The Constitution does not require that the president be free from indictment, conviction or prison. But an indictment, conviction or both – let alone a prison sentence – would significantly compromise a president’s ability to function in office. The Constitution doesn’t provide an easy answer to the problem posed by such a compromised chief executive.
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School Committee Votes 6-0 to Keep Looking For Alaska as Superintendent Bans Nowhere Girls
John Green’s “Looking for Alaska” skated this afternoon to a Matanzas High School review committee’s 6-0 vote for retention, rebuffing a challenge to the book. It was the second book decision in a day in the Flagler district, the third in a week, counting Tuesday’s vote by the school board to retain Patricia McCormick’s “Sold.”
Trump Is Indicted
A New York criminal grand jury has indicted former President Donald Trump. A former president has never been indicted before. Members of Congress quickly began to react, along partisan lines.
Sheriff Launches Voluntary Surveillance Camera Registry Tapping Private Homes, Businesses and Agencies
The camera registry is an online portal for citizens to register their security cameras in order to help solve crimes in the community. The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office is hoping that citizens will register their cameras and help create a community-wide public safety ecosystem.
Skirting Ban, FPC Committee Votes to ‘Weed’ Tilt, With Same Result: the Book Is Removed
A seven-member committee reviewing a challenge of Ellen Hopkins’s “Tilt” unanimously voted this morning to remove the book from circulation at the Flagler Palm Coast High School library, but not on challenged grounds. The committee found the book did not meet criteria to be banned, but met criteria to be “weeded,” as outdated.
Tenure No Longer Tenure in Florida As University Board Rules for 5-Year Reviews
The state university system’s Board of Governors on Wednesday gave final approval to a regulation that would require faculty members to undergo post-tenure reviews every five years, amid heavy opposition from critics who argued it could lead to a “downward trend in morale” on campus.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, March 30, 2023
A pair of school-based committees decide the fate of John Green’s “Looking for Alaska” and Ellen Hopkins’s “Tilt,” a sex offender pleads out, another seeks a modification to his probation, how Florida doesn’t trust its teachers.
Against Baseball’s New Pitch Clock
The Major League Baseball executives who restlessly tinker with the rules in an effort to speed up the game are doing so less as its reliable custodians and more as marketers. Why else would they have adopted the new pitch clock rule?
Challenged in Flagler Schools: John Green’s Looking For Alaska, a Review and a Recommendation
John Green’s “Looking for Alaska,” a novel of adolescence, friendship, loyalty and misjudgments, is among the 22 books so far this school year that a trio of individuals have sought to ban from high school library shelves. A committee meets on March 30 at 3 p.m. at Matanzas High School to decide whether to retain it or ban it.
Walmart in Palm Coast Evacuated After It Was Target of a Bomb Threat
The Walmart store at 174 Cypress Point Parkway in Palm Coast was evacuated of customers and employees this afternoon after it was the target of a bomb threat called in around 4:40 p.m.
School Board Denies Paul Peacock’s Grievance Appeal in Skirmish Over Larger Power Struggle
The grievance is a skirmish in a larger power struggle over the superintendent’s future. That struggle continues, with Peacock, school board members and now the local chamber of commerce all having played or still seeking to play a role in the board’s impending decision on whether to renew Superintendent Cathy Mittelstadt’s contract.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Separation Chat, Open Discussion, Weekly Chess Club for Teens at the public library, an excerpt from Patricia McCormick’s “Sold.”
Body Language Books Get It Wrong
Reading body language can be a useful skill in understanding how someone is feeling or what they might be thinking. But it’s important to remember that it’s not an exact science and there can be cultural or individual variations in how people express themselves through body language.
Flagler School Board Keeps Sold on School Library Shelves in Unprecedented 3-2 Vote
The Flagler County School Board this evening voted 3-2 to keep “Sold,” the novel in verse by Patricia McCormick, on the shelves of Flagler County school’s high school libraries. The novel is written from the perspective of a 13-year-old girl trafficked to a prostitution house in India.
School Board Uncomfortable with Arming Classroom Teachers, But Not Other Campus Staffers
A majority of school board members today said that, while not opposed to arming school staffers, they would be uncomfortable with arming classroom teachers, as opposed to staffers or administrators beyond individual classrooms.
DeSantis Lowers Flags in Response to Tennessee School Shooting as Lenient Gun Laws Move in Legislature
The gesture by Gov. Ron DeSantis comes as the Florida Legislature debates controversial bills that would allow any adult to carry a deadly weapon without having to register with the state or undergo firearms training.
Appeal to Supreme Court for Stay of Gaskin Execution Cites FlaglerLive Article on Juror’s Reversal
Among other arguments, Gaskin’s lawyers cite a March 15 FlaglerLive article in which Janet Valentine, one of the 12 jurors at Gaskin’s 1990 trial, saying she regrets being part of the 8-4 votes recommending his death. Valentine would go on to be Flagler County’s school superintendent between 2010 and 2014.
