Henry Kelley, a tea party activist, ran Rick Scott’s Okaloosa County campaign and was pretty much the only “No Party Affiliated” person, given his deep-seated mistrust of Florida Republicans. He now tells Scott of his disappointment with his tenure.
Commentary
Advanced Placement Gambit: Challenging Students at the Risk of Penalizing Teachers
Flagler County high schools are encouraging more students to take Advanced Placement tests, which beef up a school’s profile. But when students fail the testm their teachers are penalized, now that their pay is tied to student performance.
Gator Shame: Why I’m Relieved My Daughter Won’t Be Attending the University of Florida
Athletics aside, Florida doesn’t take its public universities and public schools seriously, making it difficult for top students to stay here–or for the state to depend on more than tourist ghettoes, sunbathing spreads and Medicare colonies.
Invasion of the Giant African Snail: Florida’s Latest Slimy Bane
The giant African snail is again invading South Florida and possibly spreading north, devouring numerous crops such as banana, potato, onion and cabbage, and also eating stucco plaster and concrete. Frank Gromling reports.
Dear Gov. Scott: “We Are Going To Start Losing Teachers.” An Ex-School Board Member’s Plea
Evie Shellenberger, the former Flagler County School Board member, writes Gov. Rick Scott to warn him of despairing teachers and a generation of students left behind by Florida’s neglect of vocational education, and invites him to a one-on-one sit down discussion.
Obama’s Come to Jesus Moment on Gay Marriage: More Buchanan Than Lincoln
One might be tempted to see in Barack Obama’s belated embrace of gay marriage a retraction of the infuriatingly compromising president we’ve come endure and a return to the audacious president we thought we were electing four years ago. But that would be projecting a fantasy on a cave wall.
Breastfeeding Frenzy
Time magazine’s cover featuring 26-year-old Jamie Lynne Grumet breastfeeding her nearly 4-year-old son is the latest revival of the old fervors and prejudices surrounding breastfeeding including, unfortunately, the sexualization of an asexual act.
From Pathways Academy and Matanzas High To Beverly Beach: A Sea Oats Odyssey
Students from Pathways Academy and Matanzas High School planted 750 sea oats along Beverly Beach’s dunes through a University of Florida project and the initiative of Beverly Beach Commissioner–and FlaglerLive columnist–Frank Gromling, who relates the story.
The Flip-Side of Voter Suppression: Not Everyone Needs to Vote
It is a staple in the newspaper business – especially left-wing newspapers – to exhort people to vote at every election. Conservatives, however, are more interested in quality than quantity, argues Lloyd Brown.
There’s Only So Much Palm Coast Government Can Do About Eyesores and Vacant Lands
From the Palm Coast Players Club to the Sheraton/Palm Coast Resort or Sesame Island, the city has very limited legal or financial means, absent much higher taxes, to take over such properties and convert them to something residents would prefer, argues city council member Frank Meeker.
Joe Biden Outs Himself
Joe Biden unequivocally endorsed gay marriage in a Meet the Press interview Sunday, sending the Obama administration scrambling for its latest tangle in hypocrisy.
Dear Mrs. Nahirny: Tales From the “Don’t Quit” File on Teacher Appreciation Week
Every year during Teacher Appreciation Week (May 7-11), Matanzas’s Jo Ann Nahirny has her English students write thank you cards to teachers, and receives a few herself, which she’s always kept in what she calls her “don’t quit” file. She opens it up.
The Threats Are Out There: Asian Tiger Shrimp Invade Gulf’s Ecosystem
The Asian tiger shrimp, predatory and cannibalistic, is one of many invasive species being discovered in the Gulf of Mexico and possibly along Florida’s East Coast, that threaten local habitats and fisheries. Frank Gromling reports from New Orleans.
Rick Scott’s Obsession With Other People’s Urine
Anyone other than my doctor who’d ask me to pee in a cup isn’t just out of line. He’d be out of his mind. Yet an entire industry thrives on such cup-holders, Gov. Rick Scott among them, and millions of Americans are not only complying with the docility of circus animals. They’re encouraging the indignity and asking for more.
Fake Gun. Real Fear. Small Consequence: A Mother’s Outrage at Flagler Schools’ Response
On March 2, Gloria Kollosch’s son and a friend left Matanzas High School on their bikes, and had a confrontation with other Matanzas boys, who brandished a gun–a fake gun, which they thought was real. The school district responded with a slap on the wrist, calling the incident a “prank,” and blatantly contradicting its own Code of Conduct, Kollosch argues.
