Global attitudes towards the United States as a tourism destination are plunging. Travel pressures, exchange rate shifts and increasing economic uncertainty have all damaged the reputation of the American travel sector. Canadian travellers are increasingly turning to domestic destinations instead of heading south. In July, Canada recorded its seventh consecutive month of declining travel by Canadians to the U.S..
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55% of Floridians in Survey Oppose DeSantis Push for Congressional Redistricting
Although Gov. Ron DeSantis says he’s intent on pursuing a mid-decade congressional redistricting that would help Republicans maintain control of the U.S. House in 2026, the majority of Floridians do not agree — and that includes a majority of Republicans. The survey of nearly 500 Floridians of all political stripes conducted by Common Cause finds that 55% oppose the idea, with only 26% in support and another 19% undecided.
Appeals Court Ruling Against Transgender Deputy May Buttress Florida’s Restrictions on Pronouns Use
Florida’s defense of a 2023 law restricting pronouns that transgender teachers can use to identify themselves could be aided by an appeals-court ruling Tuesday in a Georgia case. A transgender Houston County, Ga., sheriff’s deputy filed that lawsuit after she was denied coverage under a county health-insurance policy for surgery related to gender dysphoria. The sharply divided appeals court ruled against the Georgia deputy, Anna Lange. Judge Nancy Abudu, in a dissenting opinion, pointed to potentially far-reaching effects of the majority ruling, calling it discrimination against transgender people.”
“The majority opinion effectively sanctions employment discrimination against transgender people,” Abudu’s dissent said.
Palm Coast Council Isn’t Thrilled by USTA Florida’s Approach Shot to Taking Over Southern Rec Center Management
The Palm Coast City Council is not ready to hand over the Southern Recreation Center, newest of the city’s many jewels crowning its parks and recreation provinces, to USTA Florida for management over the next six years. The city will keep talking with USTA. But the council isn’t thrilled by the cost-benefit analysis of the proposed contract, finding it too much of a one-sided benefit to USTA while the city would still lose money at the center, as it does now, only it would also lose control. The contract’s vagueness raised questions. And the council worried about the respect USTA would show pickleball.
Palm Coast Would Limit Ebike Speeds to 10 MPH on Sidewalks, Ban Riders Younger Than 13 and AirPods While Riding
Palm Coast is about to have strict new ebike regulations. Based on a proposal the city attorney presented to the City Council Tuesday, and the feedback he received from council members, ebike speeds will be limited to 10 miles per hour on all sidewalks, ebike riders must be 13 or older, ebike riders younger than 16 will be required to wear a helmet, ebike riders of any age may not wear AirPods or headphones while riding, and must–also at any age–carry a sate-issued, photo identification card.
Nudity! Sex! Literary Chimps! Lady Day! City Repertory Theatre Readies New Season With Reboots
Nudity and sex will be taking center stage when City Repertory Theatre opens its 15th season on Sept. 19 at its black box venue in Palm Coast. More precisely, nudity and sex will be taking center stage again at City Rep, when the cutting-edge, never-hesitant-to-be provocative community theater brings back the characters Princeton and Kate Monster, and – in full (frontal) view of the audience – they proceed to engage in boisterous, noisy… well, you know. But they’re puppets.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, September 10, 2025
Peter Kuper on Trump’s optical allusions, River to Sea Transportation Planning Organization’s bike and pedestrian committee meets, Weekly Chess Club for Teens at the library, remembering Charles Aznavour.
Netanyahu’s ‘Cowardly’ Attack on Qatar and His Rage for Decapitation
Israel launched an unprecedented airstrike on the Qatari capital of Doha on September 9, the first time it has directly attacked a Gulf state. The Qatari government said it “strongly condemns the cowardly Israeli attack”, which it described as “a blatant violation of international law”. The Netanyahu government has now decided that its regional objectives will be pursued through “decapitation”.
Florida Universities Get Poor Marks for Students’ Free Speech
Florida’s average score in the College Free Speech Rankings was 63.1 out of 100, dropping 1.1 from the year before. However, Florida’s average rank out of 257 was 74, rising 25 spots since the year before. Not all institutions in Florida were rated; FIRE queried students at six public institutions and one private, the University of Miami. Florida State University scored highest in the state at 17th nationally of 257 schools. UM was the least favorable at 229th.