Trials of Circle K Murder Suspects, Derrius Bauer and Marcus Chamblin, May Not Be Until Next Year
Layers for the defense and the prosecution told Circuit Judge Terence Perkins this morning that they may not be ready for the trial of Derrius Bauer, one of two suspects in the October 2019 killing of Deon O’Neal Jenkins, known as the Circle K murder, until next January.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, March 28, 2023
The Flagler County School Board decides the fate of “Sold,” a novel book-burners want banned, and also the fate of Wadsworth Principal Paul Peacock’s grievance over $7,500. The Palm Coast City Council talks stormwater, Duane Weeks Jr. pleads out, Dany Laferriere, and Denmark’s wind energy.
George W. Bush’s Promise of Democracy in Iraq, 20 Years On
While Iraq today has a constitution, a parliament and holds regular elections, the country struggles both with popular legitimacy and with practical aspects of governance, such as providing basic education for children. In 2023, Freedom House continues to score Iraq as “Not Free” in its measure of democracy.
Drowning Public Schools in the Bathtub to Promote GOP Ideology
The slow financial strangling and demonization of public schools have set the stage for the direct infusion of millions and eventually billions of taxpayer dollars into the private sector.
DeSantis Signs Massive Expansion of Subsidized Private Education at Public Expense
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed an expansive voucher law to provide public money for children to attend parochial, secular and other private schools across the state, despite previous skepticism about letting millionaire and billionaire families participate in Florida’s K-12 school voucher programs.
Flagler County and Cities Launch Collaborative Economic Development Initiative
Flagler County has been meeting with municipalities as part of an economic development initiative to create a single, unified plan aimed at diversifying the tax base for the benefit of all its residents.
George Hanns, Defeated in 2016 After 24 Years, Plans Another Run for County Commission
George Hanns had served 24 years as a Flagler County Commissioner when he lost in 2016. He wants another run at it, this time as a Republican vying for the seat Donald O’Brien is vacating, and that Palm Coast Council member Ed Danko plans a run for.
Christina Marie Coe, 28, Missing Since March 22: Located
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s help in locating Christina Marie Coe, a 28-year-old resident of Bunnell who left her Bunnell home at noon on March 22 and hasn’t been heard of since.
Challenged in Flagler Schools: Ellen Hopkins’s Tilt, a Review and a Recommendation
In “Tilt,” Ellen Hopkins gives us the powerful coming of age story of three very engaging, very different American teenagers. The novel is on the list of books three Flagler County residents are seeking to ban. A Flagler Palm Coast High School committee discusses the challenge on Thursday.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, March 27, 2023
The Bunnell City Commission meets, the “Song of the birds” in Sufism and in music, walking as the solution to all your problems.
Woke’s Potential Despite the Culture War’s Mercenaries
Open-ended terms like woke can evolve over time to symbolize more than their creators could have ever imagined. Words used ambiguously and in excess can eventually become meaningless. They can even experience semantic bleaching. This is when words lose their meaning through repeated and varied usage.
House Republicans Attack Justice Department Memo Warning of Threats to Local School Boards
The GOP has for roughly 18 months targeted an Oct. 4, 2021 memo issued by Attorney General Merrick Garland instructing federal law enforcement across the U.S. to “open dedicated lines of communication for threat reporting, assessment, and response” on possible criminal threats to local school board members over politically charged issues that flared up during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
DeSantis Is Destroying Florida Universities’ Hard-Earned Respect in the Name of White Nationalism
Florida’s public universities have been gaining national prominence and respect, with U.F. and FSU ranked Nos. 5 and 19 among public universities. DeSantis’s assault on academic freedom in the name of a white-nationalist, America-first curriculum is demolishing that hard-earned respect and making an embarrassment of the state.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, March 26, 2023
Palm Coast Farmers’ Market at European Village, “Scapino”‘s last performance at CRT, Amin Maalouf’s unexpected brothers and whether humanity can be saved.
‘Salam, Ramadan Mubarak!’: 4 Ways Schools Can Bring Ramadan Into the Classroom
As Muslims begin observing Ramadan, it’s a good time to consider the importance of building a strong sense of belonging at school. Affirming the identities of Muslim students and all minoritized and racialized learners is a way of creating a positive classroom culture.
$700 Million Affordable Housing Package Bans Rent Control Measures
The bill would create tax incentives for developers to build more affordable housing and expand a program designed to help working Floridians purchase homes, but leaves out rent-control measures as a tool to help the poor pay housing costs.
