’s Cocktail of Drugs, Including Fentanyl
George Clemons, 61, was arrested on numerous charges for drugs, DUI and hit and run, while one of the deputies investigating the case, Nick Huzior, had to be hospitalized after talking ill while field testing the substances found in Clemons’s truck.
New College Interviews for New President Between Eliminating Gender Studies and Making Homer Mandatory
New College of Florida officials on Thursday interviewed three final candidates vying to become the school’s next permanent president, including current Interim President Richard Corcoran. The trustees also interviewed Tyler Fisher, an associate professor of modern languages and literature and a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Central Florida, and Robert Gervasi, a former interim president at the University of Mount Union in Ohio.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, August 11, 2023
LGBTQ+ Night at Flagler Beach’s Coquina Coast Brewing Company, celebrating Britt Hobo Days, also known as the National Hobo Convention, the John T. Davis documentary, Jack London’s The Road.
Forced-Birth Reactionaries Fail to Rig the Game in Ohio
In a red Ohio referendum this week, forced-birth reactionaries got blown out by a whopping margin of 430,000 votes. No word yet on whether Roe v. Wade killer Donald Trump has aspirationally asked Republican election officials to find 430,001 votes.
The Heroic Effort to Save Florida’s Coral Reef from Devastating Record Heat
As water temperatures spiked in the Florida Keys, scientists from universities, coral reef restoration groups and government agencies launched a heroic effort to save the corals. Divers have been in the water every day, collecting thousands of corals from ocean nurseries along the Florida Keys reef tract and moving them to cooler water and into giant tanks on land.
Rise in Electric Vehicle May Be Denting Florida’s Gas Tax Revenue
As more motorists drive electric vehicles, the change could put a dent in gasoline taxes, which play a key role in funding transportation projects in Florida, according to an analysis by state economists.
As Heat Peaks, FPL’s House of Savings Returns With More Savings
As the summer heat reaches its peak, Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) debuts a revamped version of its interactive, augmented reality (AR) tool, the House of Savings. New this year, each time a customer completes the House of Savings mobile experience, $2 will be donated on their behalf, up to a total of $100,000, toward FPL’s Care To Share.
Minor Electrical Fire Outside Next Door Bistro Briefly Shuts Down Popular Restaurant in Flagler Beach
A small electrical fire outside the Next Door Beach Bistro in Flagler Beach late this afternoon sent smoke inside the restaurant and caused it to close for the rest of the evening. But crews quickly put out the fire. There were no injuries and damage was limited to the electrical equipment outside
Palm Coast’s Saltwater Canals in Better Shape Than Feared, Narrowing Debate to ‘Spot Dredging’ and Cost
A long-anticipated analysis of Palm Coast’s 26 miles of saltwater canals, the second since 2005 in the canals’ half-century history, revealed to some surprise that the canals are in better shape than expected. While that diminishes the urgency, breadth and cost of necessary dredging, dredging would still be necessary and expensive regardless.
Flagler Schools Drop AP Psychology as State Sends Conflicted Signals Over Gender and Sexuality Unit
In Flagler County, where students returned to school today, AP Psychology, one of the more popular courses in Flagler Palm Coast High School’s accelerated curriculum, will no longer be taught. Students have been automatically shifted to the IB course in a pre-emptive move against the state’s conflicting messages about whether the AP course was legal to teach in its entirety of not, and a local school board with members eager to fuel the state’s culture wars.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, August 10, 2023
Flagler County schools are back in session for students today. The Flagler Beach City Commission meets. A few thoughts on going back to school from George Bernard Shaw and John Updike. And Sam Kinison, of course.
DeSantis Ousts State Attorney Monique Worrell, a Black Democrat Elected with 67 Percent of Vote
Gov. Ron DeSantis has suspended another elected prosecutor. This time it’s Monique Worrell of the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court, in Orange and Osceola counties, a Democrat who was elected in November 2020 and is the second African American to hold the position.
