Perhaps a million lights garlanded over boats of all sizes created shooting stars, swooping airplanes, giant Santas, soaring Christmas trees, Grinches, and even dinosaurs, turning the Intracoastal and other parts of the route into rivers of holiday cheer for thousands of spectators lining the parade route.
Economy
In Local Interview, Paul Renner Repeats Baseless Claims About Drag Queens and ‘Sexualization’ Of Children
Rep. Paul Renner, the Palm Coast-based Republican just elected Speaker of the House, returned to his criticism of “drag queen storytime” today in an interview on WNZF, repeating controversial–and baseless–claims that some parents are more interested in defending drag queens than ensuring that children learn to read.
City Repertory Theatre Presents Festive Revue for Launch of Flagler County Cultural Council
City Repertory Theatre, a Palm Coast community theater troupe, will present “A Holiday Treat: A Special Night of Story and Song” as a fundraiser for the Flagler County Cultural Council, which in October was designated the county’s official local arts agency.
Coalition Calls for Florida Legislative Committee Focused on Climate Change
More than a dozen environmental and community-based organizations are calling on the new leaders of the Florida Legislature to create a special committee to address climate change, saying that the issue is the biggest threat to the state.
$2.89 Gas in Volusia, $3.49 in Flagler as Prices Continue to Fall and Oil Companies Reap Record Profits
The difference in gas price locally could be startling, with a 60-cent-per-gallon gap between prices at Buc-ees and at gas stations in Palm Coast, or a $9 difference for a 15-gallon fill-up. Meanwhile, oil and gas companies’ windfall for the year may reach $4 trillion.
Florida Voters Are Willing to Save Environmental Lands. Politicians? Not So Much.
In Florida, our politicians are constantly promising more tax cuts. Yet these voters opted to tax themselves more. And they did it because they wanted to save some greenery in an ever-increasing sea of gray asphalt. Politicians aren’t getting the message.
39th Palm Coast Holiday Boat Parade Prepares for Its Biggest Yet Dec. 3
The Dec. 3 Palm Coast Holiday Boat Parade, one of the community’s most highly anticipated events, is now in its 39th year. Palm Coasters have enjoyed this unique annual celebration for two generations.
Be Local Buy Local with the Holiday Gift Guide and Small Business Saturday
Just like last year, the City of Palm Coast has partnered with several local businesses to offer special promotions in the Holiday Gift Guide and on the City’s social media channels valid from November 25 through December 31. Residents may view the Holiday Gift Guide by clicking here.
As Hurricane Season Ends, Sort of, an Unfond Look Back at Ian and Nicole, and a Special Committee
Rep. Paul Renner set up a special committee to study lessons learned from Hurricanes Ian and Nicole, and Kevin Guthrie, director of state emergency management, says a second cone of probability should be added to the National Hurricane Center’s forecasts, this one focusing on storm surge.
Local Scout Troops Open Inaugural Christmas Tree Lot in Palm Coast
Parents and scouts from Boy Scout Troop 281 and Scouts BSA Troop 4281 have set up a massive Christmas tree operation at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 156 Florida Park Drive North in Palm Coast. Trees start at $80.
Hidden Until Now, Audits Reveal Millions in Medicare Advantage Overcharges
Newly released federal audits reveal widespread overcharges and other errors in payments to Medicare Advantage health plans for seniors, with some plans overbilling the government more than $1,000 per patient a year on average. Medicare Advantage, a fast-growing alternative to original Medicare, is run primarily by major insurance companies.
Flagler Beach Raises Water, Sewer, Garbage and Stormwater Costs $12 a Month for Average Household
A divided Flagler Beach City Commission voted 3-2 to raise the cost of all city-provided utilities–water, sewer and garbage–by 8.5 percent, to match inflation, and the stormwater fee by 42 percent.
Sea Turtles Hatching on Florida Beaches Are Feeling the Heat from Warming Climate
Florida plays an outsize role in the reproduction of loggerheads. Scientists estimate 90 percent of all the Atlantic Ocean’s loggerheads lay their eggs on Florida beaches. Then the ones that hatch here come back years later to lay their own eggs. But something funky is happening on those beaches: male turtles are disappearing.
FPC’s Cameron Driggers and Roymara Louissaint Win MedNexus Innovation Challenge With Sleep App
Emerging out of a field of 25 teams, Flagler Palm Coast High School seniors Cameron Driggers and Roymara Louissaint won the second annual MedNexus Innovation Challenge Wednesday, and $1,000 each, by developing an experiment-based idea that uses technology against itself in an effort to reduce teens’ sleep deprivation.
What About Flagler Beach’s One Hold-Out Against Dune Fix? County Says December Deadline Will Be Met.
