Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott traveled to New York City on Thursday, where he became the first member of Congress to attend Former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial. Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom during a break from the proceedings, Scott said that the treatment that the former president was enduring was “despicable.”
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That Color in Your Water Is Due to Low Rainfall and Palm Coast’s Use of Certain Wells
The City of Palm Coast is actively responding to the challenges posed by the current dry conditions, which have led to significantly increased water usage and heightened demands on our water supply. As a result, residents may notice a change in the color of their water, particularly throughout the summer months.
Brendan Depa’s Sentencing Will Not Resume Until Aug. 6, Giving Defense Time to Recover from Bad Day
The defense for Brendan Depa, the 18-year-old former Matanzas High School autistic student to be sentenced in the beating of his teacher’s aide, faces a steep climb back from a prosecution case that portrayed Depa as a willful, intelligent, chronically violent man who knows right from wrong and who knew what he was doing that day at Matanzas. The prosecution is developing an argument that sidelines Depa’s autism as irrelevant, and calls prison time essential. The defense has yet to make its case.
At Law Enforcement Memorial, Solace in the Language of a Flag and the Bond of Shared Loss
Some 150 people and law enforcement officers from different agencies turned out for the annual Law Enforcement Memorial Service hosted by Sheriff Rick Staly in Bunnell Wednesday evening. Earlier in the day the sheriff had unveiled a memorial plaque to Perry Hall, for whom the county jail is named, and who was the county’s first fallen officer, on Aug. 21, 2027.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, May 9, 2024
Evenings at Whitney Lecture Series: Novel Approaches to Control Mosquito-Borne Diseases, the Flagler Beach City Commission meets, the Palm Coast Democratic Club, ‘First Date,’ at St. Augustine’s Limelight Theatre.
Can Biden Stop Israeli Sadism?
Israel entered Rafah, a city that marks Gaza’s southern border crossing with Egypt, on May 7, 2024, launching a military offensive that the U.S. and others have cautioned Israel not to pursue. As always, Israel ignored the cautions and pressed on, running up the mass-killing tally despite Hamas accepting a cease-fire proposal.
Recording Someone Without Permission Is Illegal in Florida. What If the Recorder Is in Ohio?
Justices are grappling with whether gamer David Race, who lives in Ohio, violated Florida law when he secretly recorded fellow gamer Billy Mitchell without the Broward County resident’s permission. Florida is one of 11 states that require all parties to consent to being recorded.
No, Feeding Wildlife Isn’t Kind. It’s Potentially Dangerous, and Illegal.
The temptation to engage with wildlife by feeding them is real – especially for children – but the consequences for the animals, and the public, can be dire. Flagler County officials remind you: don’t do it.
Congestion-Prone Stretch from Royal Palms Parkway to Town Center and Old Kings Road Will be Four-Laned
The Palm Coast City Council approved the first leg of a $4 million plan to redesign and widen the congestion-prone intersection of Royal Palms Parkway and Town Center Boulevard, the intersection of Town center Boulevard and Old Kings Road, and Old Kings Road from there to just south of Palm Coast Parkway. But it will be more than a year before anyone sees construction.
Flagler Schools Paid Former Indian Trails Middle School Teacher $40,000 to Settle Discrimination Lawsuit
The Flagler County school district paid JaWanda Dove $40,000 to settle a federal lawsuit Dove filed in 2020, alleging that as a Black teacher at Indian Trails Elementary, she had repeatedly been passed over for promotion by white applicants. Dove transferred to Rymfire Elementary last year, where she was promoted to dean and where she remains. Dove had been seeking Dove is seeking $100,000 in back pay and benefits, and an appointment as assistant principal.
Flagler School Board Will Send Letter of Support for Locating Museum of Black History in St. Johns
Following the recommendation of Will Furry, its chair, the Flagler County School Board will send a letter of support to a state task force in hopes of luring the future Museum of Black History to St. Johns County. St. Johns was ranked first among three finalists for the location. Its competitors are Eatonville in Orange County and Opa-locka in Miami-Dade County.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, May 8, 2024
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office hosts the annual Law Enforcement Memorial Service at 7:45 p.m. at the Sheriff’s Operations Center, Separation Chat, Open Discussion, when Britney Spears’ midriff buckled to “Hit me, baby, one more time.”
