Palm Coast City Council members aren’t interested in changing twice-a-week trash pick-up frequency or scaling back curbside recycling, but nothing guarantees Waste Pro another contract extension as the city bids out the contract later this year.
Economy
UNF in Palm Coast Will Double Its Student Body to 50 and Make $1 Million Available in Scholarships
The University of North Florida’s Mednexus hub in Palm Coast’s Town Center will launch in August with 50 students and make $1 million available to them in scholarships. The university received a $1.5 million subsidy from Palm Coast government, one of its chief local partners. Others include Daytona State College and AdventHealth Palm Coast.
The False Choice Between STEM and the Arts: If You Care About All Careers, Protect Arts Programs in Our Schools
The arts do more than just serve as entertainment for us or as diversions or resume-padding for students, let alone as luxuries for school districts. Like team sports, the arts develop key interpersonal and critical skills that are rarely, if ever, taught in traditional STEM classes.
Despite Covid and Housing Crisis, Florida Lawmakers Approve Gutting Affordable Housing Trust Fund
Lawmakers have approved a permanent, massive reduction of money earmarked for the state’s affordable housing fund. Those dollars come from documentary stamp revenues. The legislation is headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk for his signature.
When Births Go Horribly Wrong, Florida Protects Doctors and Forces Families to Pay the Price
A Florida program designed to reduce doctors’ malpractice bills strips families of their right to sue, offering instead a one-time payment and promises to cover medical expenses. Some parents report a bureaucratic nightmare that’s anything but supportive.
Bill Ending Bright Futures’ Guaranteed Funding Clears Florida Senate, Upending Scholarship Program
The bill would change a system that now provides scholarships to students at either 75 percent or 100 percent of the cost of tuition and fees by making funding dependent on appropriations in the annual state budget, which eliminates guaranteed funding for students.
Florida House Set to Approve Online Sales Tax on Out-of-State Retailers That Would Raise $1 Billion
The money would initially be used to replenish the state’s Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund, which became depleted during the Covid pandemic. After the fund is replenished, the revenue would be used to make a major cut in a tax on commercial rent.
Palm Coast Tenant Jailed Over Death Threats Against Landlord. But Should He and His Family Have Been Evicted?
Anthony Douglas Debolt and his partner had lost their jobs during covid and fallen behind to the point of facing eviction from their R-Section house, and matters got worse as Debolt allegedly texted death threats to his landlord. But a federal order is in effect that protects some tenants from evictions,
Flagler Airport Will Delay Building Its New Terminal Another Year to Build More Money-Making Hangars
The Flagler County Commission agreed to delay building the long-awaited $6.5 million terminal at the county airport, agreeing instead to a $560,000 project to build 42 new hangars, which the airport director says will make the airport $212,000 a year.
Community Cats Opens Bigger Thrift Store in Bunnell to Pay for New Adoption Facility
Community Cats of Palm Coast, Flagler County’s largest cat-rescue organization, opened its new thrift store today in the Alamo Business Center at 4550 North US 1 in Bunnell to help fundraise and support a future adoption center in an adjoining location.
A Recipe for Taxing the Rich in Seven Steps
Income and wealth are now more concentrated at the top than at any time over the last 80 years, and our unjust tax system is a big reason why, argues Robert Reich. These 7 ways of taxing the rich would generate more than $6 trillion over 10 years.
Plan to Raze 4 Prisons and Eliminate 6,000 Beds Alarms Communities Attached to Jobs
A plan to shutter up to four state prisons is alarming officials in Florida’s rural regions where correctional institutions have played an outsized role in providing jobs and supporting businesses for decades.
Backed by Millions in Public and Private Cash, Rapid Covid Tests Are Coming to Stores Near You
Scientists and lawmakers agree that over-the-counter covid tests could allow desk workers to settle back into their cubicles and make it easier to reopen schools and travel, though screening accuracy varies, as does the way consumers get results.
