The Halloween Hall of Terror is back at Palm Coast Fire Station 21, “Charley’s Aunt,” at City Repertory Theatre, Steinbeck’s East of Eden, a word from M*A*S*H.
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Elon Musk Is Wrong: Content Rules Preserve Free Speech
Musk’s likely acquisition of Twitter raises concerns that the social media platform could decrease its content moderation. Research shows that stronger, not weaker, moderation of the information ecosystem is called for to combat harmful misinformation. It also shows that weaker moderation policies would ironically hurt free speech.
Will Furry Chooses Sleaze. Again.
Will Furry, the candidate for Flagler County School Board in the race he’s contesting against Courtney VandeBunte, is running a sleazy campaign funded by deceptive PACs and rich in lies and fabrications. Yet he calls it his “journey of faith.”
Witches in Bunches Ride the Streets as Flagler Beach Creates New Brew For Art’s Charms
The first Witches of Flagler Beach Bike Ride surprised residents and drivers along a 2.5-mile circuit in the city this morning as some 30 witches on bikes took to the streets, an event organized by the fledgling Flagler Beach Creates, a volunteer organization focused on enriching the city’s public art and culture.
Expect Higher Power Bills: FPL Wants to Make Customers Pay $1.1 Billion More for Ian Repairs
About $220 million of the $1.1 billion would be used to replenish a storm reserve, Kirk Crews, executive vice president and chief financial officer of NextEra Energy, FPL’s parent company, said Friday during a third-quarter earnings call with analysts.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, October 29, 2022
Witches of Flagler Beach Bike Ride, “Charley’s Aunt,” at City Repertory Theatre, Halloween Scavenger Hunt in Flagler Beach, Northeast Florida Jazz Association, Boswell, Vaclav Havel.
Dangerous Flagler Beach Pier Is Condemned, Demolition Moved Up As Hazards Worry City Officials
With repair costs pegged at $2 million over 14 months and dangerous collapses possible, the Flagler Beach City Commission agreed to condemn the rickety pier and wall it off, accelerating a demolition schedule in preparation for the construction of a $15 to $18 million, 800-foot concrete pier that could be completed in late 2025.
Angry American Voters. Good for Turnout. Bad for Democracy.
Guided by the mantra that an angry voter is a loyal voter, politicians have a strong incentive to agitate the American public – incumbents and challengers alike. Anger’s ability to cause individuals to socially polarize has potentially drastic ramifications for the health of American democracy. Crucially, social polarization precludes opportunities to form ties and build relationships with people from diverse backgrounds.
FEMA and Flagler Open ‘Disaster Recovery Center’ at County Fairgrounds
Flagler County Emergency Management has been working with the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), which will open a “Disaster Recovery Center” on Saturday, October 29, at the Flagler County Fairgrounds, 150 Sawgrass Road, Bunnell.
Courtney VandeBunte, Flagler County School Board Candidate: The Live Interview
Courtney VandeBunte is in a runoff election for the open District 2 seat on the Flagler County School Board, facing Will Furry. All Flagler voters, regardless of party affiliation and address, may cast a ballot in the race.
Will Furry, Flagler County School Board Candidate: The Live Interview
Will Furry is in a runoff election for the open District 2 seat on the Flagler County School Board, facing Courtney VandeBunte. All Flagler voters, regardless of party affiliation and address, may cast a ballot in these races.
Inmate with Competency Issues Is Tased Twice Into Submission After Challenging Deputies With Broken Plunger
Isaac Brevil, 35, whose competency has been ordered examined by a Flagler court, was twice tased and subdued in a violent scuffle with deputies at the county jail after he allegedly broke a plunger, turned it into a weapon and attempted to stab a deputy with it.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, October 28, 2022
Early voting, the Scenic A1A Pride Committee meets, Theatre UCF’s ‘Working,’ the Volstead Act and Erasmus’s Praise of Folly, and a happy birthday to Andy Sipowicz.
