Mad Dogs Flag Football of Palm Coast completed its Spring 2021 season with its Championship Weekend festivities on June 12 at Wadsworth Park in Flagler Beach.
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Patient Batters 3 People at AdventHealth’s ER Waiting Room Before One Victim, a Security Guard, Stops Him
Kory Prusaitis, a 25-year-old resident of Winterling Place in Palm Coast, was upset at hospital staff when told that that his mother couldn’t come into the waiting room with him, and went on a brief rampage against three people.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, June 16, 2021
All about credit unions at a virtual Flagler Tiger Bay lunch, Jasper Johns on becoming an artist, a man found not guilty by reason of insanity wants his total freedom back, and a trio of matches from Euro 2020.
Robert Hill Had Threatened to Smash His Girlfriend’s Face In Before Shooting Her. She Recorded Him.
It was Brenan Hill, 32, who unknowingly led detectives to the gun used in the shooting of his 22-year-old girlfriend in Palm Coast last March, and the victim’s own recordings of him that made him the chief suspect, as a trove of digital footprints unraveled his many lies to detectives.
Sale and Lease Are Out, Belle Terre Swim Club Down to 2 Options: Keep As Is, Or Convert to K-12 Facility
The Flagler school board today talked today as if it had two options for the Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club, but the math makes one of those two options almost impossible, leaving the board with turning the facility into primarily a K-12 campus where existing programs at various schools could be consolidated into their own at the club.
Richard Dunn Nearing Full Freedom from Restrictions 15 Years After Being Found Insane in Father’s Murder
Richard Dunn, the 60-year-old former Palm Coast resident found not guilty by reason of insanity in the stabbing death of his father Jack Dunn 15 years ago, will again appear in court Wednesday to seek his full freedom, without medical or other supervisory restrictions.
Being Vaccinated Doesn’t Mean You Must Go Maskless. Here’s Why.
The dramatic rollback of mask-wearing and physical distancing recommended last month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention applies only to people who have been fully vaccinated. Even if you are vaccinated, though, you don’t need to change your behavior one iota if doing so makes you uncomfortable.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, June 15, 2021
The Flagler County School Board has a trio of meetings, most importantly a special meeting at 5 p.m. to discuss impact fees in light of a new law restricting how much those fees may be raised, just when the district needs them most. Plus Michael Jordan on being Black and the immorality of zoos.
Fourth Court Challenge to Florida’s New Election Law Is Filed, Targeting Voter-Registration Hurdles
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the groups HeadCount and the Harriet Tubman Freedom Fighters Corp., is narrowly tailored to one section of the law that involves what are known as third-party voter-registration organizations.
America’s Back, But to What?
If you refuse to become the president, and if you still refuse to understand that the rest of the world looks to America to be strong and not weak, then you’ve emboldened the enemies of America and freedom, argues Michael Reagan ahead of Biden’s trip to Europe.
Attempted Murder Charge for Brenan Robert Hill in Shooting of Girlfriend Near Microtel in March
Brenan Robert Hill was charged today with attempted second-degree murder in the shooting of his girlfriend near the Microtel March 26, a shooting Hill had blamed on a robbery and that had briefly seemed like an inexplicable, unnerving act of violence.
‘Thoughts and Prayers Aren’t Enough’: Flagler Marks Pulse Nightclub Massacre at Year 5 with a March and Vigil
It has been five years since a gunman ended the lives of 49 people and injured 53 others at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. Saturday night the Flagler community honored the dead with a march across the Flagler Bridge and a vigil at Veterans’ Park.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, June 14, 2021
The Bunnell city administration will start tracking its drivers. Jeff Bezos has money to burn. José de Nebra’s Vendado es amor, performed by Concerto Koln.
Sexism + Socialism: The Republican Line on Florida’s Democratic Women Candidates Is Emerging
“Do-nothing.” “Delusional.” That’s the way Republicans are talking about Nikki Fried and Val Demings, the top Democratic women running for governor and U.S. senator in next year’s elections, reflecting a concerted strategy of sexism and denigration with no factual basis.
Here’s What I Tell Middle and High School Teachers About How to Teach Young Students About Slavery
Nervous. Concerned. Worried. Wary. Unprepared. This is how middle and high school teachers have told me they have felt over the past few years when it comes to teaching the troublesome topic of slavery, writes Raphael Rogers, with advice.
Appeals Court Overturns Alachua County’s Mask Mandate, Citing Right to Privacy
Pointing to privacy rights, a divided state appeals court Friday overturned a circuit judge’s decision last year that allowed Alachua County to keep in place a mask requirement to try to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Tornado Warning Issued for Bunnell and State Road 100 to Flagler Beach Until 4:15 p.m.
The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning until 4:15 p.m. for the area of State Road 100 from Bunnell to Flagler Beach.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, June 13, 2021
Last of the first weekend showings of the Flagler Playhouse’s The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, Joe Biden’s clone, and how the admonition to be “clear and clean,” to be “professional” serves as an excuse to whitewash.