For Waste Pro in Palm Coast, Trashy Service Piles Up Complaints and Fines Again As City Nears New Bid
Waste Pro since March 2018 has accumulated $112,500 in fines over shoddy service. It had a good 2020, but the first three months of 2021 have been increasingly poor, and just as the city is preparing to bid out the contract, which expires in 2022. The company again blames a driver shortage. The city wants Waste Pro to live up to its contractual obligations.
Electric Power Bills Will Increase $48 a Year For Typical Customer; FPL Blames Higher Fuel Costs
The state Public Service Commission on Thursday approved a request by FPL to collect $302.5 million from customers to cover additional costs of fuel for power plants. FPL customers who use 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month will see their bills increase from the current $99.05 a month to $103.02 in May. The additional charges will continue through December.
Powered by Restaurants and Tourism, Economy Adds 916,000 Jobs, Lowering Unemployment to 6%
The national economy added 916,000 jobs in March, with big gains in restaurant, bar and tourism, construction and government jobs and strong gains in almost all other sectors, sending the unemployment rate down to 6 percent, the lowest rate in a year: the rate was 4.4 percent and rising 12 months ago as the coronavirus pandemic was sweeping in.
Affordable Housing Under Attack: Flagler Realtors Join Opposition to Decimation of Housing Trust Fund
Flagler County Realtors are joining forces with state counterparts to oppose a proposal that would gut the amount of money the state will spend on affordable housing, by limiting Sadowski trust fund expenditures to that end to 33 percent of the fund’s total.
Flagler Beach’s Iconic A-Frame Is Getting a Make-Over for First Time in 24 Years
The Flagler Beach Pier’s A-frame is getting its first re-shingling in 24 years, a $9,360 job and the fourth in the last four years on different parts of the pier and its restaurant, ahead of the city’s upcoming centennial.
Palm Coast Student Elliott Bertrand Accuses Senate Panel of ‘Prejudice’ Before 6-4 Vote on Transgender Sports Ban
The Florida Senate Health Policy Committee today approved a bill that would scrap existing policy and ban transgender women from participating in competitive high school and college sports absent testosterone testing that might clear them to play. Elliott Bertrand, a student at Flagler Palm Coast High School, was among the many opponents of the bill who addressed the panel in Tallahassee.
Among Stingiest in the Nation for Years, Florida’s Unemployment Benefits Could Rise $100 a Week
The proposal (SB 1906), which cleared the Commerce and Tourism Committee, would lead to a range of unemployment benefits of $100 to $375 a week. That would be up from the current range of $32 to $275 a week.
Calling Mullins ‘Pied Piper of Hate, Deception and Fraud,’ School Board’s Conklin Rips His Latest Attack on LGBTQ and GOP
Joe Mullins combined attacks on transgender people and local Republicans in an extended screed filled with falsehoods and mischaracterizations as he spoke to a local far-right Republican group, prompting the School Board’s Colleen Conklin to issue a severe condemnation and called him a “narcissistic beast.”
In Florida, Companies Will Be Shielded from Covid Lawsuits, Leaving Frontline Workers to Fend for Themselves
Opponents of the bill heading for Gov. DeSantis’s signature warn it will protect corporations more than people and offers no protections for front-line workers who contracted the virus while on the job. Employees are required to use the workers’ compensation insurance system for on-the-job injuries, but claims often are getting denied.
Flagler Beach Again Cancels July 4 Parade and Fireworks, Wrapping Hopes for a Big Event Around Christmas
For the second year in a row, Flagler Beach will not host its traditional July 4 parade and fireworks, the city commission decided tonight, nor will the event be postponed to Labor Day. Doing so would be too “risky,” the commission agreed with Flagler Health Department Chief Bob Snyder. Commissioners are placing their hopes on a big event and parade around Christmas, including fireworks.
Hutson-Sponsored Bill to Regulate Vaping Clears House Panel, Without Ban on Flavored Products
More than two years after the U.S. surgeon general declared youth vaping an epidemic, Florida lawmakers again are working on an effort to regulate the sale of electronic cigarettes and raise the age to use tobacco and vaping products from 18 to 21.