Bunnell Gives Final Approval to 6,100-Home Haw Creek Development That Will Dwarf City’s 1,000 Households
What Bunnell Vice Mayor John Rogers is calling a “city within a city” with “no compatibility with the size, the character or the infrastructure” of the city will start taking shape west and south of Bunnell as a divided City Commission on Monday gave final approval to the 6,100-home development known as the Reserve at Haw Creek. As was the case two weeks ago, when the commission approved a series of regulatory steps, it did so with the same 3-2 split. Commissioners Pete Young, Dean Sechrist and Mayor Catherine Robinson voted in the majority, Rogers and Commissioner David Atkinson were opposed.
Ft. Lauderdale Joins Miami in Challenging Transportation Department’s Erasing of Street Art and Memorials
Days after the city of Miami Beach filed a similar case, Fort Lauderdale has challenged the legality of directives by the Florida Department of Transportation to remove art and markings on streets. Fort Lauderdale filed its challenge Monday at the state Division of Administrative Hearings, arguing that the department did not go through a legally required rule-making process. Such directives went to local governments across the state and have drawn heavy attention, in part, because they required removing LGBTQ-themed rainbow crosswalks.
Woman Described in Court Last Week as ‘a Really Bad Influence’ Is Arrested on 5 Felonies, Including Child Abuse
Cherie Ford, 44, was re-arrested months after being sentenced to probation on a charge of battering a cop, this time on five felony charges, including a second-degree felony charge of child neglect causing great harm and a third-degree felony charge of child abuse. The arrest was a probation violation, so she faces a felony count for that as well, and two felony battery counts–felonies, because they are her third cuch charge following convictions on similar charges.
4 Front-Runners Emerge as Palm Coast City Council Pares Down List of City Manager Candidates
Palm Coast City Council members have pared down their list of some 112 applicants for city manager to 42, with nine of those favored by at least three council members, and four of them favored by four. No candidate has so far won the backing of all five. The council this evening will short-list the pool. Mayor Mike Norris previously suggested that the council focus on candidates with at least three votes.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, September 9, 2025
The Palm Coast City Council meets in an evening workshop, the Community Traffic Safety Team meets, so does the Flagler County Planning Board, a Bulgarian view of the tariffs, on the mythology of progress.
Duke Energy Wants Florida to Prepare for Power-Hungry Data Centers
With artificial intelligence and other technology driving massive increases in demand for electricity, Duke Energy Florida on Friday filed a proposal aimed at preparing for the possibility of data centers being built in the state. The proposal, filed at the Florida Public Service Commission, came as the issue is also part of a broad Florida Power & Light rate case.
Why FEMA Is Essential in Disasters
To better understand FEMA’s value, let’s take a look back at how the nation responded to disasters before the agency existed–it wasn’t pretty– and what history reveals about when FEMA was most effective.
Final Beam Tops Out of Palm Coast’s Fire Station 22
A major milestone was celebrated on September 3 as the City of Palm Coast, alongside contractor Wharton-Smith and design team Schenkel Shultz, marked the topping out of Fire Station 22. The event, held at the station’s future site at Palm Coast Parkway NE and Colbert Lane, commemorated the placement of the final beam—a symbol of progress, teamwork, and a safer future for Palm Coast.
How Peter Johnson’s ‘Bullshit’ Trespass Led to Sunshine on FC3 Cultural Board and Its Accountability to Palm Coast
The trespassing of Peter Johnson, a former candidate for mayor, underscored what had become an uneasy and contentious relationship between the Palm Coast City Council and FC3, as the Flagler County Cultural Council likes to refer to itself. Palm Coast is requiring more accountability and openness. And it led to an opinion by the county attorney’s office that FC3 should henceforth operate under sunshine, meaning that its meetings must be advertised ahead of time and be open to the public, and that its members refrain from communicating with each other on FC3 business outside of those meetings.
