While the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 8.2 percent in March, job creation was disappointing, at 120,000, about half the expected numbers, lending further credence to evidence of a fitful, not robust, recovery.
Beyond
GOP Candidates and Media to Kids: Drop Dead
While presidential candidates almost always include their offspring in their campaign publicity, candidates and media discussed children’s issues less than two percent of the time over 20 debates – just 17 debate questions of more than 1,000.
Bev Slough, St. Johns School Board Chair, Joins GOP Congressional Race in District 6
Bev Slough, St. Johns School Board Chair and former president of the Florida School Boards Association, is the 7th GOP candidate for a congressional district that includes all of Flagler County.
Too Much of a God Thing
A new survey finds signs of public uneasiness with the mixing of religion and politics. The number of people who say there has been too much religious talk by political leaders stands at an all-time high since the Pew Research Center began asking the question more than a decade ago.
GOP’s Congressional Candidates Vie to Out-Right Each Other In Their Flagler Coming Out
The six Republican candidates for Flagler County’s newly drawn congressional district, in a joint appearance in Palm Coast Monday, could not distinguish themselves on issues, but did so in experience and style as they were hosted by the local chapter of the Ronald Reagan Republican Assemblies.
Your Password, Please: When a Job Interview Includes Demands for Facebook Pages
In a society where privacy is constantly eroding, recent efforts by some employers to pry into Facebook pages to investigate job applicants should be resisted as an unwarranted intrusion on personal freedom and dignity.
Another Catholic Ban for “The Laramie Project”
A Catholic school in New Jersey is banning a student production of “The Laramie Project,” the play about a town’s psychology following the murder of a gay student in Wyoming in 1998.
Stonehenge Justices: The U.S. Supreme Court’s Stuffy Ban on TV Cameras and Live Audio
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ban on television cameras or live audio feed for its arguments, including this week’s on the health law, is absurd. The justices opposition to cameras rests on shabby reasoning and stuffed up conceits.
Amid Fury Over Trayvon Martin’s Killing and Stand Your Ground Law, Police Chief Resigns
Unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin’s killing in Sanford by a crime watch volunteer who hasn’t been charged led to the “temporary” resignation of Sanford police chief Bill Lee Jr. today and calls to Gov. Rick Scott to appoint an independent prosecutor.
Tim Tebow Gives New York Jets a Wobble and a Prayer
Tim Tebow was traded to the New York Jets, dashing his hopes of playing for the Jaguars, the Dolphins or the Buccaneers and placing the most ostentatiously pious player in the NFL in the thick of Gotham’s media and liberal glare.
Domestic Violence Summit for Flagler, Volusia and St. Johns on March 23
The summit, sponsored by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office and the 7th Judicial Circuit, is designed to better prepare law enforcement officers, prosecutors and other community agency representatives who work in the field of domestic violence with investigating and prosecuting domestic violence cases.
Rowing Into Palm Coast, On His 1,400-Mile Solo Way to New York–for Alzheimer’s
Lewis Colam, 24, has no row-boating experience, but set off from Miami on March 3 on a 1,400-mile solo trip up the East Coast to raise $20,000 for Alzheimer’s research. The England native stops in Palm Coast this week.
Flagler Democrat Heather Beaven Declares For Congress in Newly Drawn 6th District
Heather Beaven is the first Democrat in a race featuring four Republicans so far. Beaven lost to John Mica in 2010, polling 31 percent across the district and 34 percent in Flagler County. Mica is seeking reelection elsewhere as the district was redrawn.
Joe the Plumber, Congressman?
While Dennis Kucinich lost his primary in Ohio’s 9th Congressional district, Samuel Wurzelbacher, also known as Joe (the alleged and tax-evading) plumber, barely won his Republican primary, though he has no chance of beating Marcy Kaptur.
Flawed Verdict: Ernie Lopez, After 9 Years in Prison for Child Rape, Is Only Half-Free
In Canada and the U.S. at least 23 people who were wrongly accused of killing children based on flawed or biased work by forensic pathologists have been cleared over the last 15 years.
53-Year-Old Man Tries to Set Himself and Doctors on Fire at St. Augustine VA Clinic
Gregorio Iglesias-Cruz, 53, is in jail in St. Johns County today after reportedly walking into a VA clinic in St. Augustine and attempting to set himself and a doctor he was speaking with on fire.
Give Us This Day Our Daily Contraceptive
Six in ten Americans, including Catholics, said they support a requirement by the Obama administration that health plans supply free contraceptives as a preventive benefit for women. Women registered as independents favor the rule by a 2-1 margin.