Paul Auster, An American Writer with a European Sensibility
With the passing of Paul Auster, who died of lung cancer on April 30 at the age of 77, the aesthetics of postmodernism retreated another significant step back into the past tense of history. Auster became closely associated with postmodern style because of his highly self-conscious and self-reflexive fiction. In 2017, he wrote that he “wanted to turn everything inside out.”
DeSantis Lawyer Argues Governor’s ‘Executive Privilege’ Places Him Above Public Record Law
In a case that could have far-reaching implications for the state’s public-records laws, an appeals court heard arguments Tuesday in a challenge to a judge’s ruling that “executive privilege” shields Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration from releasing records. During Tuesday’s arguments before a three-judge panel of the Tallahassee-based 1st District Court of Appeal, the plaintiff’s attorney said that the constitutional right to public records does not include an exemption for the governor’s records.
With 2 Young Children in Car, Woman Heads to Ex-Boyfriend’s House and Shoots at Resident to Scare Her
Tasia R. Cooper, a 25-year-old Bunnell resident, faces three felony charges, including two counts of child abuse, after allegedly driving to a property on Coconut Boulevard in Daytona North–the Mondex–and firing a gun in the direction of the occupant while two children were in the car with Cooper on Monday.
County Judge Andrea Totten Is Considering Applying for a Circuit Judge Appointment as Perkins Retirement Looms
With Circuit Judge Terence Perkins retiring in September, and opening a spot among the Seventh Judicial Circuit’s 27 circuit judgeships for appointment, Flagler County Judge Totten is considering applying, she said in a radio appearance on Friday.
AdventHealth Hired 10,000 Nurses Since 2020
Four years after a global pandemic rocked the health care industry and exacerbated a nationwide nursing shortage, AdventHealth celebrates a major milestone: 10,000 registered nurses hired across its Central Florida hospitals and health care locations since 2020. AdventHealth’s hospitals in Flagler, Lake and Volusia counties have successfully reduced turnover by 22 percent and travel-nurses by 39 percent.
Palm Coast Woman and 2-Year-Old Child Killed in I-95 Crash South of County Line with Volusia
A 38-year-old Palm Coast woman and a 2-year-old girl traveling with her died in a three-vehicle crash on I-95 Monday afternoon, a mile south of the intersection with U.S. 1. Three other people involved suffered serious or minor, but non-life-threatening, injuries.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, May 7, 2024
The Palm Coast City Council meets and approves a state grand enabling the city to design the four-laning of Old Kings Road south of Palm Coast Parkway, the school board meets, and Bill Maher sacrifices intellectual honesty for a laugh.
Do Americans Really Think the Country Is ‘On the Wrong Track’?
Researchers who run the American Communities Project, which explores the differences in 15 different types of community in the United States, believe the surveys are asking a question with no real meaning in the United States in 2024 – a question that may have outlived its usefulness.
Florida Law Restricting Property Ownership By Nationals of 7 Countries Draws 2nd Discrimination Lawsuit
Almost exactly a year after Florida lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis approved a measure to restrict property ownership by people from China and six other countries, housing and real-estate groups Monday filed a federal lawsuit alleging it is discriminatory. The lawsuit, filed in Miami, contends that the law violates the federal Fair Housing Act and part of the Florida Constitution.
Worrisome Dry Conditions in Flagler Prompt Caution About Wildfires and Yard Kindling
The lack of recent rain means conditions are getting drier in Flagler County, increasing the potential for brushfires. Taking a few precautions now can go a long way to protect homes and businesses from these fires, which can be all too common this time of year.
Judge Perkins Appears Before Flagler Commission in Recognition of Drug Court Support from County
Circuit Judge Terence Perkins made a rare appearance before the Flagler County Commission this morning to accept a proclamation marking Drug Court and “Problem-Solving Court Month,” introduce many of the administrative participants of drug court to commissioners, and, as long as he was at it, invite Commission Chairman Andy Dance to be the next Drug Court graduation speaker.
$27 Million Contract Awarded as 9-Month Dredging to Rebuild Beach North and South of Pier Starts in Weeks
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last week awarded a $27 million contract to a New Jersey company with extensive beach-rebuilding experience in Florida to rebuild 3.5 miles of severely eroded beach north and south of the Flagler Beach pier. The reconstruction starts in June. By the time the nine-month beach-reconstruction is done in March 2025, the beach will have grown in width by 140 to 180 feet with1.3 million cubic yards of sand. The work will be done 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Rev. Daisy Henry, ‘Matriarch of Bunnell’ and Determined Advocate for Carver Gym, Dies at 77
The Rev. Daisy Henry, a pastor, the former Bunnell City Commissioner and long-time advocate for South Bunnell and the Carver Center, died on Friday in Bunnell. Community members have been paying tribute to her tenacity and forthrightness through the years. She was 77.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, May 6, 2024
Hammock Community Association Meeting with Sheriff Staly and Cmdr. Ryan Emry, the Flagler County Commission meets, the Beverly Beach Town Commission meets, The Onion explains passive sentences.