Flagler County Fire Rescue Paramedics Teach FPC Football Players Hands-Only CPR
Flagler-Palm Coast High School Football Head Coach Daniel Fish and Assistant Coach Jason Winkler invited Flagler County Fire Rescue Community Paramedics Rob Errett and Tracy Farmer to teach their players hands-only CPR, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, because of recent incidents involving college athletes.
Back-to-School Anxiety and What To Do About It
Predictability helps prevent anxiety in children. Predictability means things going along as they’ve always gone: sleep at night, up in the morning, cornflakes for breakfast, off to school, activities in the afternoon, dinner with the family.
Palm Coast Disarms ‘Forensic Audit’ Talk as Council’s Klufas Asks ‘Where’s the Fire?’ and Cautions Against Pandering
Led by Council member Nick Klufas, the Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday decidedly stepped back from its posture a week earlier, when it appeared ready to call for what would have been a very expensive and accusatory “forensic audit” of city finances, seemingly at the behest of one, significantly misinformed resident.
Cascades Development, Revived from 2005, Calls for Up to 850 Homes on 375 Acres in Seminole Woods
After a nearly two-decade hiatus, the massive Cascades development planned for Seminole Woods is back, and is more than double its original size: up to 850 single-family homes and apartments on 375 acres. If built out to that cap, the Cascades would be, along with Coquina Shores on Old Kings Road–a 750-home development just rezoned for the purpose–one of the largest developments in the city.
Index Up to 117, Excessive Heat Warning in Effect for Palm Coast and Flagler County, With No Relief This Week
An excessive heat warning is in effect today in inland and coastal Flagler County, including Palm Coast and Flagler Beach, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., with the heat index reaching 117 in the shade. The forecast for the rest of the week is not much different: as of today, the heat index for Flagler-Palm Coast is expected to range between 114 and 117 every day at least through Friday.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, August 9, 2023
More dangerous heat today, Separation Chat, Open Discussion, Weekly Chess Club for Teens, Johnny Cash’s greatest love affair, Christopher Niemann and Bach on coffee.
Sending People to Space Shouldn’t Be a Priority of Exploration
Most Americans (69%) believe it is essential that the United States continue to be a world leader in space. But only a subsection of that group believes NASA should prioritize sending people to the Moon. The United States’ most visible effort to maintain world leadership in space is arguably its Artemis Program to land humans on the Moon by late 2024.
Palm Coast Council Chickens Out of Modest Pilot Program for Backyard Hens, But May Survey Residents
The Palm Coast City Council today shot down a two-year pilot program that would have permitted up to 25 properties to have backyard chickens in answer to a growing movement across the country toward more self-sufficiency and more natural foods. The most the city will do for now is possibly survey residents on their opinions about backyard chickens.
Sheriff’s Communications Supervisor Heather Robinson Is Line Supervisor of the Year
Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Communications Supervisor Heather Robinson accepted the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International Line Supervisor of the Year award for 2023! Heather was recognized during the Opening General Session at APCO 2023, APCO’s Annual Conference & Expo in Nashville.
Impacting Services, Palm Coast Cuts $2.7 Million from Initial 2024 Budget to Comply with Council’s Lower Tax Rate
While these are budget cuts only in relation to the initially planned budget for next year, they nevertheless will have the effects of actual budget cuts in many regards, because they go against the grain of growth in the budget intended to maintain services and what City Manager Denise Bevan referred to as the city’s customary forward-looking approach.
Ahead of His Sentencing to Life in Prison, Attorneys for Monserrate Teron File Motion for 3rd Trial
Attorneys for Monserrate Teron, the Palm Coast resident a jury last month found guilty on all counts of raping and molesting his 7-year-old niece, on Monday filed a motion for a new trial, what would be Teron’s third on those charges. They make several claims, most of them previously made in pre-trial motions and denied by Circuit Judge Terence Perkins. He is not likely to rule differently now. He is sentencing Teron on Oct. 11.
Education Officials Want Lawsuit Over Gay Penguins Book Tossed Out, Claiming It’s Moot. Litigants Disagree.