Bill Shielding Businesses and Insurance Companies from Lawsuits Is Now Law
After the Senate gave final approval Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday quickly signed a bill aimed at helping shield businesses and insurance companies from lawsuits. DeSantis formally received the bill (HB 837) on Friday, and the House and Senate websites said he signed it.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, March 25, 2023
Cracker Day at the Flagler County Fairgrounds, Wellness Expo at Flagler Palm Coast High School, “Scapino,” at Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre, Norman Borlaug far more than Gutzon Borglum.
Why the Bitter Reaction to the Coretta and Martin Luther King Jr. Sculpture?
Despite the intended show of mutual affection between Coretta and Martin Luther King Jr., two of the most revered civil rights leaders in modern American history, many of the tweets shared on national news feeds after the unveiling were crude and misinterpreted arms for other body parts.
Reclusive, 15-ft Beaked Whale, Likely Sick, Strands in Flagler Beach Near Water Tower
For the second time in only 10 weeks, a rarely seen whale beached on Flagler County’s sands and was put down hours later before it was to be removed from the surf and transported by truck to Orlando’s SeaWorld for a necropsy.
Behind Principal Paul Peacock’s $7,500 Grievance, a Roil of Politics and Sideshow Maneuvers
Wadsworth principal Paul Peacock’s grievance appeal for a $7,500 supplement is not a complex issue for the School Board to decide on March 28. But it is taking place amid a peripheral stew of noise, politics, and maneuvering over the superintendent’s future, plus a threat of a lawsuit, all of which will challenge the board’s ability to stick to the merits of the appeal.
How a Palm Coast Organization Is Keeping Jazz Alive in Northeast Florida
Established in Palm Coast in 1986 by Eugene (Jeep) and Muriel McCoy, the North East Florida Jazz Association (NEFJA) has been celebrating and promoting Jazz for more than 35 years. It’s marking Jazz Appreciation Month with an April 1 concert featuring trumpetist Longineu Parsons II.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: March 24, 2023
“Scapino” is back at Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre, the Scenic A1A Pride Committee meets, Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Kissinger and Argentina’s disappeared.
Should the U.S. Ban TikTok? Can It?
Banning TikTok on work-provided phones is one thing. A full ban of the app is another matter, which raises a number of questions: What data privacy risk does TikTok pose? What could the Chinese government do with data collected by the app? Is its content recommendation algorithm dangerous? And is it even possible to ban an app?
Proposed 16-Home Beachside Development South of Surf Club Troubles Residents and the County
Solitude at Matanzas Shores would be built on just under 4 acres of beachside land across from the Lakeside and Las Casitas developments, on State Road A1A. County commissioners are leery, and leaning against approving allowing 16 single-family homes there.
Superintendent’s Self-Evaluation Is 2 Points Short of ‘Highly Effective,’ With Notable Gaps
If it’s not a done deal–which it may well be–the self-evaluations may be key to Flagler School Superintendent Cathy Mittelstadt’s future, which can now fairly be called embattled as one school board member has been seeking her replacement, two have remained mum on her future, and only two have lent her support.
In less Than 24 Hours, an ‘Open Carry’ Bill Is Introduced then Re-Holstered, Disappointing Advocates
But a permitless carry bill proceeds. That bill, HB 543, would repeal the requirement that Floridians who carry a concealed weapon must get a license through the state. It would also mean Floridians would not have to take a gun safety and training course.
Proposed Law Would Keep DeSantis’s Travel Records Secret
The bill would create a public-records exemption for records held by law-enforcement agencies related to “transportation and protective services” provided to the governor, the governor’s immediate family, visiting governors and “other persons as requested by certain state officers.”
61-Year-Old Man Faces Animal Cruelty Charge in Killing of Family Cat
A 61-year-old resident of Lee Drive in Palm Coast was arrested Wednesday on a felony charge of cruelty toward animals, causing death, after he told sheriff’s deputies he choked and slashed the family cat. The cat died.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, March 23, 2023
The Flagler Beach City Commission meets, the defamation suit against Ken Bryan gets a hearing on a motion to dismiss, the origins of OK, and Lebanon’s pick-up artist.
In Congress, Civility Is Increasingly Out of Order
A growing list of norm-breaking events away from a long tradition of decorum and civility are coloring how the GOP-controlled House, during the 118th Congress, is conducting business.
316-Unit Apartment Complex Off Whiteview Parkway Clears Hurdle, with Eyes on New Hospital
The Palm Coast Planning Board last week recommended approval of a 316-unit gated apartment complex on nearly 19 vacant acres on the West side of White Mill Drive and the north side of Whiteview Parkway, in the W-Section’s last remaining vast expanse of fallow land.
Senate Will Vote on Eliminating Need for Unanimous Juries in Death Recommendations
The Senate Rules Committee voted 15-4 to approve a bill (SB 450) that would allow death sentences to be imposed based on the recommendations of eight of 12 jurors — a standard that bill sponsor Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, described as being “the most aggressive of all 50 states.”