The Flagler County Commission Monday unanimously rejected a proposal to rezone an acre of Hammock property along State Road A1A to more intensive commercial uses. The commission, siding with Hammock residents, found the proposal vague in its designs for the property, at odds with the Scenic A1A overlay, and at risk of setting a precedent that would potentially damage or demolish the road’s character.
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Superintendent LaShakia Moore’s $175,000 Salary Is Significantly Less Than a Predecessor’s, When Adjusted
The four-year contract with Superintendent LaShakia Moore the Flagler County School Board is ratifying tonight calls for less compensation than that awarded the two other executive of the county’s largest governments, even though Flagler schools have more employees than both combined, and it is less, in adjusted numbers, than the starting pay of Bill Delbrugge, who in 2005 became superintendent, like Moore, without previous such experience.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, October 17, 2023
The school board holds a pair of meetings and will consider firing or reassigning its attorney and awarding a contract to its new superintendent, the Palm Coast City Council meets, it’s Food Truck Tuesday, more trains and deep-sea peeking.
Revenge Is Poor Strategy. Israel Needs Only Ask the U.S.
In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks by al-Qaida on the United States, President George W. Bush made an expansive pledge to end terrorism. It didn’t work out so well. As Israel pursues its response to the Hamas attack, the Israeli government would be well advised to remember the past two decades of often indecisive warfare conducted by both the United States and Israel against insurgent and terrorist groups.
Matanzas Brawl Was Long Simmering: Parents Had Alerted the School and Sought Mediation, To No Avail
The Matanzas High School brawl last week did not occur out of nowhere. According to eight of the parents involved, several of them had been warning the school administration of problems well before, asking for a series of measures, all neglected or turned down outright by the administration, to an apparently unaware principal, Kristin Bozeman, who would tell several of the parents that she was unaware of the issues until the day of the brawl.
21-Year-Old Palm Coast Woman Is Killed in Single-Vehicle Crash on Unlit Old Kings Road
A 21-year-old Palm Coast woman driving alone was killed in a single-vehicle crash on an unlit portion of Old Kings Road shortly before midnight Sunday. It was the 17th fatality on Flagler County roads this year.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, October 16, 2023
The Flagler County Commission considers a car wash on A1A, “The Zoo Story” and “White Rabbit Red Rabbit,” Bundling in Puritan New England–and in book-banning.
Laws of Combat in the Latest Palestine-Israel War
The killing of Israeli civilians by Hamas and retaliatory airstrikes on the densely populated Gaza Strip by Israel raises numerous issues under international law. President Joe Biden said that that while democracies like the U.S. and Israel uphold such standards, “terrorists” such as Hamas “purposefully target civilians.” But the European Union’s top diplomat said that Israel was not acting in accordance with international law by cutting water, electricity and food to civilians in Gaza.
Drag Shows Can Go On in Florida: Court Rejects Ban
It’s OK to take in a drag show in Florida — a federal appeals court has upheld a block on enforcement of Florida’s anti-drag law against any entertainment venue in the state.
Nat Adderley Jr. Performs for NEFJA’s Scholarship Concert Supper on Oct. 29
The North East Florida Jazz Association (NEFJA) is proud to announce that the Nat Adderley Jr. Quartet featuring internationally acclaimed Jazz pianist, bandleader, producer and arranger Nat Adderley, Jr. will be performing a concert at NEFJA’s 20th annual Jeep McCoy Memorial Scholarship Concert Supper, Sunday, October 29 at the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach.
Florida’s Matt Gaetz: Jerkiness In a Class By Himself
As Sen. Lindsey Graham once remarked, “If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict you.” You could probably murder Matt Gaetz in the House chamber and receive a standing ovation.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, October 15, 2023
“The Zoo Story” and “White Rabbit Red Rabbit” at City Repertory Theatre, Wyoming’s Snow Chi Minh Trail, John McPhee on John McPhee, and the Grand Tetons.
Strength Training Is Your Hedge Against Steep Physical Decline in Old Age
Prioritizing physical fitness and health as you get older can help you go through your normal day-to-day routine without feeling physically exhausted at the end of the day. It can also help you continue to have special memories with your family and loved ones that you might not have been able to have if you weren’t physically active.