Derek Barrs Resigns School Board Seat to Be Senior Advisor to Transportation Secretary Pending Confirmation
Flagler County School Board member Derek Barrs will log his last evening board meeting on Sept. 23 and resign his seat effective Sept. 30 as he prepares to assume the leadership of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. He will move to the nation’s capital at the end of the month and start working as a senior advisor to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. Once confirmed, he’ll officially move over to the motor carrier side.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, September 8, 2025
Clay Jones on the octogenarian president’s strange and shaky health, The Bunnell City Commission meets, the Library Board of Trustees meets, the great historian William H. McNeill’s optimism.
Florida’s DOGE Should Investigate the Money Wasted on ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
Gov. Ron DeSantis decided to blow millions in taxpayer money on a tent-and-fence camp in the middle of a major nature preserve. Believe it or not, he did it without doing one single thing to check its impact on our endangered panthers, our clean water, or our recovering Everglades. Instead, he just rushed to build it as fast as possible, spending $218 million. He had to truck in everything the staff and inmates needed, from portable toilets that repeatedly overflowed to blinding lights that ruined one of the few dark-sky places left in our state.
How Targeted US Hit on Caribbean Boat Was a Blatant Violation of International Law
The U.S. government is justifying its lethal destruction of a boat suspected of transporting illegal drugs in the Caribbean as an attack on “narco-terrorists.” To an expert on international law, that line of argument goes nowhere. Even if, as the U.S. claims, the 11 people killed in the Sept. 2, 2025, U.S. Naval strike were members of the Tren de Aragua gang, it would make no difference under the laws that govern the use of force by state actors. Unlawful killing is unlawful regardless of who does it, why, or the reaction to it. And in regard to the U.S. strike on the alleged Venezuelan drug boat, the deaths were unlawful.
DC Protests Demand End to Trump’s Military ‘Occupation’
Thousands marched in Washington, D.C., Saturday to protest President Donald Trump’s continued deployment of National Guard troops and the increased federal law enforcement on the streets of the nation’s capital.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, September 7, 2025
Palm Coast Farmers’ Market at European Village, when the Southern Baptist Convention told women to submit to their husbands the day before the Wisconsin Supreme Court opened the floodgates to school vouchers and called it safe for secularism.
Canada Leading UK and France in Boycott of American Goods Over Trump Tariffs
Statistics Canada reports that Canadian trips to the U.S. are down by 28.7 per cent from last year. Left-wing and right-wing people are participating in the boycott of American products. There are no ideological differences in participation in Canada and France. However, in the U.K., those on the right are more likely to boycott American products, services and travel than those on the left.
Flagler Tiger Bay Re-Elects Jay Scherr, Marc Dwyer and Joe Saviak to Leadership
The Flagler Tiger Bay Club, the county’s non-partisan and unique forum for ideas and discussions, Friday announced the election and re-election of the following board officers to serve four-year terms, among them Jay Scherr, Marc Dwyer and Joe Saviak.
More Than Third of Flagler County’s Renters Are Under Water as Florida Rents Increased 39% in 4 Years
A University of Florida study found that rent for multifamily units in Florida rose by 39 percent between 2019 and 2023, as 1 million households entered the state. In Flagler County, 4,478 renting households out of 12,000 total renting households–or 37 percent–are in that category. Among the most low-income, cost-burdened renting households in the county, 72 percent are occupied by one or two people. The majority are younger than 54.
Flagler Sheriff’s Detective Kathryn Gordon and Flagler Beach Officer Michael Snyder Are Crime Stoppers’ Officers of the Year
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Master Detective Kathryn Gordon was named Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida’s 2025 Officer of the Year in the large agency category. Gordon was selected as Officer of the Year among law enforcement agencies with over 125 sworn members, among nominees from four other agencies across Putnam, St. Johns, and Volusia counties.
Ex-School Employee Kermit Booth Extradited to Flagler to Face Charges of of Sexually Assaulting Neighbor Until She Was 9
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly on Friday flew to North Carolina to personally bring back Kermit Booth–the former Palm Coast resident facing two capital felony charges for the sexual assault of a child–extradited from North Carolina, where he’d been held after his second arrest on the same charges.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, September 6, 2025
It’s Casino Night at the Flagler Woman’s Club, the Flagler Beach All Stars hold their monthly beach clean-up, where medieval scribes and today’s fact-averse ideologues join hands, fact-checking Ronald Reagan.