Almost three years after Flagler County sought property owners’ permission to start a dune rebuilding project on 2.6 miles of beach in Flagler Beach, and despite more recent ravages to the shore, one property owner is still holding out, but County Attorney Al Hadeed stresses that her permission will be secured by December 31 and the Corps project will be on by June.
State Emergency Management Chief Kevin Guthrie Calls for ‘Holistic’ Re-Engineering of Florida Coast
Speaking at Flagler Tiger Bay Club, Kevin Guthrie, the state emergency management director, never used the words “climate change,” but nevertheless addressed needed changes in how Florida manages and re-engineers its coastline in words that would intrigue even Greenpeace activists.
Celebrate America at Agricultural Museum Saturday with Music and Handshakes
Freedom Fest, the fly-in at Flagler County airport, is being postponed to March 23, but a replacement event for Nov. 19, called Celebrate America, will be held that day with all the same vendors, bands and ceremonies as a salute to Veterans, at the Florida Agricultural Museum on Old Kings Road.
Palm Coast Sues Holland Park’s Splash Pad Contractors as Losses Reach $1.4 Million and Rising
The Palm Coast City Council today cleared the way for a civil lawsuit against several contractors involved in the construction of the splash pad at Holland Park that opened only for a few months before it shut down. The splash pad went from a $6.28 million crown jewel in the city’s park system to a an embarrassing and costly boondoggle, with estimated losses and repair costs so far of $1.4 million.
Harborside Tower Proposal Postponed as Developer Hints at More Compromise
The Palm Coast City Council this morning agreed to postpone consideration of a controversial rezoning application that would result in the addition of 483 apartments and housing units near Palm Coast Resort’s 72-unit apartment tower.
State Transportation Department to Flagler Beach: Simply Rebuilding A1A Again Won’t Do
John Tyler, the Florida Department of Transportation’s District 5 secretary, told a special meeting of the Flagler Beach City Commission this evening that simply rebuilding A1A until the next storm won’t achieve a different result: it’ll be demolished again. DOT is creating a task force to devise a more durable solution, with all options on the table, including sea walls and moving A1A.
A1A Reopens 4 Days After Nicole Shut It Down as 600 Truckloads Dump 11,000 Cubic Yards of Sand
State Road A1A reopened to traffic in both directions Saturday evening just four days after Hurricane Nicole made the road impassable, and after two contractors worked frenetically to repair 4.8 miles of road in three segments between Flagler and Volusia counties.
Devastation on Flagler’s Coastline: Houses and Roadbeds Hanging on Sand Cliffs, Vanished Dunes, Yards Turned Beach
Flagler County generally survived Tropical Storm Nicole well. The coastline did not. Out of sight, it has been devastated even more than by Hurricane Ian, with houses left teetering on cliffs of sand, A1A’s roadbed left defenseless for most of its length, a dune system now entirely vanished the length of the county, and coastal residents left wondering why officials are not reacting. A documentation of the damage in photographs and video.
Nicole’s Damage to A1A ‘Much Worse’ Than Matthew, Over Longer Stretch; Parts of Flagler Beach Flood
An assessment of Tropical Storm Nicole’s damage of the shoreline from the north end of the county to South 25th Street in Flagler Beach left county officials disheartened at the flooding and the recurring destruction of State Road A1A, which is severe in many places and may require the road to be closed for weeks or months at least in one direction.
Florida Voters Reject Additional Property Tax Breaks or Ending Constitutional Revision Commission
Florida voters late Tuesday appeared to have rejected three proposed constitutional amendments that would have provided property-tax breaks and eliminated the state’s Constitution Revision Commission.
DOT Dumping Sand at South End of Flagler to Protect A1A, But Heart of Flagler Beach Is Defenseless
Workers have been dumping new white sand at the rate of 590 cubic yards a day to buttress the dunes and protect State Road A1A from the Flagler Beach city limit down into Ormond By the Sea. Yet Flagler Beach itself, including the area at the heart of the city that has eroded even more since Hurricane Ian, remains critically defenseless.
FEMA Dollars May Not Be Enough to Rebuild Pier, State Emergency Chief Guthrie Tells Flagler Officials
Florida Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie told a group of Flagler County and Flagler Beach officials that they’ll need to lobby their state representatives for additional money if they hope to have all the funds necessary for an 800-foot concrete replacement pier.
Amendment 3: Is Yet Another Homestead Exemptions Needed, Or Prudent?
Florida voters could offer significant property tax exemptions to Florida’s teachers, firefighters, active-duty members of the U.S. military, and other specified professions, amid a relatively hostile housing market. But a well-meaning tax exemption may bring about other complications, such as a loss of local government tax revenue.