18-Year-Old Man Shot in the Arm Near Flagler Beach Fire Station; Alleged Assailant at Large
An 18-year-old man was shot in the arm in the vicinity of the Flagler Beach Fire Department and taken to the hospital with the non-life-threatening injury this evening, Flagler Beach Police Chief Matt Doughney said. The assailant fled the city and is unknown and at large for now.
Ancient Rome Knew LGBTQ Rights Better Than the Catholic Church Ever Has
A Vatican declaration, the “Infinite Dignity,” opposes gender-affirming surgery and surrogacy. Yet even in the ancient Roman Empire, individuals could transgress traditional conceptions of gender roles in various ways. While Roman notions of femininity and masculinity were strict as regards clothing, for instance, there is evidence to suggest that individuals could and did breach these norms, although they were likely to be met with ridicule or scorn.
The Fear and Loathing Behind GOP’s Christian White Nationalism
MAGA adherents to Aryan tough-guy Jesus see America becoming less white and less Christian, so they’re freaking out, flailing around, breaking things — such as your right to control your own body, your right to read what you want, identify however you want, and love who you want.
Jacksonville Rep. Angie Nixon Stands With Pro-Palestine Protesters at UNF
For months, Jacksonville Democratic Rep. Angie Nixon has advocated for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. She has been labeled an antisemite for doing so, too. But last Tuesday she made an appearance at the pro-Palestine protest at the University of North Florida.
Reporters Without Borders Condemns Wave of Arrests and Violence Against Journalists Covering Campus Protests
Four journalists have been arrested by police and four others attacked in the course of covering university campus protests in the past week. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns this wave of arrests, criminal charges, and violence against journalists and urges law enforcement agencies and school administrators to protect and respect the rights of all journalists, including student media.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, May 5, 2024
The Palm Coast Songwriters Festival wraps up, ‘Hysteria,’ At Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre, ‘First Date,’ at St. Augustine’s Limelight Theatre, Ronald Reagan’s ill-advised visit to Bitburg cemetery and its SS in 1985.
The Supreme Court Cozies Up to Union-Busting in Starbucks Case
The global coffee shop chain is challenging the NLRB, the federal agency responsible for enforcing U.S. workers’ rights to organize, saying that the agency used the more labor-friendly of two available standards when it asked a federal court to order the company to reinstate workers at a Memphis, Tennessee, store who lost their jobs in 2022 amid a nationwide unionizing campaign.
Marco Rubio Auditioning for Trump’s Vice President
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio will be one of several names being tested for Trump’s vice president at a donor retreat at the Four Seasons in Palm Beach, where Trump will be “parading the top contenders for the slot in front of rich benefactors this weekend.”
Fund Mass Transit, Not Maddening Highways
For too long, policymakers have sold us the false choice that we must fund highways above all else. They continue to waste billions of our tax dollars on highway expansion projects that pollute our air and increase traffic, instead of funding sidewalks, safe biking routes, and robust public transportation options. This has resulted in a system where most people must drive for every trip to meet their daily needs. It doesn’t have to be this way.
Unquiet Silence: Inside a Jacksonville Abortion Clinic After Ban Kicks In
On Monday, almost 60 people came to A Woman’s Choice, a clinic in Jacksonville that offers abortion services. Half did so for their abortions, and half for the preliminary consults. A third were from somewhere other than Florida. The vast majority were past six weeks of pregnancy. By Wednesday morning, it was all over. Outside, half a dozen abortion opponents chanted prayers. Inside the clinic was quieter. The six-week ban had kicked in.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, May 4, 2024
Arbor Day in Palm Coast’s Central Park at Town Center, The Flagler Beach All Stars hold their monthly beach clean-up, Palm Coast Historical Society Speaker Series: Bob Kealing On How the Beatles Rocked Florida, ‘Hysteria,’ At Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre, math as god.