A New Tool for Protecting Newly Hatched Sea Turtles
Humans can best protect sea turtle hatchlings as they make their way from the beach to the sea if they know precisely when the baby turtles will appear. But predicting emergence has been difficult. By placing a simple sensor disguised as a turtle egg in the nest, it indicates when the baby turtles would emerge from the sand and swarm toward the water.
City Repertory Theatre and Beau Wade Drag ‘Charley’s Aunt’ Onto the Stage
“Charley’s Aunt,” a favorite farce for over a century, the play is laugh-out-loud fun from start to finish. Written by the Liverpool-born British playwright and actor Brandon Thomas, the play premiered in England in 1892, broke the then-current record for longest-running play worldwide, landed on Broadway in 1893 and later toured internationally. It has been revived ever since, as well as adapted for films and musicals.
Carlos DuPree, 36, Sentenced to Life in Prison for Armed Home Invasion in Palm Coast’s P-Section
Carlos DuPree, a St. Louis man who’d been in Palm Coast just 10 days the night he said he wanted to buy $400-worth of pot at a house on Prospect Lane, was sentenced to life in prison this afternoon at the end of a four-day trial on six charges, including armed robbery during a home-invasion on Prospect Lane.
Trump’s Persistent Lies About 2020 Results Undermining Supervisors of Election’s Assurances of Sound Process
The challenges have come amid supervisors’ years-long battle to convince voters that, contra Trump lies, election processes aren’t rigged, an issue that took root and spread as Trump and maga supporters continue to maintain that Joe Biden’s 2020 victory was fraudulent.
Flagler Cares Awards $800,000 in 1st Round of Social Service ‘Catalyst’ Grants
Flagler Cares on Wednesday announced its inaugural “catalyst fund” grants totaling $800,000 to three organizations that will each provide needed social services in Flagler County–for teens suffering from anxiety and depression, for individuals and families recovering from abuse or other forms of dislocation, and for the food-insecure.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, October 27, 2022
Early voting, The Flagler Beach City Commission talks pier and utility rates, The Flagler Education Foundation hosts a tour of Flagler Palm Coast High School’s Classrooms to Career programs, Teddy Roosevelt’s racism, Ross Douthat on California’s extremism.
State Courts Are Fielding Sky-High Number of Lawsuits Ahead of Midterms
The current volume of state election litigation also has the potential to derail the safeguards that state courts can provide. When every aspect of an election becomes a lawsuit, negative effects may follow – including destabilizing elections, overwhelming already strained courts and imposing significant costs on states.
At Post-Ian Town Hall, Flagler Beach Projects Resilience, Public Is More Guarded
The city’s message was: Between city preparedness, the mobilization of volunteers, the city’s (and the county’s) continuing luck and ongoing planning for recovery, Flagler Beach made it through with limited damage but to its pier and beaches, which are unrecognizable. Some residents were a bit less cheery.
Developer Planning 750-Home Subdivision, One of Palm Coast’s Largest, at SR100 and Old Kings Road
In what would be one of the largest developments in Palm Coast, a company is applying to build up to 750 upscale single-family homes in a Grand Haven-like gated community over 500 acres stretching from State Road 100 north, parallel to Old Kings Road.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, October 26, 2022
Early voting continues, so does Carlos Dupree’s trial for home invasion, Hurricane Ian Information Forum in Flagler Beach, Weekly Chess Club for Teens, Domenico Scarlatti’s birthday.
DeSantis Administration Violated Public Records Law With Snub of Migrant Flight Data Request
A Leon County circuit judge Tuesday ruled that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration did not comply with the state’s public-records law after an open-government group sought records about a controversial decision to fly migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
2022 Is Already Record Year for School Shootings, With Months To Go
There have been shootings at U.S. schools almost every year since 1966, but in 2021 there were a record 250 shooting incidents – including any occurrence of a firearm being discharged, be it related to suicides, accidental shootings, gang-related violence or incidents at after-hours school events.
