As an independent investigation into employee complaints against Wadsworth Elementary Principal Paul Peacock concluded, Peacock’s name was absent from the list of administrators to be reappointed next year, raising speculation about his fate. The school board attorney said the list is not complete.
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Flagler’s Property Values Still Rose Robustly, Continuing Potential Windfall For Local Governments
Property values didn’t rise as sharply this year as they did in 2022. But the increase is still the second-highest in 16 years, generating substantial new revenue for local government budgets.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, May 31, 2023
Weekly Chess Club for Teens at the county library, Separation Chat by the Atlantic Chapter of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, where has Clint Eastwood been, when Keith Jarrett trashed Wynton Marsalis.
A Former Nun’s Account of Abuse and Brainwashing
“Any thoughts of escaping to a more natural life was regarded as being sinful. The idea of being unfaithful to your vocation was a step on the way to hell. It would be a mortal sin.” So spoke the author’s mother, 15 when she entered a convent in Ireland in 1950 and 34 by the time she finally managed to leave.
Voters Approved an Amendment For Racial Equity in Districts. DeSantis Wants It Ignored.
A lawsuit filed by voting-rights groups focuses a Jacksonville-area district that helped elect Black Democrat Al Lawson until a DeSantis plan redrew it and installed two white Republicans instead. Now DeSantis is asking a court to ignore a 2010 constitutional amendment requiring “Fair Districts.”
Palm Coast’s Belk Converted Into One of 16 Outlet Stores as Company Struggles
Belk has converted its Palm Coast location on Cypress Edge Drive into an off-price outlet store and will host a grand opening on June 3. The outlet has been opened as such since May 16. The retailer itself has been struggling.
Flagler Replaces Confusing Letter-Based Evacuation Zones With Neighborhood Names as Hurricane Season Begins
As the 2023 hurricane season begins–with a forecast of 12 to 17 named storms–Flagler County’s Evacuation Zones A and B and C are a thing of the past, replaced by a more intuitive, neighborhood-named system. Emergency Management Director Jonathan Lord previewed the season and a few changes ahead.
Upside of Unrequited Survives Book Ban at FPC, But 57% of Challenged Titles Were Removed From Flagler Schools This Year
A Flagler Palm Coast High School committee of faculty and residents voted 7-0 to keep Becky Albertalli’s The Upside of Unrequited on high school library shelves. It was the last challenge of the year by just three individuals, who had filed 44 challenges to 22 titles, succeeding in having 12 of them removed.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, May 30, 2023
Flagler Palm Coast High and Matanzas High School graduations, docket sounding in court, the Newseum’s demise and its last exhibit, on LGBTQ rights, as Target caves to the fanatics, the poisons of Alex Jones’s algorithms.
Should the Paleo Diet Go Back to the Cave It Came From?
The Paleo Diet urges us to mimic our prehistoric ancestors’ food choices. In practice, this means eschewing dairy products, cereals, pulses and processed sugar, and consuming vegetables, fruit, nuts, pasture-raised meat and wild-caught seafood instead. Clinical research has yet to substantiate its purported health benefits.
I’m Almost 67, I Worked 22 Years With Walmart, Yet Can’t Afford to Retire
Our tax laws shouldn’t protect giant CEO retirement accounts when my coworkers and I can’t afford to save at all: even after 22 years of working for Walmart, our nation’s largest employer, I can’t afford to retire any time soon.
Florida Man Vandalizes 13-Foot Bunny Sculpture With His Car
A 49 year old man last week intentionally drove his car into Thunderbunny, a 14 ft blue mosaic bunny sculpture, just days after it was erected at Justin Flippen Park in Wilton Manors, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, May 29, 2023
Palm Coast and county government hold Memorial Day ceremonies at 8 and 10 a.m., Walt Whitman on soldiers in battle, looking at Vermeer anew.
Remembering Martin Amis
Martin Amis, pre-eminent novelist-critic of his generation, has died at the age of 73. His dazzling, pyrotechnic prose dominated the world of English writing from the mid-1970s through the fin de siècle.
A Memorial Month for Our Rights
Tuesday begins a month of memorial days as we watch our Supreme Court continue to roll back those very rights soldiers died for, trampling them more effectively than any enemy foreign or, for the most part, domestic, ever has.
World’s Tallest Digital US Flag Lights Up Miami Skyline for Memorial Day
The world’s tallest digital American flag coupled with the world’s most enormous electronic “Uncle Sam” image are lighting-up the South Florida skyline this Memorial Day weekend, at the 60-story Paramount Miami Worldcenter skyscraper, in downtown Miami.
A Trans Teen No Longer Feels Welcome in Florida. So She Left.