22nd Annual Tommy Tant Memorial Surf Classic Is Oct. 27-29
What began in memory of Tommy Tant-a local surfer who, at age 24, passed away from an aortic aneurysm -has grown into a beloved event that celebrates the bond of family, friendship, and the surf culture he loved. With several events taking place in Flagler Beach the weekend of October 27-29, it will prove to be a time of fun for the youngest ‘tadpoles’ to the oldest in the master’s.
Local Newspapers Are Disappearing, But Don’t Romanticize Their Role Too Much
Taking one newspaper’s history as a prism, local newspapers didn’t always fulfill their watchdog role, lavishing attention on their community sometimes with a paternalism that chose to conceal problems and fostering a certain coziness with the area’s power players. Boosterism and conflicts of interest occasionally interfered with telling the full story.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, October 14, 2023
Smokin’ at the House at the Flagler Woman’s Club, Selina Hernandez of the Flagler Education Foundation at the AAUW lunch, the Economist on Hamas, Herbert Spencer on the evolution of societies away from war.
Gaza’s Desperation
International aid groups now face the same problem in Gaza that local businesses and residents have encountered for about 16 years: a blockade that prevents civilians and items, like medicine from easily moving into or out of the enclosed area, roughly 25 miles long. That 16-year blockade did not apply to the food and fuel that groups brought in to Gaza. Now, it does.
Flagler Beach Increases Water, Sewer, Garbage and Stormwater Fees 8%, Swelling Monthly Bills By $8.15
After an 8.5 percent increase last year, the Flagler Beach City Commission Thursday unanimously approved an 8 percent increase in water, sewer, garbage-collection and stormwater rates starting on Halloween–an apparently unintentional spook–with a smaller, 3.5 percent increase next year.
The city is estimating the the average water bill for residents will increase by $8.15 a month, to $110, or by $102 for the year.
Teacher’s Alert Leads to Palm Coast’s Man’s Arrest on Web-Casting Obscenity to Kids
Allan P. Avellan, who allegedly told his children he could get in trouble for it, was arrested and charged with a third-degree felony of distributing obscene materials to minors after twice casting explicit videos from his phone to a television screen where his children and their friends were hanging out. Three days later, William Naughton, 26, was arrested on the same charge for flashing girls in the Target parking lot with his phone.
8 Years in Prison for Connor Anderson, Who ‘Terrorized’ Smiles Bar Patrons in Shooting
Connor Anderson, the 31-year-old man who wrestled with the Smiles Nite Club bartender and others and fired his gun six times inside the bar last November, was sentenced to eight years in prison, followed by five years on probation, after a sentencing hearing where Anderson described himself as disgusted with his act.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, October 13, 2023
Two sentencings in felony court, LGBTQ+ Night at Flagler Beach’s Coquina Coast, the “ReAwaken America Tour brings us back to Richard Hofstadter’s Paranoid Style in American Politics, Friday the 13th.
Banning Supervised Drug Injection Sites for Addicts Does More Harm Than Good
While much of the political discourse surrounding the ban of supervised injection sites has focused on protecting neighborhoods where drug activity happens in parks and on the streets, ample evidence suggests that banning supervised injection sites may instead jeopardize the people and communities the policy was intended to protect.
Palm Coast Tornado Confirmed, ‘Multiple, Severely Damaged Homes’ in B-Section, Some Homeless
Flagler County Emergency Management and other first responders are investigating a tornado touching down in Palm Coast’s B Section around 4:45 this morning, leaving a trail of downed trees, downed power lines, damaged roofs, fencing and power losses. There are no reports of injuries.
City Repertory Theatre’s Double Bill of Dares: Albee’s ‘Zoo Story,’ and an Unpredictable ‘Rabbit’
“White Rabbit Red Rabbit” will be staged with no rehearsals, no director, no set and performed over four nights by four different actors who will have never before read the script. Also on the double-bill, Edward Albee’s very first play, “The Zoo Story,” making it one of City Repertory Theatre’s more daring evenings.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, October 12, 2023
The Flagler Beach City Commission meets, Luíseach Nic Eoin, Senior Editor at Nature Ecology and Evolution, is the featured speaker at Whitney’s lecture series, innocent lives lost.