Return of the Sea Turtles: Flagler’s First Sighting Renews a Million-Year Ritual
The first sea turtle to scout for a nest on a Flagler beach did so Tuesday, renewing a ritual going back 200 million years. She scouted Columnist Frank Gromling’s beach backyard for her nursery. A report from the sands.
American Soldiers Committing Atrocities: Placing the Blame Where It Belongs
From posing with corpses of insurgents to going on murderous rampages, American soldiers’ atrocities in Afghanistan are becoming routine. Without absolving the military of its responsibilities, the real isn’t the soldiers’ alone.
The Citizen Scientist:
Inside Marine Mammal Research Offshore
Frank Gromling describes his two days off the coast of St. Johns County as he assisted marine mammal scientists in various research projects about endangered whales.
FCAT Season From a Teacher’s Perspective: An Absurd and Demeaning Fraud
Florida’s FCAT autocrats have gamed the system into an exam only the dumbest can fail while hijacking teachers’ and students’ time for nine weeks of regimentation and secrecy worthy of classified military secrets, argues teacher Joann Nahirny in her latest dispatch from the trenches.
Protecting the Oceans: Your Role
Individuals can have a big role in protecting oceans no matter here they live. The key in ocean protection is to get started today, right now, argues Frank Gromling, who provides a list of suggestions.
In Defense of Ozzie Guillen: Cuban-Americans Have Held US Policy Hostage Long Enough
The Florida Marlins’ duplicitous suspension of Ozzie Guillen aside, the real scandal is the degree to which South Florida’s Castro-era Cuban community continues to hold American foreign policy hostage to seven decades of juvenile antagonism.
Stare Decisis Their Ass: The GOP’s Activist Judges
Scorn for “activist judges” has been a staple of the Republican playbook ever since it was Earl Warren’s Supreme Court. Now that it’s John Roberts’s court–or should we say Antonin Scalia’s?–and a Democratic president is calling them out, the rhetorical roles have reversed overnight.
The 4th Amendment, Stripped and Degraded
The Supreme Court’s decision allowing the strip-searching of anyone booked into jail–no matter how small the charge, no matter the presumption of innocence of the accused–is merely the latest in a long series of constitutional violations, enshrined by conservative justices.
Protecting the Oceans to Protect Life
The oceans are not an inexhaustible source of good things, argues Frank Gromling. It is past time for every earth-dweller to make a pivotal change in direction to allow the oceans to recover to their former health and productivity.
Bob Graham, the First Lady and Umbarger: Honoring Florida’s Book Award Winners
Caren Umbarger, artistic director of the Flagler Youth Orchestra, was among the authors honored by First Lady Ann Scott at a Governor’s mansion luncheon recognizing the winners of the Florida Book Awards. Umbarger recounts the experience.
Your Password, Please: When a Job Interview Includes Demands for Facebook Pages
In a society where privacy is constantly eroding, recent efforts by some employers to pry into Facebook pages to investigate job applicants should be resisted as an unwarranted intrusion on personal freedom and dignity.
Between a Tortoise and a Turtle
Living on the Atlantic Coast, we often hear about sea turtles while gopher tortoises get second billing, though they’ve inhabited Florida and a few other southern states for millions of years. A primer.
What Does a Black Father Say to His Son?
In the wake of the killing of Trayvon Martin, everyone has been talking about mothers having the talk with their sons. But I haven’t heard enough about us — fathers, black men — having that conversation with our sons, writes Andrew Skerritt.
From the Archives: Palm Coast’s Masonic Cemetery, Where a Cherished Glen Harbors Family Albums
The Masonic cemetery is Palm Coast’s oldest human landmark and the most noble monument to the region’s ancestry, forgotten relics of Indian haunts aside. But it’s been at the margins of care.
Stonehenge Justices: The U.S. Supreme Court’s Stuffy Ban on TV Cameras and Live Audio
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ban on television cameras or live audio feed for its arguments, including this week’s on the health law, is absurd. The justices opposition to cameras rests on shabby reasoning and stuffed up conceits.
Before You Next Feast on Seafood
Does it really matter what fish we eat? Yes, says Frank Gromling, if health and overfishing are concerns. The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch programs helps consumers and restaurants figure out how to do their part in preserving fishing stocks.
Gov. Scott, Veto the School Prayer Bill
Today, several Florida and national leaders of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, including Palm Coast’s Merrill Shapiro, sent the following letter to Gov. Rick Scott, urging him to veto a school-prayer bill that cleared the Legislature.
Teachers’ Bane: Students Who Don’t
Give a Damn, and Parents Who Reward Them
In her latest installment from the trenches, teacher Jo Ann Nahirny describes how regulations force teachers’ time to be consumed by efforts to improve the performance of indifferent students at the expense of students who actually want to learn.