“And Tango makes Three” had been banned for students up to third grade by Lake County schools, then allowed in libraries. It tells the story of two male penguins who raised a penguin chick at New York’s Central Park Zoo. In a filing last month seeking a preliminary injunction, attorneys for the plaintiffs disputed that the case is moot. They argued, in part, that the district could reverse course again and restrict access to the book in libraries.
FPC Senior and Rymfire Club Staffer Jill Prime Set for Her 1st Solo Flight
Jill, a senior at Flagler Palm Coast High School, has been an inspiration for her peers and community as she actively shares her dreams and enthusiasm at the Rymfire Club. Jill is set to embark on a solo flight for the local community to witness.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, August 8, 2023
The Palm Coast City Council meets in workshop, the Flagler County Planning Board decides whether to allow less rain to seep through at the Cornerstone strip mall, Donald Hall and thoughts of oblivion in the middle of the night.
Dismantling the Myth that Ancient Slavery ‘Wasn’t That Bad’
Because these kinds of slavery took place so long ago and weren’t based on modern racism, some people have the impression that they weren’t as harsh or violent. That impression makes room for public figures like Christian theologian and analytic philosopher William Lane Craig to argue that ancient slavery was actually beneficial for enslaved people. Those arguments are wrong.
Hoping for Suicide By Lyft, Palm Coast Man Points a Gun on Driver and Pulls the Trigger
Esaiah Zamir Glenn, a 24-year-old resident of 85 Bronson Lane in Palm Coast, faces a felony aggravated assault charge after allegedly pointing a gun at the head of a Lyft driver and pulling the trigger. The gun did not go off. Glenn claims he was trying to frighten the driver into shooting him, as he had been having suicidal thoughts. It is at least the third time in five years that a local Lyft or Uber driver is the victim of a violent crime while on the job.
County’s Sales Tax Hike Rings Hollow as Attorney Defends Commissioner’s Unilateral Request for Delay
Reeling in a school’s worth of red herrings, County Attorney Al Hadeed today fervently defended the authority of County Commissioner Dave Sullivan to ask Flagler Beach government a week and a half ago to pull from discussion a request from the County Commission for support of a proposed increase in the sales tax.
Sheriff’s PAL Is Not Taking Over Carver Center Or Changing Its Name, County and School District Assure Community
Contrary to rumors and fears, the Flagler Sheriff Police Athletic League is not taking over the Carver Center in South Bunnell, nor is the Carver Center losing its name, its governing structure its staffing by the school district, the chairman of the Flagler County School Board and the county administrator say. But PAL is seeking to have a significant presence there.
Nighttime Beachgoers Should Use MalaCompra Road Access or North Parking Lot During Turtle-Hatching Season
Flagler County officials are urging nighttime beachgoers in The Hammock to use either the MalaCompra Road access or the north parking lot during turtle-hatching season, which is now, instead of the south parking lot leading to the Mountain Bike Trail.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, August 7, 2023
The Flagler County Commission holds a pair of meetings, the Beverly Beach Town Commission just one, only in America, a Texas Supreme Court decision ridiculing the fanaticism of the Second Amendment.
Nonprofits May Engage in Advocacy, But Few Do
Though it can be vital for the advancement of their missions that charities exercise this right, fewer than a third of charities in the U.S. (31%) engaged in advocacy in the last five years. This represents a dramatic decline in the past two decades, even though the law allows these groups to speak up regarding the issues that affect the people they serve.
REDIRECTED: Homeowner, 86, Arrested on 2nd Degree Murder Charge in Shooting Death of Mark Ruschmeier, 36, in Woodlands
Charles Kidd Jr., 86, was arrested on a second-degree murder charge this afternoon following the early morning shooting death of 36-year-old Mark Ruschmeier, who was has lived with Kidd at Kidd’s Blare Drive home in Palm Coast’s Woodlands for at least a decade.
Palm Coast Fire Department’s Driver Engineer Leonardo Chumaceiro Retires
The Palm Coast Fire Department bids a fond farewell to Driver Engineer Leonardo “Leo” Chumaceiro as he embarks on a well-deserved retirement after a proud career spanning 37 years, dedicated to serving the City of Palm Coast.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, August 6, 2023
“Firebringer” at City Repertory Theatre, Sunday Chess Club at Chabad of Palm Coast, how the bombing of Hiroshima was reported the day after, how Enrico Fermi experimented during the blast of the first atomic bomb.