Claudia Goldin’s Nobel Prize
The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics has been awarded to 90 men since 1969 and just three women. The third woman to win the prize, distinguished Harvard labor economist Claudia Goldin, was honored on Oct. 9, 2023, for her decades of work studying the gender pay gap. It wasn’t a victory just for her but for women in the field.
Ex-Matanzas Student Brendan Depa Will Plead Out in Teacher-Assault Case, Leaving His Fate to a Judge
Brendan Depa, the former Matanzas High School student who drew global attention and a first-degree felony charge as an adult after a video of his assault on a paraprofessional circulated, will plead out, avoiding a trial. But he will also be taking the risk of a steep sentence.
Monserrate Teron Is Sentenced to Life in Prison for Raping His Niece as Child’s Mother Describes a Family Wrecked
Monserrate Teron, the former Army nurse a jury last July found guilty of raping his 7-year-old niece, was sentenced this morning to two life terms, plus 30 years on an additional charge. Teron turns 60 in two weeks. The victim’s mother described to the court the day-to-day of her daughters’ harrowing lives since, accusing a large part of Teron’s family as “enablers.” That side of the family again today insisted that Teron is innocent.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, October 11, 2023
Palm Coast’s Imagine 2050 Community Engagement Session at the Community Center, Monserrate Teron, found guilty of abusing his niece, is sentenced, Brendan Depa is in court for a pre-trial, Salman Rushdie on Prozac Nation.
Eyeless in Gaza: A Key to Understanding This War
How did Gaza become one of the most densely populated parts of the planet? And why is it the home to militant Palestinian action now? Understanding the answers to those questions provides crucial historical context to the current violence.
11 Matanzas High School Students Face Arrest for Fighting, Three on Felony Charges
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office filed charges against 11 Matanzas High School students on Monday following a brawl that involved students hitting each other, landing a punch on a teacher, attacking an administrator and resisting a deputy. It is the largest mass arrest at the school since it opened in the fall of 2005.
What Does Palm Coast Hope to Be ‘When We Grow Up’? City Launches 14-Month Plan to Listen and Respond
What should Palm Coast look like in 2050? City Hall today kicked off a 14-month process to answer that question, to do so by engaging as many residents as possible as inclusively as possible along the way, ending with a document that will re-imagines the city’s blueprint as its residents want it to be at mid-century. The result of that exercise will be a complete re-write of the city’s “Comprehensive Plan,” the first since 2004.
School Board Members’ Questions to Outside Counsel Reveal Worry of Lawsuit If They Fire Their Attorney
Three Flagler County School Board members have submitted nine questions to two attorneys the board hired for at least $5,000 to examine how it could fire Board Attorney Kristy Gavin without getting sued. The board members wrote the questions and circulated them outside of a public meeting. The questions had not been disclosed publicly until this article.
In Lawsuit Settlement DeSantis Administration Will Stop Censoring Covid Death Counts and Vaccinations
The DeSantis administration has agreed to release years of previously suppressed data about Covid’s spread in Florida to settle a lawsuit filed by a former state House member, a government openness group, and news organizations. The Florida Department of Health will resume posting on its website details of vaccination counts, case counts, and deaths weekly by county, age group, gender, and race in the future.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, October 10, 2023
The Palm Coast City Council meets in workshop, then again in a special workshop with its planning board to talk about Imagine 2050, the next comprehensive plan, Donna Tartt’s Goldfinch, swimming in the Seine.
Israel-Hamas War: No Matter Who Loses, Iran Wins
Analysts are suggesting that Tehran’s fingerprints can be seen on the surprise attack on Israel. At the very least, Iran’s leaders have reacted to the assault with encouragement and support.
16-Year-Old Student Arrested for Biting Her Teacher at Matanzas High School
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Friday arrested a 16-year-old student at Matanzas High School after the teen got into a physical altercation with another student and bit a school staff member who was attempting to break up the fight.
Don O’Brien Said to Consider Dropping Out of House Race, Pam Richardson Runs for County Commission
Darryl Boyer, one of three Republican candidates in the primary for the state House seat that Paul Renner is relinquishing in 2024, said today that Donald O’Brien, one of the other two competitors for that seat, told him he was likely dropping out of the race. At the same time, Pam Richardson, the Realtor-broker, has joined the Republican primary race for O’Brien’s Commission seat, also contested by Ed Danko and Victor Barbosa.