Critical Rage Theory
Critical race theory has been around almost 50 years and went mainstream 25 years ago, but Trumpist Republicans are discovering it only now, passing laws in several states to ban the teaching of critical race theory without understanding the first thing about it, but proving with every ban that it is less theory than fact.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, June 12, 2021
The memorial walk and vigil for the victims of the Pulse massacre in Orlando in 2016 begins with participants gathering at Wadsworth park in Flagler Beach after 6 p.m. The walk across the Flagler Beach bridge is at 7 p.m.
Acquitted of Molestation 4 Years Ago, L’Darius Smith Loses Stand Your Ground Argument and Heads for Trial Again
L’Darius Smith, the 25-year-old Bunnell resident who in 2017 was on trial for molesting two of his step-sisters years earlier, is going to trial on aggravated assault and burglary charges after a failed attempt to acquit himself of the assault charge on a stand your ground defense.
Made Invisible at DeSantis’s Pandemic Briefings, Surgeon General Scott Rivkees Will Remain as Surgeon General
Following a tumultuous two years filled with surges in Covid-19 cases, transparency issues and limited public appearances after being off-message at a DeSantis news conference, Scott Rivkees will stay on as Florida’s Surgeon General.
The Weekend Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, June 11, 2021
A weekend of performances and memorials: The Flagler Playhouse’s stage will come to life again, the Jacksonville Symphony performs Schubert’s “Great,” and the Pulse massacre’s victims are remembered with a walk and a vigil Saturday in Flagler Beach.
Palm Coast Fire Chief on Joe Mullins: a ‘Wrecking Ball’ who ‘Disgraces the Hard Working Men and Women of Flagler County Fire Rescue’
After County Commissioner Joe Mullins spoke to Palm Coast Fire Chief Jerry Forte about Palm Coast taking over county fire services, Forte ripped into Mullins in a scathing email to the county administrator and his deputy, calling Mullins a “hack” who seeks to incite hostility when he “stay in his own lane.”
State Education Board Approves Rules Dictating More Sanitized Version of History Classes in Schools
The board, meeting in Jacksonville, voted after members of the public squared off on the rule, with some saying it would whitewash history and others saying it would prevent Marxist theory from being taught in Florida classrooms.
City Hall Trespass Against Mark Phillips, Who’d Rushed Toward Mayor at May Meeting, Is Lifted
Mark Phillips, the North Flagler resident at the center of a tense moment at a May meeting of the Palm Coast City Council, when he aggressively rushed the dais toward then-Mayor Milissa Holland, is no longer trespassed from City Hall.
For Whispering Meadows Ranch, a Slow But Likely Trot Away from John Anderson, to New Site at County Fairgrounds
If negotiations between Whispering Meadows Ranch’s owners and county government officials continue on the constructive course they’ve followed for the last few weeks, the ranch appears headed out of its 13-year location at a residential property on John Anderson Highway and will be recreated on the grounds of the Flagler County Fairgrounds off of County Road 13.
Construction Crew Severs Gas Line at Old Kings and Celico Way, Requiring Detours
A construction crew working on Palm Coast’s re-engineered and widened intersection at Old Kings Road and Palm Coast Parkway struck a gas line by mistake around noon today, triggering a gas leak.
The Live Daily Quote Archive, 2017-2021
The archives of the Briefing’s Live Daily Quote, covering every imaginable idea, philosophy, religion, politics, from the sublime to the outrageous to the astonishing, with style and substance, selected daily by the editor. This is not your grandpa’s Bartlett.
Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax
ProPublica has obtained a vast cache of IRS information showing how billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Warren Buffett pay little in income tax compared to their massive wealth — sometimes, even nothing.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, June 10, 2021
The Flagler Beach City Commission meets this evening, Drug Court is in session, and 19 percent of respondents in the latest poll still hold out the constitutional impossibility that Trump will be “reinstated” as president.
One Man Rapes a 13-Year-Old Girl and Walks Free. Another Raped a 16-Year-Old Girl and Is Serving 12 Years in Prison.
Bo Jeremiah Sirrine, 23, and Tonda Royal, 55, once shared a cell at the Flagler County jail. They also shared a predilection for underage girls and were both charged with raping girls–a 13 year old, in Sirrine’s case, a 16 year old, in Royal’s case. Sirrine walked out of the Flagler jail a free man weeks ago. Royal is serving 12 years in state prison.
Orlando Democrat Val Demings Launches Bid to Unseat Sen. Marco Rubio
With the theme “Never Tire,” Orlando Democratic Congresswoman Val Demings on Wednesday formally launched her campaign to try to unseat U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in 2022.
An Unhappy Ending for Employee of Star Massage on Palm Coast Parkway
An undercover deputy was offered more than a massage when he went to Star Massage, where the Sheriff’s Office had been getting “multiple reports of alleged prostitution at the business” on Palm Coast Parkway.