Flagler’s and Florida’s Economic Development Hoax
Florida lawmakers and their local replicas seem hypnotized by the buzz of economic development, nattering about it with great stamina. But it’s a hoax, and a costly one. The assault on public and higher education of the last few years proves it.
Going Green on St. Patrick’s Day
Adding “Going Green” to our St. Patrick’s Day activities makes perfect sense, while lending a little fun to the festivities. Frank Gromling provides a list of suggestions in his Coastal View column.
When Rick Santorum’s Official Language Blares Idiocy
Rick Santorum telling Puerto Rico’s people this week that they must all speak English before the island can become a state is the latest of many idiotic, exclusionary statements during his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, argues Angel Castillo Jr.
Piety’s Double Edge: When Deeds Speak Louder Than Public Prayers
As Gov. Rick Scott readies to sign into law Florida’s school prayer bill, how can legislators push for “inspirational messages” in classrooms while they work to destroy access to affordable healthcare, a woman’s right to choose and the rights of service workers to earn a decent wage?
Seeking Thaw, Flagler School Board Pleads Its Case Against Teachers’ Charge of “Bad Faith”
School Board member Colleen Conklin and Superintendent Janet Valentine explain why the controversy over a controversial provision in teachers’ contract doesn’t tell the whole story.
The North Atlantic Garbage Patch: A Plastic Soup Ladled from Consumption
A floating garbage dump consists of billions of small plastic man-made items stretches in the Atlantic from Cuba to Maryland by way of Florida. Here’s what you can do to keep plastics and other litter out of the oceans.
Do Kiss, Do Tell, Do Show
The homecoming picture of the gay Marine kissing his boyfriend has the same iconic feel as Alfred Eisenstaedt’s Life magazine shot of the sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square on V-J Day. Both images capture the essence of liberation on a large scale.
Palm Coast At Its Worst: Felled on Old Kings Road, and for 20 Minutes, Nobody Stops
Inna Hardison’s 20-year-old son was traveling on his motorcycle on Old Kings Road the evening of March 3rd when he struck a boar and was thrown from the bike and injured. It was 20 minutes before anyone bothered to stop and help.
What It’s Like to Be The Whale Guy: The True Story of Getting A Life
In his debut column for FlaglerLive, Frank Gromling relates his long association with the Marineland Right Whale Project and the Atlantic right whales’ 1,400-mile annual migrations along Flagler and Florida shores.
Bio: Frank Gromling
Frank Gromling, owner of Ocean Publishing in Flagler Beach, is an author, publisher, adventurer, conservationist, and entrepreneur, and now a regular contributing columnist to FlaglerLive.
Rush Limbaugh, Slander Slut
If there ever was a need for a prophylactic to syphilitic discourse, Rush Limbaugh’s latest attack on women makes the case. But insurers won’t cover it.
In a Response, Jim Manfre Recasts Sheriff Fleming’s 8 Years in Harsh Terms
Responding to Sheriff Don Fleming’s earlier criticism, Jim Manfre, a candidate for sheriff, calls Fleming a liar while assailing him over employment lawsuits, issues at the jail and other matters.
Florida’s Misguided Lunge for Internet Sales Taxes
Nancy Nally, a Flagler County-based web publisher, argues that Florida’s proposed law to compel internet merchants to pay sales taxes won’t level the playing field or increase revenue, but hurt local businesses like her own.
Finding Her Palm Coast, Nancy Grace Takes On Wife-Shooting Tonight, With FlaglerLive
FlaglerLive’s Pierre Tristam is among the guests on tonight’s Nancy Grace show, whose opening segment focuses on the William Merrill shooting of his wife in Palm Coast last Tuesday. The news value is limited.
When 125 Students, Infinite Expectations and Untold Critics Encircle Teachers’ 36-Hour Day
Down time after dismissal? Summers off? Think again. Matanzas High School teacher Jo Ann Nahirny, in her latest installment from the trenches, describes permanent on-call nature of a teacher’s days and evenings.
Responding to Criticism, Sheriff Fleming Calls ex-Sheriff Manfre a “Legend In His Own Mind”
The two sheriffs have a long history of rivalry and mutual criticism dating back to 2004, when Don Fleming replaced Jim Manfre. In 2008, Fleming defeated Manfre by less than a 2 percent margin.
It’s Not About Religious Liberty. It’s About The Church’s Opposition to Contraception.
Religious liberty is window dressing for the bishops’ real objection, birth control. Republicans who used the bishops’ complaints for their own partisan purposes may continue to rail about Obama’s “war on religious liberty,” but it’s unlikely we will see them standing beside the bishops as they complain about contraception.