Flagler’s Family Life Center Nets $26,000 from Creekside Festival Donation as 10,000 Turn Out
Last weekend’s edition of the Creekside Music and Arts Festival at Princess Place Preserve made up for last year’s, when Hurricane Ian made the park impassable and forced the event to move to the Agriculture Museum. The two-day event drew 10,000 people and netted the Family Life center a $26,000 donation from Flagler Broadcasting, which organized the event.
Judge Orders One Final Mediation in Hopes of Averting Trial in Captain’s BBQ Suit Against County
The Flagler County Commission met behind closed doors for the first time in over three years this morning to discuss a possible settlement of the four-year-old lawsuit by Captain’s BBQ at Bings Landing. The judge in the case ordered the two sides again to go to mediation to avoid a January trial. Mediation and an attempted settlement that made significant concessions to Captain’s in 2020 failed as commissioners rejected the proposal.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, October 9, 2023
The Flagler County Commission meets behind closed doors to talk litigation, the Bunnell City Commission meets, debating Columbus.
Branson, Missouri’s Lesson to Live Theater ‘In Crisis’
American live theater, especially regional, non-profit theater, is on the verge of collapse. One place to look for ideas is the tourist town of Branson, Missouri. Scholars and theater critics have ignored this mecca of live entertainment that attracts millions of people a year, largely because of its reputation for cheesy performances and political conservatism.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, October 8, 2023
Palm Coast’s and AdventHealth’s Pink on Parade 5k Run/Walk in Town Center, Creekside Music and Arts Festival, the determinism of 2+2=4, Daniel Boorstin on Charlie Rose and pseudo-events.
Serenity Now: Meet Jon Fosse, Winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature
Despite having been in the running for the award for a number of years, Fosse, as with several other 21st century European laureates like Elfriede Jelinek and the controversial Peter Handke, is still largely unknown in the English-speaking world. Fosse’s massive literary oeuvre includes roughly 40 plays as well as novels, poetry collections, essays, children’s books and translations.
In Florida, Surgeon General Normalizes Medical Quackery
In 2021, when Ron DeSantis brought the Quack Ladapo to Florida, it was like returning to a simpler, much stupider time, when docs prescribed drinking a little ground unicorn horn mixed with water as a cure for the plague. Or if you were fresh out of unicorns (or the virgins you need to catch them), you could always try chicken butt.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, October 7, 2023
Creekside Music and Arts Festival today and tomorrow, Monthly Volunteer Clean-Up Day at the Florida Agriculture Museum, Maze Dayz Fall Festival, Stetson Choral Festival, housing prices, Víkingur Ólafsson’s new Goldberg Variations.
Narges Mohammadi Wins the Nobel Peace Prize on Behalf of Millions of Iranian Women
Prominent Iranian women’s rights advocate Narges Mohammadi has won the 2023 Nobel peace prize for her long fight against the oppression of women in Iran. Mohammadi is serving multiple prison sentences in Evin prison in Tehran on charges which include spreading propaganda against the state.
State Attorney’s Jason Lewis, Near-Invincible Prosecutor, Wins 7th Judicial Circuit’s Lifetime Achievement Award
Assistant State Attorney Jason Lewis, a ferocious, annihilating prosecutor who’s as genial outside the courtroom as he is fearsome inside it, since 2014 has managed the Flagler outpost of the State Attorney’s Office and oversees its homicide attorneys in the four-county Seventh Judicial Circuit.
Before Her Leap Off the Flagler Beach Bridge, Untouched Drinks and a Purse Left Behind
The Flagler Beach Police Department identified the woman who jumped from the Flagler Beach bridge Wednesday afternoon and survived as Mandy Michelle Mincey, a 47-year-old woman with no reported home. She was also known as Mandy Monroe. Earlier that day she had been at a bar and had ordered drinks, but left them untouched as she ran to the bridge.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, October 6, 2023
First Friday in Flagler Beach, the Nobel Peace Prize is announced, Stetson Choral Festival, the John Marchi-John Lindsey mayoral race and that Lloyd Bentsen-Dan Quayle moment.