Florida Ethics Commission: June Session Wrap-Up
Meeting in Tallahassee on June 4th in closed session, the Florida Commission on Ethics took action on 17 matters, Chair JoAnne Leznoff announced today.
Candidate Drops Out of Mayoral Race, Creates a Ballot Problem and ‘Endorses’ Lowe: ‘He’s Sorry for Hating America’
Kevin Cichowski’s brief candidacy for the special July 27 election for Palm Coast mayor ended today as oddly as it began a week or so ago–with cryptic statements, a back-handed endorsement of candidate Alan Lowe, and the proposal for an “active shooter system” in the schools.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, June 9, 2021
The reconvened and renamed Blue 22 Forum meets at the African American Cultural Society on U.S. 1 for its weekly discussions, and the drought index keeps climbing up in Flagler. After-hour vaccinations at the Department of Health in Bunnell this evening.
The Beginning of the End of Democracy as We Know It?
The end of the For the People Act opens the way for Republican states to continue their shameless campaign of voter suppression – very possibly giving Republicans a victory in the 2022 midterm elections and entrenching Republican rule for a generation.
Voting Rights Advocates Seek to Block New Law’s Requirement that Limits Ballot-Initiative Contributions to $3,000
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and other supporters of three proposed constitutional amendments designed to expand voting want a federal judge to block a new state law that places a $3,000 limit on contributions to ballot-initiative drives.
As Reorganization Takes Shape, Indian Trails’ Peacock and Rymfire’s Moore Shift to School District Office
Rymfire’s LaShakia Moore and Indian Trails’ Paul Peacock are taking executive roles at the district office. Their replacements have not been named. That search has just begun and will include input from teachers, staff, and parents.
Testily, Palm Coast Council Appears to Favor Doing Its Own Search for New Manager, Foregoing Consultants
The Palm Coast City Council appears uninterested in hiring a search firm to conduct its impending search for a new city manager, its second in three years, opting for some form of process conducted by the administration and the council, and possibly including council members fronting their own choices.
Man Due for Sentencing on Child Porn Charges Shoots and Kills Himself in the Parking Lot at the Flagler County Courthouse
A man shot and killed himself in the parking lot of the Flagler County courthouse this morning around 10 a.m. Little else is known of the incident for the moment, other than that the man had contacted authorities a few minutes earlier and apparently warned of his imminent action.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, June 8, 2021
The Palm Coast City Council has a pair of meetings, one to vote on sending its deputy chief to head the county’s fire department for a few weeks, the other to workshop several key items, among them hiring the next manager. Plus Rushdie on which books you truly love and what they say about you.
‘Lady of Guadalupe’ Avoids Tough Truths About the Catholic Church and Indigenous Genocide
Ultimately “Lady of Guadeloupe” sanitizes the real-life brutality of the Church toward Indigenous peoples in the 16th century. This absence of critical engagement with the account of the Virgin’s appearance does not do justice to religious devotion, argues Rebecca Janzen.
New Law Bars Local Governments from Increasing Impact Fees More than Once Every Four Years
The law now in effect prevents local governments from increasing impact fees more than once every four years and limits the increases to 50 percent. Increases between 25 and 50 percent would have to be spread over four years. Smaller increases would be phased in over two years.
Palm Coast Man, 53, Faces Felony Charge for Threatening to Kill Ex-Restaurant Boss’ Son
Moretto, 53, was arrested on a second-degree felony charge of written threats to “conduct an act of terrorism” after allegedly threatening his former employer that he would kill the employer’s son.
Flagler Sheriff’s Steve Williams Elected as President of Florida’s Agricultural Crimes Intelligence Unit
On Thursday, May 20, 2021, Deputy First Class (DFC) Steve Williams of the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) Agricultural Unit was elected as the President of the Florida Agricultural Crimes Intelligence Unit (FACIU) for the 2021-2022 year.
CareerSource Flagler Volusia Hosts Job Fairs on June 22 and 29
CareerSource Flagler Volusia will host two job fairs in the month of June: a Virtual Job Fair on Tuesday, June 22nd and an in-person Job Fair, in partnership with Derbyshire Place, on June 29th, 2021.
7 Qualify for Palm Coast Mayor Race as Commissioner Criticizes $188,000 Election Cost to Taxpayers
The special election for mayor to replace Milissa Holland will cost $188,000, according to an itemized bill from the Supervisor of Elections. Five Republicans and two Democrats qualified to run in the July 27 election. The qualifying window closed Monday at noon.
Flagler Administrator Jerry Cameron Ends Tenure, Interim Salinas and New Fire Chief Mike Tucker Start July 7
Flagler County Interim Administrator Jerry Cameron will end his tenure at the end of the month and be replaced by Interim Jorge Salinas, as the county commission is uninterested in a search for a new administrator, while new Fire Chief Mike Tucker will take over on July 7, but not before an interim fire chief–Palm Coast’s Bradd Clark–serves at the county until then.