House Committee Postpones Debating Vacation Rental Bill That Would Have Stripped Local Authority
Flagler County has kept preservation of regulatory authority among its legislative priorities year after year, as the vacation rental industry has–year after year–attempted to scrap the 2014 law and “pre-empt” local control to the state.
Employee Ranks Double at Flagler’s Own Coastal Cloud as Company’s Vaccine and Testing Platforms Go Viral
Hammock-based Coastal Cloud’s testing and vaccine platforms, adopted by the Florida Division of Emergency Management, placed the company at the center of the state’s battle against covid and resulted in a doubling of the company’s ranks to 280, despite the crisis.
‘Career Criminal’ Who Spent 17 Years in State Prison Is Arrested Over St. Mary’s Thrift Shop Burglaries
Michelle M. Wilburn, a 51-year-old resident of west Flagler, twice sentenced to state prison for burglary and violent crimes, is the second suspect arrested in a rash of burglaries at a Catholic Church’s thrift store used to raise money for the needy and for church functions.
‘Covid Passports’? Not in Florida, Governor Declares, Threatening Sanctions Against Companies That Try It
DeSantis this week suggested he may go after companies if they require customers to show proof that they are vaccinated, saying “it’s more than just a private decision.” The governor was referring to what have been called Covid-19 passports, a phenomenon gathering momentum abroad.
Finally, the Biggest Healthcare Expansion in a Decade. Now Make It Permanent.
This victory is only one step in efforts to expand health care access. The next step is to make them permanent — or, better yet, move toward a public option or universal, Medicare for All system that doesn’t tie health care access to employment or income at all, argues Olivia Alperstein.
Flagler Sues Inspection Company in Hopes of Recovering Up to $400,000 Lost in Sears Building Fiasco
Flagler County government on Friday filed suit against Universal Engineering, the inspection company that the county claims misled it about the soundness of the former Sears building on Palm Coast Parkway that the county bought for $1.125 million and had to sell at a huge loss.
County Takes Extraordinary Legal Step to Demolish Derelict Motel on Old Dixie as Owners Stop Responding
Flagler County government has filed suit to condemn and demolish the long-derelict, yellowed Country Hearth Inn motel that’s vexed law enforcement, residents and county code enforcement officials for years near Dixie Commons along South Old Dixie Highway, not far from the interchange with I-95.
Lawmakers Still Aim to Penalize Bright Futures Recipients for Not Taking ‘Approved’ Majors
Under the amendment filed by Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, Bright Futures scholarships would be “reduced” for students who don’t choose an academic discipline deemed promising for job prospects.
Flagler County’s Unemployment Rate Rises Back to 5.1%, Florida’s Falls to 4.8%
While 595 more Flagler residents qualified for unemployment in January, an unusually sharp one-month rise in part reflecting retail’s post-holiday layoffs, almost 200 more people were employed in January than in December, and the labor force grew by 788, a strong indication of confidence in the local economy.
FPL Files Proposal That Would Raise Base Power Rates 18% Over the Next 4 Years
Customers who use 1,000 kilowatt hours a month would see their bills go from $99.05 in January 2021 to $109.58 in January 2022. The bills would then go to $113.49 in January 2023; $115.61 in January 2024; and $117.06 in January 2025.
With Stimulus Dollars On the Way, Florida’s 1st-Time Unemployment Claims Fall to Lowest Level in Pandemic
The U.S. Department of Labor estimated Thursday that Florida had 16,005 initial unemployment claims filed during the week that ended March 6, down from a revised count of 19,020 claims in the week ending Feb. 27.
One Year Later, Stories of AdventHealth’s first Covid Patients Highlight Compassion in Medicine
On the one year anniversary of the World Health Organization’s declaration of a global pandemic, AdventHealth officials reflected on the changes brought on by the virus and how it emphasized the hospital system’s founding mission of caring for the whole person – body, mind and spirit.
In a Victory for Flagler Government, Key Local Vacation Rental Regulations May Survive Yet Again
A Florida Senate panel today in a surprise shift voted to preserve local regulatory authority of short-term vacation rentals. If that version of the bill survives and overrides a different House bill, as appears likely, then local regulations will remain in place unscathed, surviving attempts to scrap that local authority for the seventh straight year.
