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.
Beyond
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.
Troy Victorino, Ringleader of Xbox Mass Murders of 2004 in Deltona, Loses Appeal
Troy Victorino, who with three accomplices murdered and mutilated six people in Deltona in August 2004–in part over a disputed Xbox game–lost an appeal today in which he’d claimed he’d received ineffective counsel and had his rights violated during his trial. He will remain on death row.
My 10 Predictions for 2012
Obama is reelected, the world doesn’t end except for Tim Tebow, Jim Landon and Sharon Atack look for other jobs and the News-Journal goes into the cemetery business: predictions worthy of James Ussher.
Garage Sale: NYT Sells 16 Papers To News- Journal For Less Than $10 Million Apiece
Each title went for barely $9 million, less than half the $20 million Halifax Media paid for the Daytona Beach News-Journal alone when it acquired that paper in April 2010–at discount from the $300 million price originally set by a federal judge in 2006.
Florida Utilities Fume as EPA Tells Dirty Coal Power Plants To Clean Up Or Clam Up
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday released controversial new air-pollution standards that could force expensive upgrades at some Florida power plants — but have been long-sought by environmental and health advocates.
News-Journal Owner Halifax Media Buying New York Times’s 16 Regional Papers
The New York Times confirmed today that Halifax Media Group, owner of the Daytona Beach News-Journal since 2010, is buying the 16 newspapers in The New York Times Regional Group in what would represent a significant cultural and ideological shift away from centrism and liberalism for those 14 papers.
As Autopsies Dwindle, Hospitals Bury Their Mistakes Instead of Learning From Them
Autopsies are conducted on just 5 percent of patients who die in hospitals, letting common diagnostic errors go undiscovered, allowing physicians to practice on other patients with a false sense of security, and short-shrifting understanding of the effectiveness of medical treatments and the progression of diseases.
Supreme Court’s Ruling on Immigrants Will Redefine Policing and State Powers
The Supreme Court’s ruling on Arizona’s law is due by the end of June, at the same time as its ruling on Obama’s health care reform law, making this court term one of the most consequential in years, and with big reverberations in Florida.
Philip Roth’s Everyman
In Everyman, this is the Philip Roth writing the eulogy from behind the ordinariness, the Roth who reads hearts like America’s best social cardiologist, still writing like it’s a midday office tryst he can pull off with as much virility as Portnoy in his prime.
Bleak Houses: Hiring Discrimination and Distress Darkening Holidays for Millions
A report documents the boiling frustration, despair, and economic uncertainty that unemployed and under-employed Americans face this holiday season, which could get worse if Congress doesn’t extend federal unemployment aid by month’s end.
Obama’s Roosevelt Envy–And Ours
Obama’s version of Roosevelt Lite won’t cut it if he can’t back up his rhetoric with a more serious program of defending the middle class against corporate predators and rich-class irresponsibility.
Obama’s Speech on the Economy in Osawatomie, Kansas: Video and Text
Full text and video of Barack Obama’s speech on inequality, fairness and the economy in Osawatomie, Kansas, on Dec. 6, 2011.
Daytona’s Pier Restaurant Lease: $275,000 a Year; Flagler Beach’s: $36,000
Both cities spent the better part of the year negotiating new deals with restaurant owners, but while Flagler Beach city commissioners were criticized for selling their property short, the Daytona numbers are not necessarily better than Flagler Beach’s when several adjustments are factored in.
Florida House Releases Redistricting Lines Tuesday, Mapping Out Flagler’s Political Future
The House of Representatives panel charged with redrawing the state’s political boundaries will unveil a slate of options for the state’s congressional and state House districts Tuesday, setting the stage for discussions that could affect the balance of power in Florida for a decade.