Why Your Home Feels Warmer Than Thermostat Says, and What To Do About It
While people are used to thinking about how clothing, air movement, temperature and humidity affect comfort, two lesser-known measures help explain how they experience comfort indoors: Mean radiant temperature. and operative temperature.
Sorry, But Barbie Is Still a Problem
There persists a belief that Barbie is a feminist icon. And the doll remains what it’s always been: a vessel for dangerously unattainable beauty standards, the deliberate vapidity of feminism, the centering of whiteness.
Such, Such Were the Joys of Plantations in DeSantis’s History of Florida
Gov. DeSantis and his crack education team are all about facts. In his Florida history version of plantation life, enslaved persons were treated like family, they learned invaluable skills, like cooking, and learned to make quality footwear. When you think about it, plantations should really be called “agricultural opportunity centers.”
Child Nicotine Poisoning Hit All-Time High as Vapes Flood the Market
Cases of vaping-related nicotine exposure reported to poison centers hit an all-time high in 2022 — despite a 2016 law, the Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act, that requires child-resistant packaging on bottles of vaping liquid. In what doctors call a major oversight, the law doesn’t require protective packaging on devices themselves.
Florida Ethics Commission: July Roundup
Meeting in Tallahassee on July 28th in closed session, the Florida Commission on Ethics took action on 41 matters, Chair Glenton “Glen” Gilzean, Jr. announced. Five of those matters were complaints considered for probable cause. A finding of probable cause is not a determination that a violation has occurred. Such a determination is made only after a full evidentiary hearing on the allegations.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, August 5, 2023
Back to School Jam, “Firebringer” at City Repertory Theatre, Monthly Volunteer Clean-Up Day at the Florida Agriculture Museum, Sunshine and Sandals Social at Cornerstone, Maupassant’s “Inheritance.”
The Lessons of Hiroshima
In a world of potential nuclear terrorism and conflicts that risk the unthinkable use of nuclear weapons, the need to control proliferation and double down on arms control, such as a US-Iran agreement and better relations with China, are essential starting points.
4 Suicide Attempts, 6 Baker Acts, No Disputes About Mental Health Needs, Yet He’s Sentenced to Prison on Minor Violation
L’Darius Smith is a a troubled man prone to confrontations, delusions, depression, and self-harm who twice avoided prison in high-profile trials in Flagler in the last five years, but minor probation violation resulted in a prison sentence Thursday even though the court acknowledged that he suffers from deep mental health problems and needs treatment.
Candidates Lining Up to Run for Dave Sullivan’s County Commission Seat, Including Kim Carney and Nick Klufas
Former Flagler Beach City Commissioner Kim Carney joins a growing field for the District 3 seat Dave Sullivan will be relinquishing. The field so far includes two other Flagler Beach residents, Bill Clark and Tom Hutson, and does not yet formally include the race’s heavy-hitter: Nick Klufas, the two-term Palm Coast City Council member, who will soon announce.
Jeb Bush and Newt Gingrich Join Rick Scott Re-Election Campaign
As part of his efforts to get reelected to the U.S. Senate next year, Republican Rick Scott unveiled his National Finance Committee Wednesday, featuring a number of current and former GOP lawmakers such as Jeb Bush and Newt Gingrich.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, August 4, 2023
“Firebringer” at City Repertory Theatre, Superintendent LaShakia Moore on Free For All, First Friday in Flagler Beach, the future of abortion and a moment with Margaret Atwood.
Dunkin and Lego Made It Work. X Rebranding Misses the Mark.
Twitter has swapped the fluffy bird that used to symbolize the social media platform for a spindly black X. Ditching the company’s well-known logo and changing its name to a letter often associated with danger, death and the unknown is only the latest user-aggravating step CEO Elon Musk has taken since he bought Twitter in October 2022 for US$44 billion.