Josie moved more than a thousand miles from St. Augustine — and her parents — to start a new life in Rhode Island to escape a state where Gov. Ron DeSantis and the GOP Legislature politicized and passed policies that de-legitimize and demonize trans people.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, May 28, 2023
Palm Coast Farmers’ Market at European Village, the Ron DeSantis legislative scorecard, “Shenandoah,” the anonymous traditional, for brass, Willa Cather’s “Double Birthday.”
The Colorado River Wins a Reprieve. Now the Hard Part.
Arizona, California and Nevada have narrowly averted a regional water crisis by agreeing to reduce their use of Colorado River water over the next three years. This deal represents a temporary solution to a long-term crisis. Nonetheless, it’s an important win for the region.
Gun Groups Perpetuate Militia Myth to Keep Whatever Arms They Dream Of
This idea of the average American stockpiling an arsenal seems rather quaint when compared to the military and the taxpayer funded arsenal we’ve allowed the government to develop. It’s kind of like putting up a macaroni collage right next to the Monet.
Flagler Open Arms Recovery Services Receives Recovery Leadership Award
Flagler Open Arms Recovery Services (Flagler OARS) is pleased to announce that the organization was recognized with a Recovery Leadership Award this month in St. Pete Beach at the Floridians for Recovery Leadership Summit 2023.
Palm Coast’s Darryl Boyer, Running for Renner’s Seat, Appears on Fox & Friends to Talk Trump/DeSantis
Darryl Boyer, the youngest emerging face of Flagler County’s Republican Party and a candidate for the Florida House seat held by Paul Renner in the 2024 election, was a guest this morning on Fox & Friends Weekend, his second appearance in four weeks on the show.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, May 27, 2023
The City of Palm Coast Public Works Department hosts its Touch-a-Truck event, Gamble Jam, Rachel Carson and the sense of childhood wonder.
The Supreme Court Just Plundered Wetlands Protection
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in Sackett v. EPA that federal protection of wetlands encompasses only those wetlands that directly adjoin rivers, lakes and other bodies of water. This is an extremely narrow interpretation of the Clean Water Act that could expose many wetlands across the U.S. to filling and development.
Flagler Sheriff’s Sgt. Breckwoldt, In Charge of Narcotics Unit, at Center of Abuse of Power Allegation
Sgt. Michael Breckwoldt, a 20-year veteran of the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office and the supervisor of its narcotics unit, is at the center of an allegation that he had a physical altercation with a bar patron and flaunted and abused his power while drunk at a Flagler Beach bar early this morning, claiming he runs the town.
State Urges Justices to Reject Arguments Seeking to Blocking Duane Owen Killing
Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office Thursday urged the Florida Supreme Court to reject arguments aimed at blocking the scheduled execution next month of Death Row inmate Duane Owen.
He Was Convinced the School Board Was Pushing “Transgender BS.” He Was Arrested. And Emboldened.
A parent had grievances to air about library books “trying to convert kids to gay,” and about mask and vaccine mandates. So he joined an activist group and headed to a school board meeting. This story explores how school board meetings across the country are fomenting conflicts and controversies that have led to violence and arrests.
Flagler County’s Local Government Leadership Academy Graduates 13 Professionals
Thirteen executives, managers and professionals from a half dozen local government agencies graduated from the Flagler County Local Government Leadership Academy at a special ceremony at the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Operations Center last week.
Peggy Border, For 17 Years Flagler’s Exact and Far-Seeing Elections Supervisor, Dies at 78
Peggy Rae Border, who ran the Flagler County Supervisor of Elections office for 17 years with foresight and meticulousness to great acclaim, died on Tuesday surrounded by family, following a long illness. She had been living locally at an assisted living facility for the last few months, and was 78.
(Redirected) Daylong July 4 Celebration in Flagler Beach, Then Fireworks at County Airport
Independence Day celebrations on July 4 will be a cross-county affair, stretching from Flagler Beach with the parade and daylong events there, then shifting to the county airport for evening ceremonies and the fireworks over the runways. Parking options are detailed.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, May 26, 2023
The Scenic A1A Pride Committee meets, the Blue 22 Forum meets, The Economist asks whether DeSantis can beat Trump, book-banners’ deepest fears.
Life Is Cheaper in Red States. But People Die Younger.
More and more Americans are moving from Democratic-leaning blue states to Republican-voting red ones, and one of the effects of this change is that they are relocating to places with lower life expectancy.
Mistrial: Jury Deadlocks in Teron Trial On Rape Charges, Questioning Where Crime Took Place
A 12-member jury this evening deadlocked in Monserrate Teron’s trial on charges that he raped his 7-year-old niece at his Palm Coast home in 2019. Absent a plea, which he has previously turned down, or the victim’s decision not to testify again, the Army veteran and nurse will be tried again.