Halloween Hangover: Gas Prices Will Jump at Least 25 Cents Tuesday as Election Ploy Ends
The GOP-dominated Florida Legislature and the Biden administration have both manipulated gas prices ahead of the 2022 election, with a gas-tax cut in Florida that ends tonight, sending prices soaring 7 percent overnight, and continued releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, now at its lowest since 1984.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Palm Coast’s First Fall Arts Festival in Central Park Saturday, With Spotlight on Local Artists
Palm Coast government and the Palm Coast Arts Foundation are hosting the first Fall Arts Festival in Central Park in Town center Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. It’s free. And the focus will be on local artists.
Unchambered, Palm Coast Council Appoints 4 to Its Planning Board and Celebrates Planners
Ending an oddly lengthy and competitive process, the Palm Coast City Council today appointed new members and two alternates to its seven-seat Planning and Land Development Regulation Board, the powerful volunteer, advisory panel that oversees land use and often is the final stop for development applications.
Flagler Commission Approves 56-Home Subdivision on Barrier Island Despite Deep Drainage Concerns
The Flagler County Commission late Monday evening approved Scenic Cove, a 56-home subdivision on the barrier island, some 1,000 feet south of Marineland’s town limits. There was sharp opposition to Scenic Cove’s drainage and environmental plan, but after a 70-minute hearing, the commission approved the project, with pointed conditions, 5-0.
Harborside Tower in Dispute: Palm Coast and Developer Still Far Apart Over Allowable Number of Apartments
Palm Coast’s city planners would allow 122 to 159 fewer apartments and town houses than what the developer wants in a proposed developers of an 80-foot condo tower and town houses at Harborside, with other differences also remaining. The matter returns to the Palm Coast planning board Wednesday, after it was tabled amid controversy and public opposition last month.
In DeSantis Talks of Damage to Flagler’s Shore During Visit, 2 Words Spell Relief: Paul Renner
During a 60-minute stop in Flagler County this morning Gov. Ron DeSantis and Emergency management Director Kevin Guthrie took in the extent of damage to the pier and Flagler’s nearly-erased dunes, and the governor repeatedly spoke of Rep. Paul Renner, the incoming Speaker of the House, as an opportunity for Flagler to score big in funding help.
Development on Florida’s Barrier Islands Made Ian Evacuation Virtually Impossible
Builders trying to exploit a hot housing market for big profits ran roughshod over common-sense regulations intended to protect the public. Meanwhile, our elected officials went along with whatever the developers wanted. Hurricane Ian did the rest.
Flagler Beach Commission Wants Higher Increases in Water, Sewer, and Garbage Rates Than Proposed
The Flagler Beach City Commission Thursday evening voted to delay a series of increases to water, sewer, garbage and stormwater until Oct. 27–not because they were uncomfortable with the increases, but because they felt the increases may not be enough. So the rates to be proposed in two weeks will likely be higher than those before them on Thursday.
What To Do With Flagler Beach Pier? City Caught Between Costly Repairs and Demolition
The Flagler Beach City Commission is wrestling with whether to repair the pier at a potential cost of $650,000 and reopen it for well short of a year or keep it closed until it is demolished next year, ahead of the construction of a new, concrete pier. More data and public input may sway the commission.
8.7% Cost of Living Raise in Social Security Checks Is Biggest Since 1981: 6 Questions Answered
How are Social Security benefits adjusted for inflation? Are the benefits taxable? What other government programs typically get a COLA? Does the tax system also adjust for inflation? Why does the government adjust benefits for inflation?
Palm Coast Ups Cultural Arts Grants to Record $50,000, But Increase Is Less Than It Appears
This year’s budgeted amount of $50,000 for arts grants is the highest since the city began the program in 2002, and it is already the highest amount awarded. But in inflation-adjusted dollars, the city is budgeting less than it has in five previous years, and in per-resident spending on the arts, it is still spending less than it did in the first eight years of the program.
Flagler Beach Smoking Ban on Beaches Set to Take Effect This Weekend, Cigars and Vaping Exempt
The Flagler Beach City Commission Thursday is set to approve banning smoking almost any tobacco product on beaches, in parks and on the city’s boardwalk, with the exception of unfiltered cigars. Enforcement will be an issue: there are no intentions to police the ban, which does not extend to the beaches under county jurisdiction. The ordinance is silent on vaping and marijuana products.
Palm Coast Sees Potential Sports Complex in Undeveloped Land West of U.S. 1 as Catalyst to Development
Palm Coast government will spend $113,000 to study the market potential for a sports and recreation complex, possibly in the undeveloped portion of Palm Coast, north and west of U.S. 1. It would be more than just another Indian Trails Sports Complex, adding to the mix of local opportunities and regional or state tournament bookings.