Chillin’ Out: Palm Coast Residents Love Their Quality of Life and Safety, But Have Issues With Their City, Too
The 3,000 Palm Coast residents who responded to the city’s survey about living here were overwhelmingly 55 and over, appeared to have been little affected by the pandemic and declared themselves happy with the quality of life and safety of the city, but less so with economic, cultural and shopping opportunities.
Between Employer Wage Theft and Political Meddling, Florida’s Minimum Wage Boost to $10 Is Struggling
The Florida Legislature is looking to tinker with the amendment that raises the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026, and advocacy groups for higher wages are concerned about employers who violate the law by paying some employees below the minimum wage, ripping off employees.
Far More Than Stimulus Checks: Premiums Will Fall for Many in Biggest Obamacare Revamp in 10 Years
The proposal would ensure no one who buys insurance on the exchanges pays more than 8.5% of income. It is part of the $1.9 trillion covid relief bill. But the Affordable Care Act revamp, largest in a decade, would expire in 2022.
Latest Reinvention of Palm Coast Tennis Center Sees $5.7 Million Expansion and More Ahead, But Speculation Abounds
Palm Coast government is proposing an ambitious, multimillion transformation of the city’s tennis center off Belle Terre Parkway into a “Regional Racquet Center” featuring 42 tennis and pickleball courts, a clubhouse, space for events and other amenities. But the plan is based on largely speculative assertions of need even as tennis declines as a sport and the school board is rethinking its own racquet club’s future.
Essential Workers Deserve $15 an Hour
I’m one of America’s millions of essential workers. We’re working in your children’s schools, at your grocery stores, and at drive-through windows. We’re cleaning your homes. And we’re struggling so hard to make ends meet.
Why We Can’t Make Vaccine Doses Any Faster
President Biden has promised enough doses for all American adults by this summer. There’s not much even the Defense Production Act can do to deliver doses before then.
Now Florida’s Only 2nd All-American Road, Storied A1A Has Long Navigated Between Quaint and Crass
State Road A1A is now an All-American Road, adding to the road’s paradoxes of beauty and history on one side and and relentless commercialization and development on the other, though the same people who applaud its scenic designation are also those who endanger it most.
Flagler Health+ Appoints David Rice, MD, Executive Vice President and Chief Physician Executive
David Rice, MD, has joined Flagler Health+ as Executive Vice President and Chief Physician Executive as current EVP & Chief Medical Officer Miguel Machado, MD, announced his plans to retire in September.
Palm Coast Council Retreats On Closing Slow Way in Seminole Woods, Seeking More Input
Two weeks after voting to close Slow Way, a tiny road connecting Slow Drift Turn with County Road 325 in Seminole Woods, the Palm Coast City Council voted 5-0 to table the issue after being subjected to a long stream of resident voices in opposition to the closure.
It’s a County Priority, But Quest to Bring Broadband to Flagler’s West Side Runs Into County Hurdles
County Commissioner Joe Mullins is seeking county staff’s help with an informal broadband “task force” he leads to land a grant that could improve internet services on the west side, raising questions about the extent to which the county can get involved in a group it has not formally recognized or knew much about even though broadband access is now a county priority.
Productivity Math: A $15 Minimum Wage Is Still $9 Short of Where It Should Be
The weakening and undermining of unions, tax policy, urban and suburban planning and minimum wage standards no longer adjusted for inflation have left an obscene gap between worker productivity and poor and working class wages and benefits.
Florida Lawmakers Want New THC Caps on Florida’s Already-Weak Medical Pot Content
Medical marijuana advocates fiercely criticized a pair of restrictive bills filed by lawmakers, which they maintain will force patients to spend more money to achieve the same effects from their medical treatment.
What Do You Want From Your Next Garbage Hauler? Palm Coast Surveys Your Preferences.
Palm Coast will be considering whether to stick with Waste Pro for the next five years, alter its contract, including recycling or number of weekly pick-ups, or go with a new garbage hauler . The city is seeking residents’ input about what they want from their hauler.