Sheriff Increases Motors Unit Staffing to Address Traffic Violations
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office has increased its Motors Unit staffing from five to eight deputies in an effort to address the traffic quality of life in the community.
Palm Coast Fines Waste Pro $125 For Every Recycling Bins It’s Taking Back and Threatens Litigation
Waste Pro, in its final week as Palm Coast’s garbage hauler, is driving through neighborhoods and taking back the recycling bins it freely provided residents over the years. The city is considering litigation, and fining the company for every bin it claims.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, May 25, 2023
The Monserrate Teron trial enters its fourth day, the Flagler Beach City Commission meets, Tina Turner, loving the internet.
Detention Facility Wins 2023 American Jail Association’s Innovation Award
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office’s Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility (SPHIDF) has been awarded the 2023 Innovation Award for medium-sized facilities by the American Jail Association.
DeSantis from Governor’s Mansion to Presidential Run
Now that Gov. Ron DeSantis has filled out the federal paperwork to officially become a 2024 candidate for president of the United States, here’s a chronicle of the trajectory of DeSantis’ tenure, from moving into the governor’s mansion on Jan. 8, 2019, to a presidential run, as compiled by the Florida Phoenix.
China’s Hypersonic Missiles May End America’s Pacific Supremacy
China’s newest hypersonic missile, the DF-27, can fly as far as Hawaii, penetrate U.S. missile defenses and pose a particular threat to U.S. aircraft carriers. This capability threatens to shift the strategic balance of power and leave the U.S. with limited options for assisting Taiwan in the event China invades.
A Shattering Day for Teron’s Trial on Child Rape Charges as 2 Other Alleged Victims Make Similar Accusations
The prosecution in the trial of Monserrate Teron, 59, rested Wednesday after a series of setbacks for the defense, including two adult women who testified that Teron had done to them, when they were 7 or 8, what he is accusing of doing to a 7-year-old girl in palm Coast in 2019. He faces life in prison if convicted.
Florida Will Publish Annual Index of Books Banned or Challenged in Schools
The State Board of Education on Wednesday approved a new rule that will lead to Florida officials publishing an annual list of library books and instructional materials that have drawn public objections, in a move that the board’s chairman said will “provide transparency for our families.”
On Flagler Schools’ Ban List: The Upside of Unrequited, a Review and a Recommendation
Becky Albertalli’s “The Upside of Unrequited,” about a fat girl’s desperate quest for a date after 26 unrequited crushes, is one of 22 titles on Flagler’s ban list, and the last to be considered by a school-based committee at FPC on Thursday.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, May 24, 2023
The Monserrate Teron trial enters its third day, Separation Chat, Veterans Creative Expression Workshop, Open Discussion Neil Gorsuch’s skewed perspective on civil liberties.
DeSantis Names Meredith Sasso, Another Federalist Society Apostle, to Supreme Court
Continuing to mold a conservative Florida Supreme Court, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday named Meredith Sasso, another Federalist Society faithful, to succeed former Justice Ricky Polston, who stepped down in March.
Daytona Area Home Sales And Prices Are Falling
Home sales continued to cool down across the Daytona Beach area during April, along with the median home sales price.
Biden’s About Consensus. America Is Increasingly Divided. Can He Win Again?
Joe Biden is arguably a provisional figure, and the prospect of his continuing tenure in office demonstrates that the U.S. has not yet moved on from the chaos generated by Donald Trump’s 2016 election.
11 Year Old Tells Jury Her Uncle Raped Her ‘Multiple Times’; Defense Fails to Impeach Her Credibility
In the trial of Monserrate Teron, accused of raping his 7-year-old girl niece in Palm Coast in 2019, the alleged victim, now 11, testified today, as did her mother, in a powerful day for the prosecution. The defense tried but failed to undercut the girl’s credibility.
In Seminole Woods, 42 Acres of Greenbelt Are Converted to Allow 180-Home Subdivision
The Palm Coast City Council last week approved rezoning 42 acres of greenbelt-designated land to make room for a 180-home single-family residential development that will expand the built-out footprint of Seminole Woods.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, May 23, 2023
The Teron trial enters its second day, the Palm Coast City Council begins its budget overviews, Robert Caro on the New York Public Library, Alberto Manguel on the library of Alexandria.
Trans Joy and Family Bonds: What Media and Divisive Legislation Miss
Drawing on the success of movements like the Black Joy Project, which uses art to promote Black healing and community-building, trans activists are challenging one-dimensional depictions of their community by highlighting the unique joys of being transgender.