How AI Is About to Change Military Command Structures
Despite two centuries of evolution, the structure of a modern military staff would be recognizable to Napoleon. At the same time, military organizations have struggled to incorporate new technologies as they adapt to new domains – air, space and information – in modern war. AI agents – autonomous, goal-oriented software powered by large language models – can automate routine staff tasks, compress decision timelines and enable smaller, more resilient command posts. They can shrink the staff while also making it more effective.
He Faced a Minimum of 4.2 Years in Prison for Hit and Run. He Got Less Than 1 Year in Jail After Paying Victim $150,000.
A $150,000 settlement paired with a $100,000 insurance settlement can go a long way to convince the victim of a hit and run to turn advocate for his assailant and ask the court not to send him to prison. The prosecutor put it more bluntly: “It creates the perception that justice can be bought.” That’s what appears to have happened between Joao Fernandes and Tristen Thompson, who until last month had spent the previous year as adversaries, with Fernandes facing several years in prison on top of a civil suit from Thompson over a 2024 hit and run on Belle Terre Parkway that left Thompson in a heap of injuries.
Shuttered Baker County Prison Reopened as Migrant Lockup
Florida this week began accepting immigrant detainees at a repurposed prison in Baker County as part of the state’s support of President Donald Trump’s mass-deportation efforts, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office.
Armed Burglar Wrecks Sharps Liquors in Flagler Plaza After Being Denied Drinks, and Faces Life Felonies
A 38-year-old man whose recorded behavior at the time of his arrest suggests questionable mental competence is at the Flagler County jail on 12 felony charges, two of them punishable by life in prison, following an alleged armed burglary and a trashing rampage through Sharps Discount Liquors in Palm Coast. He is being held on $236,000 bond. The trashing left the area behind the counter entirely covered in broken bottles shoved off the shelves, along with a whole other segment of the store where the man had systematically upended, broken or wrecked everything in his way.
Court Backs Florida DCF Ban on Religious Ideologies in Domestic Abuser Intervention Programs
A federal appeals court Thursday backed the Florida Department of Children and Families in a First Amendment dispute about a state regulation barring “faith-based ideology” in a program that people convicted of domestic violence are required to attend.
A Groveling Flagler County Amplifies FEMA Falsehoods as Feds Release $3.72 Million Owed Flagler Beach Pier
Setting aside what a federal judge called a “categorical freeze of appropriated and obligated funds,” the Federal Emergency Management Administration finally released a reimbursement of $3.72 million for the Flagler Beach pier’s $15 million demolition and reconstruction project, bringing FEMA’s share to $11.2 million. FEMA and Flagler County have issued news releases falsely crediting that and other releases of FEMA dollars to the rump administration, which had ordered the money frozen and been forced to release it by a judge’s injunction.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, September 5, 2025
First Friday Garden Walks at Washington Oaks Gardens State Park, First Friday in Flagler Beach, Free Family Art Night, Ormond Memorial Art Museum and Gardens, Flannery O’Connor’s “Geranium” and “Judgement Day.”
AI Slop: As Cheap and Sleazy as It Sounds
AI slop is low- to mid-quality content – video, images, audio, text or a mix – created with AI tools, often with little regard for accuracy. It’s fast, easy and inexpensive to make this content. AI slop producers typically place it on social media to exploit the economics of attention on the internet, displacing higher-quality material that could be more helpful. AI slop has been increasing over the past few years. As the term “slop” indicates, that’s generally not good for people using the internet.
Florida Medical Association Unequivocally Backs Vaccine Mandates in Schools as DeSantis Prepares to End Them
The Florida Medical Association, the state’s largest physicians’ organization, strongly backed childhood vaccinations Thursday, a day after state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo vowed to end vaccine mandates.
Guns and Ammo Will be Tax-Free in Florida Until the End of the Year
Starting Monday and running through the end of the year, Florida will provide a sales-tax exemption on a variety of hunting equipment, the first time a state tax “holiday” includes guns and ammunition. The tax holiday starting Monday also will allow people to avoid paying sales taxes on camping and fishing equipment through the end of the year. It was part of a broad tax package (HB 7031) that lawmakers passed in June.