Finding Her Palm Coast, Nancy Grace Takes On Wife-Shooting Tonight, With FlaglerLive
FlaglerLive’s Pierre Tristam is among the guests on tonight’s Nancy Grace show, whose opening segment focuses on the William Merrill shooting of his wife in Palm Coast last Tuesday. The news value is limited.
Gytonia Cheek, Guilty on All Counts in Teacher Myrtle McKinney Murder, Will Serve Life in Prison
A jury of six men and six women found Gytonia Cheek guilty of first-degree murder, burglary and robbery today in Flagler County Circuit Court, in the 2007 killing of Myrtle McKinney in Palatka at Christmas that year. Gytonia was sentenced to life in prison.
A Year On, Tibet’s Jigme Norbu’s Death In Flagler Is Remembered With Incense and Hope
Jigme Norbu, the nephew of the Dalai Lama, was killed in Flagler County on the first day of a 300-mile walk for peace. Two dozen people gathered at the crash site in the Hammock this afternoon to commemorate the one-year mark of Norbu’s death.
Pit-Bull Blood Money:
Why Breed-Specific Bans Don’t Work
Florida in 1990 made it illegal to discriminate against dogs because of their breed, but gave Miami-Dade an exemption. Bills are moving through the Legislature to remove this exemption, but Miami-Date is resisting. It’s about money.
Rick Santorum: Facts, Legends and Phobias
Rick Santorum’s win in Iowa and his three wins in Missouri, Colorado and Minnesota have vaulted him from obscurity to presidential contender. So who is this darling of the evangelical movement?
Lady Liberty at Flagler Palm Coast High School: When Veterans Get Patriotism All Wrong
Veterans complained to the Flagler County School Board that student portrayals of Lady Liberty they say at FPC “desecrated” her and the flag and should be removed. The veterans were wrong, and were themselves desecrating American values.
Christgate: With an Eye to Political Gambitry, Kimberle Weeks Demands an Apology
County Commissioner Alan Peterson was speaking by phone to a supervisor of elections office staffer about his reelection petitions when he allegedly used god’s name in vain after he was told that 10 percent of the petitions were invalid, according to Kimberle Weeks, prompting the demand for an apology.
Flagler Loses John Mica; Costello and Miller Vie to Replace Him; Beaven Is Undecided
Republican John Mica is opting to battle against Sandy Adams in another congressional district, opening the way for what’s likely to be a contested race for Flagler’s new Congressional District 6.
Flagler Youth Orchestra Leader Umbarger Wins Florida Book Award for 1st Novel
Caren Umbarger, the Flagler Youth Orchestra’s artistic director, won a bronze medal for “Coming To,” her first novel, about a woman struggling for liberation from an imperious husband in Depression-era Iowa.
English-Only Laws: The Hispanic Poll Tax
The court-ordered testing of a Hispanic political candidate’s English-language skills is reminiscent of the “literacy tests” once used by southern whites to prevent black Americans from voting and gaining political power.
Komen and the Smear on Planned Parenthood: Swiftboating Tactics From Abortion Zealots
The Susan J. Komen foundation had a choice with Planned Parenthood: Stick with rational neutrality or surrender to the political contamination of reactionaries’ echo chambers and the bogus war on abortion. Komen surrendered. The war on cancer–the only war worth fighting–and women will suffer.
Enthusiasm Curbed as GOP Primary Turnout In Flagler and Florida Plummets From 2008
Just 10,825 Flagler Republicans turned out to vote in Tuesday’s primary, for a 43 percent turnout, compared to a 53 percent turnout in 2008. The drop across the state was steeper, adding to Republican anxieties about having the numbers to take back the White House in November.
Whether It’s Romney or Obama, Democracy Is Losing Big
No wonder so many people don’t see the point in voting. While the rest of us play one man, one vote in democracy’s delusional sandbox, a bunch of donors who add up to a cocktail party’s guest list are sealing the campaign’s fate.
Provencher and McGrew Win in Flagler Beach, Romney Trounces Gingrich in Flagler
Linda Provencher has beaten J. NeJame for Flagler Beach mayor, while Joy McGrew has beaten Sandra Mason for a city commission seat. Mitt Romney beating Newt Gingrich handily in Flagler and Florida.
Who’s on Faust? “Damn Yankees” Damn Election Night at the Flagler Auditorium
“Damn Yankees” revives Eisenhower-era innocence by way of every misguided American’s fantasy: beating the New York Yankees. There may be no better way to counter the deviltry of Election Night.
Florida Small-Government GOP to Food Stamp Recipients: No Pretzels, Pastries or Cupcakes
The list of foods proposed law would prohibit food stamp recipients from buying is much longer, drawing opposition that may convince its sponsor to moderate some of the restrictions. No state dollars are at stake, though food retailers health is.