At Brendan Depa Sentencing, Prisons’ Mental Health Chief Draws Bizarrely Rosy Picture of Services Awaiting Him
To hear Suzonne Kline, chief of mental health at the Florida Department of Corrections, mental health services in Florida prisons are so extensive, so thorough, so attentive, you’d want to get imprisoned just to get a piece of them. She testified during the first portion of the sentencing hearing of Brendan Depa, the former Matanzas High School autistic student who pleaded to severely assaulting his teacher aide, and is facing the possibility of prison time. Kline’s testimony was a tactical success for the prosecution.
AI Imaging Scams and Spam
AI-generated content has become another “weird trick.” It’s visually appealing and cheap to produce, allowing scammers and spammers to generate high volumes of engaging posts. Much of the content is still clickbait: Shrimp Jesus makes people pause to gawk and inspires shares purely because it is so bizarre. Facebook is encouraging it.
Man, 24, Accused of Fabricating Stabbing by Homeless Person and Wasting Untold Hours of Sheriff’s Resources
Chase Rollins Mott, 24, claimed he was randomly stabbed by a homeless man at a trailer park near Tomoka Marine on State Road 100. But No homeless person had attacked him, and there’d been no random assailant. He had done it to himself and fabricated or dissimulated the rest, while using up enormous law enforcement and public safety resources over a 10-day investigation. All along, Mott was on probation–and was violating his probation at the time of the alleged incident.
Flagler Sheriff’s Employees and Volunteers Recognized by Military, AmeriCorps and Points of Light
On Tuesday, April 30, members of the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) were presented with multiple prestigious awards recognizing FCSO’s support of service members and volunteers.
Flagler Court’s Chris France and Melissa Distler Among Slew of Robes Retained Without Opposition
Circuit Judge Chris France, who oversees civil and family court in Flagler County, and County Judge Melissa Distler, who was first elected in 2012, were both re-elected–or retained–without opposition.
DeSantis Signs Bill Censoring Teacher Training Programs, Saying It Will Prohibit Their ‘Indoctrination’
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed bills that include seeking to prevent “indoctrination” in teacher-training programs and beginning to allow credit unions to hold state money. The teacher-training bill (HB 1291) was one of the most-controversial education issues of this year’s legislative session, which ended March 8. It seeks to prevent “identity politics” from being included in teacher-preparation programs at colleges and universities.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, May 3, 2024
First Friday in Flagler Beach, ‘Hysteria,’ At Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre, Free Family Art Night at Ormond Memorial Art Museum and Gardens, the serendipity of afterlives.
What Student Protesters Want
The protesters are demanding divestment, meaning the sale of financial assets either related to Israeli companies or shares in other corporations perceived to assist the Israeli military. In addition, many protests include calls for the disclosure of those financial ties. They also feature demands for colleges and universities to distance themselves from Israel by ending study-abroad programs and academic exchanges.
As Splash Pad Reconstruction Continues, Holland Park Playground and and Part of Parking Close a Few Days
The playground area and portions of the parking lot at Holland Park will close the first half of next week, from May 6 to May 8, to accommodate the continuing $3 million reconstruction of the splash pad at the park. Meanwhile, the city’s lawsuit against a slew of contractors is heading for a trial in late summer.
When Is Punishment Enough for a Predator? A Child Rapist Makes His Case to End Probation, and Loses.
Lawrence William Morton, formerly of Flagler Beach, served 20 years in prison and five on probation for sex crimes against six minors. He appeared before a judge Monday, seeking to end his probation five years early, as the law allows, arguing that he’s been a model probationer. The judge denied the motion in a case broadly illustrative of recurring requests by sex offenders and predators, and dilemmas faced by the court and prosecutors.
15-Year-Old Palm Coast Boy Critical After Electric Bike Collision with Pick-Up on Laramie and Lakeview
A 15-year-old Palm Coast adolescent was in critical condition Wednesday evening after a pick-up truck collided with the electric bike the 15 year old was riding as he crossed the intersection at Lakeview Boulevard and Laramie Drive in north Palm Coast.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, May 2, 2024
National Day of Prayer, National Day of Prayer Protest, ‘First Date,’ at St. Augustine’s Limelight Theatre, paint-names by numbers, what we can learn from whales’ very small eyes.
Florida Joins GOP Lawsuit to Kill Federal Protections for Transgender Students
Republican State Attorney General Ashley Moody has enlisted Florida in multi-state litigation challenging new Biden administration regulations protecting transgender people from discrimination in schools, colleges, and universities.