Alan Lowe, Palm Coast City Council Candidate: The Live Interview
Alan Lowe is a candidate for Palm Coast City Council, District 2, running against Theresa Carli Pontieri. All registered voters in the city may cast a ballot in that non-partisan election regardless of party affiliation or location in Palm Coast.
Theresa Carli Pontieri, Palm Coast City Council Candidate: The Live Interview
Theresa Carli Pontieri is a candidate for Palm Coast City Council, District 2, running against Alan Lowe. All registered voters in the city may cast a ballot in that non-partisan election regardless of party affiliation or location in Palm Coast.
Housing Market in Flagler and Palm Coast Beginning to Feel Sharp Pain of Rising Interest Rates
House prices are falling. So are the number of sales. Houses for sale are staying on the market longer. The supply of houses is rising. If the downward trend continues, the implications will have a pronounced ripple effect on a local economy still substantially dependent on construction and real estate, on demographic projections, and on the timing of school construction planned for later this decade.
Culture Wars, Abortion, Crime, Immigration and Spin Dominate Raucous DeSantis-Crist Debate
Crist opened the evening as a clear underdog whom DeSantis has far outstripped in fundraising and polling. The governor’s sitting on more than $107 million in cash on hand. Crist has just $2.2 million in comparison.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, October 25, 2022
Carlos Dupree, 36, goes on trial for a home invasion in Palm Coast’s P Section, the Flagler County Public Library’s Freedom Readers Club, new music concerts at Stetson and UCF, watch today’s eclipse of the sun, old age, a beginner’s guide.
It Matters: Rishi Sunak Is Britain’s 1st Prime Minister of Color
Sunak was born in the southern English port city of Southampton in 1980. His father, Yashvir, was a family doctor and his mother, Usha, a pharmacist. They were born and brought up in present-day Kenya and Tanzania, respectively, before moving to the UK. Sunak’s grandparents on both sides were from India and had migrated to East Africa.
Nation’s Report Card Echoed in Florida Shows Alarming, Appalling Losses in Reading and Math
A large majority of Florida eighth graders do not read proficiently and struggle with 8th grade-level math skills, according to a nationwide assessment of students in 2022 — an uncomfortable reality for teens unprepared for a rigorous high school schedule.
Flagler County Voters Will Vote on Whether to Retain 11 Judges, Most of Whom They’ve Never Heard Of
On the Nov. 8 ballot, 11 of the 26 boxes where voters will be asked to fill an oval are retention votes in judicial elections for five Supreme Court and six appeals court judges. They’re not races. Voters are merely asked: should so-and-so “be retained in office” or not. It’s the merit-retention system. In the overwhelming majority of cases, voters have no idea who those names, and the judges are invariably retained.
Report Describes Flagler Beach Pier as ‘Unsafe’ and Partly in Ruins, Calling for Keeping It Off Limits
Even under the parts of the pier that remain, piles have disappeared, bracing has been severely damaged, and hardware even on parts of the pier closer to the shore–parts not made of stainless steel–has failed. The entire structure is severely damaged to the point that further collapses of sections of the pier during mildly heavy seas would not be surprising.
Cody’s Corner Is Again the Scene of a Fatal Crash as 44-Year-Old Woman is Killed in T-Bone
Cody’s Corner, the intersection of State Road 11 and County Road 304 in southwest Flagler County, was again the scene of a fatal crash Sunday afternoon as a 44-year-old woman lost her life in a t-bone collision.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, October 24, 2022
The Bunnell City Commission tries for the third time to dispose of its Charter Review discussion, many trials in felony court but none high-profile, the disunited States, Annie Edson Taylor goes over in a barrel.
That’s Disgusting. So Why Are You Delighted By It?
Halloween is a time to embrace all that is disgusting, from bloody slasher films to haunted houses full of fake guts and gore. But the attraction to stuff that grosses us out goes beyond this annual holiday.