The Live Profile:
Who The Hell Is Saul Alinsky?
Saul Alinsky: a profile of the author of “Rules for Radicals,” dead since 1972, whom Newt Gingrich names as the reason to oppose Barack Obama. But the Saul Alinsky Gingrich creates never existed. The invention is more revealing of Gingrich than it is of Alinsky. A corrective to both.
Florida’s Disgraceful New Limits on Voting
The upcoming election is about to be stolen – or, at the very least, rigged – and thousands of your neighbors and, in some cases, your children, are about to be disenfranchised, argues Martin Merzer.
Bloodied Candidates Stumble Toward Florida Finish as Gingrich Wilts and Romney Adjusts
Newt Gingrich was under fire from all sides at the 19th GOP primary debate in Jacksonville Thursday, looking weaker and less sure-footed than he had in South Carolina, and ceding the advantage to Mitt Romney ahead of Tuesday’s vote in Florida.
Gingrich Surge Wipes Out Romney Advantage in Florida While Improving Obama’s Numbers
The latest Quinnipiac polls have Gingrich tied with Romney ion Florida, but losing badly to Obama in a head-to-head race, while Romney’s slight advantage over Obama two weeks ago has also vanished.
The Live Poll:
Gingrich, Paul, Romney, Santorum?
We believe in open primaries, so cast your vote, whatever your party affiliation, for the four contenders in the GOP presidential primary.
Co-Pay Interruptus: Catholic Bishops Will Sue Feds Over Contraception and Insurance Rules
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is promising a legal challenge to federal rules requiring health insurers to provide women with a range of preventive health services, including birth control, without charging a co-payment, co-insurance or deductible.
News-Journal Re-Opening Flagler Bureau, in St. Joe’s Center, as Newspaper War Intensifies
The News-Journal’s 2,400-square-foot office in the St. Joe’s Business Park is less than a quarter the size of its old bureau on SR100, closed three years ago, and a concession that it can no longer address its Flagler competition–including a weekly newspaper and three radio stations–long distance.
When Profit-Raking Disney and the Daytona Speedway Beg Florida for Corporate Welfare
Disney is asking the state for an array of tax breaks that could cost Floridians as much as $100 million over 20 years. International Speedway Corp., owner of Daytona International Speedway, is in on the deal.
In Washington State, a Proposed Mandate for Abortion Coverage, Whoever the Insurer
Democratic members of the Democratic-controlled Washington State legislature introduced a bill that would require private and public insurers that provide maternity coverage to cover abortion services as well.
Don’t Let It Happen
The the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act give the federal government unprecedented powers to censor or block access to websites judged to be carrying pirated music or videos, a power usually associated with authoritarian regimes.
Southeast Musuem of Photography
January Events and Exhibitions
2012 January Exhibitions, Films and Photography Workshops for the Southeast Museum of Photography.
Why Tim Tebow Is Not God’s Jerry Rice
A pastor’s suggestion that God is favoring Tim Tebow is wrong, argues Aaron Rushing, because it turns the former Gator and Denver Broncos quarterback into a good luck charm. God is using Tebow in other ways, writes Rusher.
Palm Coast Observer Taking On News-Tribune As It Aims for Twice A Week By April
The Palm Coast Observer’s move would be a frontal assault on the Daytona Beach News-Journal’s diminishing hold on the Flagler market, where the paper has also been contending with competition from three new radio stations and online media.
Stetson’s School of Business Graduate Programs Named “Top Online” By U.S. News & World Report
Stetson University School of Business Administration online master’s degree programs have been named among the nation’s “Top Online Graduate Business Programs” in U.S. News & World Report’s Top Online Education Programs 2012 rankings.
Crediting FPC, 2 Manfres Develop Energy-Saving Product With Broad Applications
FPC graduate Alec Manfre is the COO of Bractlet, a start-up company that received $40,000 from the Chilean government to develop an energy-saving device he and colleagues invented at Georgia Tech. Manfre’s sister Catherine, also an FPC graduate, heads the company’s marketing.
For 1,200 News-Journal Pensioners, a Bittersweet Victory in Appeals Court’s Overrule
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an Orlando district judge misread Florida law when he brushed aside a $26.5 million claim from the federal PBGC to cover present and future retirement payments for Daytona Beach News-Journal employees.
Unemployment Falls to 8.5%, Lowest Level in Almost 3 Years, as 200,000 Jobs Are Created
The decline in unemployment, a boon to Obama’s reelection hopes, was the result of actual job creation, rather than a reduction in labor force participation.