Lease-Holder Offers Flagler Beach $801,000 to Buy Ocean Palm Golf Club as 2nd Company Shows Interest
The operators of the city-owned Ocean Palm Golf Club at the south end of Flagler Beach are offering the city $801,333 to buy the 37-acre, nine-hole course the city has owned since 2013. Meanwhile, John Patrick Capital, the investment firm, told the city last week that it was interested in making its own offer on the property, implying that it would do a better job running it than the current lease-holder.
Palm Coast Man Arrested Under New “Super Speeder Law” for Going 90 in a 35 Near Varn Park
A 50-year-old Palm Coast resident was arrested and booked at the Flagler County jail on a speeding charge–going over 50 miles per hour above the posted speed limit. The driver was going 90 in a 35 near Varn Park on State Road A1A, north of Beverly Beach. He faces up to 30 days in jail, a $500 fine or both if convicted on the second-degree misdemeanor. He is also required to appear at a hearing under the state’s new “Super Speeder Law,” which went into effect on July 1.
Noah Urban, 20, Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison Over Defrauding at Least 59 Victims of $13 Million in Crypto Scam
Noah Michael Urban, the 20-year-old Palm Coast resident charged last year with 14 federal counts of cryptocurrency, was sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by three years on probation. He had faced up to 22 years in prison. In the cases covered by the investigation, Urban had used the name, credentials, and email accounts of at least 59 victims to take money from their cryptocurrency accounts and transfer it to his account. The victims lost at least $13 million between August 2022 and March 2023. All the crimes were committed while he lived in Palm Coast.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, September 4, 2025
Clay Jones on flag-burning, Joao Fernandes, the 50-year-old Palm Coast resident a jury convicted of hit-and-run on Belle Terre Parkway in July, is sentenced, Palm Coast’s Residential Drainage Advisory Committee meets, when writers back censorship.
Understanding China’s New Military Power
With the conflicts in Ukraine, south Asia, and the Middle East showing the limitations of more established European and Russian hardware, there are growing opportunities for Chinese weapons technology. It’s also likely that Chinese military systems will find customers among countries that are not on Donald Trump’s list of favoured nations, such as Iran. Should Iran be able to equip itself with Chinese systems, it will be better placed to go head-to-head with Israel.
1st Palm Coast Charter Review Town Hall Scheduled for Sept. 29
The City of Palm Coast invites residents to attend the first community workshop for the Charter Review process on Monday, September 29, 2025, at 6 p.m. It will be held at the Southern Recreation Center, at 1290 Belle Terre Parkway.
What the Hell? An Indecorous DeSantis Calls Renner’s Governor Run ‘Ill-Advised’
Ron DeSantis does not want former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner to succeed him as governor, he told a packed crowd Wednesday. His blunt take on the 48-year-old’s candidacy stood in contrast to Renner’s campaign launch earlier Wednesday, when the former House Speaker lauded himself as a top GOP figure who played a key role in advancing DeSantis’s agenda.
Delayed a Month, Work on Flagler Beach Pier Demolition Resumes After Erin’s Waves Wash Out Turtle Nest
It took a bit of a cataclysmic tragedy for what may have been up to a hundred eggs, but demolition work on the Flagler Beach pier resumed today after a turtle nest that had stopped the work cold at the end of July washed out to sea as Hurricane Erin’s waves battered the shore. The storm never got close to the beach. But swells carved out a significant swath of sand, and with it the loggerhead nest.
Palm Coast’s Paul Renner, Aligning Himself as DeSantis Heir, Enters Race for Governor Against Byron Donalds
Former state House Speaker Paul Renner on Wednesday launched a 2026 campaign for governor, becoming the first high-profile candidate to take on Congressman Byron Donalds — who has the backing of President Donald Trump — in the Republican primary. Renner, whose district represented Palm Coast and Flagler County, left the House in November after two years as speaker. He issued a statement that drew links with Gov. Ron DeSantis, who cannot run again because of term limits.
Ex-Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller Endorses Charles Gambaro in Race Against U.S. Rep. Randy Fine
Former Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller has endorsed Palm Coast’s Charles Gambaro in the city councilman’s bid to unseat Randy Fine in next August’s GOP primary for the congressional seat Fine won in a special election. President Trump named Miller acting secretary of defense for the last three months of Trump’s first term after Trump fired his predecessor, Mark Esper.