Top Republicans Are Embracing Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Violent Rhetoric
The lure of violence is not an inherently Republican thing or a Democratic thing; it is a human thing. But at this moment in American history, members of only one party are featuring assault weapons prominently in their campaign ads and even family Christmas cards. Only one party is tolerating and even promoting the likes of Greene, with none daring to condemn her message.
My Newspaper Died
Our papers are getting worse at a time we desperately need them to get better. Why? Because they are no longer mediums of journalism, civic purpose, or local identity. Rather, they’ve been reduced to little more than profit siphons, steadily piping local money to a handful of distant, high-finance syndicates.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, October 23, 2022
St Elizabeth Ann Seton Community Fall Festival, DragQueen Halloween, William Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure,” Theatre UCF’s “Working,” remembering Johnny Carson.
A Severe Polarization of School Boards on the Whole Continent
Groups that oppose the teaching of critical race theory and 2SLGBTQ+ supports in schools often position themselves as truly or more accurately in favor of social justice by co-opting social justice language, alleging critical race theory discriminates against white people. School boards have been at the centre of these attacks.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, October 22, 2022
The first Palm Coast Arts Festival in Town center, St Elizabeth Ann Seton Community Fall Festival, Teens-In-Flight Inc. hosts the grand opening of its new digs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, John Reed shakes the world.
How Pit Bulls Went from Our Best Friends to Public Enemies and Back
Pit bulls are not inherently dangerous. Like other dogs, they can become dangerous in certain situations, and at the hands of certain owners. But there is no defensible rationale, other than canine profiling, for condemning not only all pit bulls, but any dog with a single pit bull gene, as some laws do.
Trump-Appointed Judge Refuses to Block Florida Law Muzzling Gender ‘Instruction’ In Schools
Skirting merits of the law by citing lack of standing, U.S. District Judge Wendy Berger refused to block school districts from carrying out a new state law that restricts instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in classrooms. She rejected arguments by parents, students and a non-profit organization.
Cell Tower Company Applies for Exception to Build 150-ft. Monopole off Club House Drive, Setting Up Clash
A cell tower construction company has filed an application for a special permission to build a 150-foot tower off Club House Drive in Palm Coast, a proposal some neighboring residents have opposed, but that city officials see as critical for improvements of cell reception and public safety communications.
Fernando Melendez Palm Coast City Council Candidate: The Live Interview
Fernando Melendez is a candidate for Palm Coast City Council, District 4, facing Cathy Heighter. All registered voters in the city may cast a ballot in that non-partisan election regardless of party affiliation or location in Palm Coast.
Cathy Heighter, Palm Coast City Council Candidate: The Live Interview
Cathy Heighter is a candidate for Palm Coast City Council in the District 4 race. She faces Fernando Melendez. All registered voters in the city may cast a ballot in that non-partisan election regardless of party affiliation or location in Palm Coast.
Some Circle K Stores Will Pair Up With Medical Pot Dispensaries, But Don’t Celebrate Just Yet
Green Thumb Industries announced today it will begin selling medical marijuana at certain Circle K gas stations and convenience stores in Florida starting next year. But the pilot program is limited to just 10 of the 600 Circle K locations in the state. The locations of what the company calls a “test and learn” approach have not yet been announced.
Culinary Course Offered To Inmates at Flagler County Jail Through FTC
The Homeward Bound Initiative (HBI) launched last year in partnership with Flagler Technical College (FTC) now offers a certificate in Culinary/Food Service Management to go along with its current certificate programs in Pre- HVAC (Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning) and Vinyl Graphics Applications.
Federal Judge Refuses to Block Law Banning Payments to Petition Gatherers for Ballot Measures
The law, passed by the Republican-dominated Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, made it a crime to continue a longstanding practice of paying petition gatherers based on the number of signatures they collect. Experts have said the changes doubled the cost of getting initiatives on the ballot.