Georgia Turner, a sharp, congenial 30-year veteran of public relations and marketing hired out of the Daytona Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, follows Peggy Heiser, who resigned two weeks ago from the $65,000-a-year job.
Economy
News-Journal Circulation Drops Another 4.5%, Now Below 9,000 in Flagler Households
The News-Journal’s losses–the paper now reaches just a fifth of Flagler households–are at odds with gains at the St. Augustine Record and an end to declines, for now, at the Orlando Sentinel and the Jacksonville Times-Union.
Darrell Smith’s Coda to Flagler Beach’s New Doggie Dining Menu
“I’m sorry,” Writes Smitty, “I didn’t think it would go this far. Look at what I filmed at an unnamed Flagler Beach restaurant yesterday.” He graciously apologizes, too.
Unemployment Dips to 9%, Job Creation at 80,000, Private Sector Getting Stronger
The U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 9 percent, the first drop in three months, as 80,000 jobs were created in October and figures for August and September were revised upward, adding 102,000 jobs to previous totals.
200 Opponents of a Matanzas Woods Complex Tantalized By City Hints of a Solution
Palm Coast Manager Jim Landon told opponents of the Sawgrass Villas project that the city might entice the bank that owns the land to open a branch on SR100, buying city land and enabling the city to buy the Matanzas Woods property.
With Pomp and Yakety Yak, Flagler Auditorium Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary Tonight
The free concert by the Cornell Gunter’s Coasters of “Charlie Brown” and “YaketyYak” fame at 7 p.m. will follow an hour’s celebration and remembrances by local officials who lit the way of the Flagler Auditorium’s growth.
Bunnell Commission, With 14 Jobs in Jeopardy, Calls Emergency Meeting for Today
The Florida Department of Transportation has contracted with Bunnell for the past six years for road maintenance. Now Bunnell is one of 24 bidders on the same contract, and it’s heavily disfavored as Gov. Rick Scott pushes for privatization.
Those Airport X-Ray Machines? Cancer Risk. Yet Government Dismisses Cautions
Airport X-ray scanners could give cancer to six to 100 U.S. airline passengers each year, research suggests, yet the TSA still calls scanners safe, glossing over evidence that even low-dose radiation increases cancer risks. European airports ban their use.
Occupy Flagler Awakes the State Today as Movements Merge in Defense of Middle Class
The Occupy Flagler-Awake the State demonstration is taking place today at Belle Terre Parkway and Palm Coast Parkway, on the Kohl’s side of the street, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Heist in Print: How Newspapers Sold Their Soul to Business Brigands
Ethics in newspaper media, such as the once-inviolable church-state wall between newsrooms and the business department, are for the most part history as newspapers seek profits at the expense of public trust, Donald Kaul argues.
In a Switch, Flagler Beach Backs Doggie Dining At Some Restaurants, With Regulations
Dog-friendly dining in Flagler Beach, never exactly absent from some restaurants, is now entirely legal and embraced by the city commission that had sought to ban it just a few weeks ago.
My Fairest Tax Proposal: A Tax on Nonsense
Watching Republican candidates debate taxes and creationism on TV reminds me of original Star Trek episodes featuring those low-tech aliens that nevertheless managed to speak English every time.
Swell of Surfers Beats Back Flagler Beach Bid to Broaden Pier’s No-Go Zone, For Now
Flagler Beach’s proposal to double the no-surf zone to 300 feet around the Flagler Beach pier petered out before it was considered, with a caveat: commissioners want more self-policing from surfers, or else.
Foreclosure Tale: When Renters, Despite Protections, Are Intimidated Into Leaving
Palm Coast’s Genis family–mother, father, six children–was duly paying rent on its Smith Trail home when it was sold by the court and the family was given 10 days to clear out, even though it never saw an eviction notice.
Drawing Mayor’s Rebuke, Palm Coast Manager’s Trash Talk Skips Agenda Notice
Palm Coast City Manager Jim Landon drew up bid restrictions for the city’s $35 million trash contract designed to favor Waste Pro, the current hauler, while virtually disqualifying others–and preventing two potential new city council members from having a say in the contract.
Subtle Revelations as Commissioners Speed-Date Through 15 Job Council Candidates
An inside look at today’s rapid-fire one-on-one job interviews with 15 of the 36 candidates looking to fill the county commission’s nine-member economic development council.
300-Ft. No-Surf Zone Plan Around Flagler Beach Pier Has Surfers Angling for Battle
A season rich in storms, good waves and good fishing resulted in renewed clashes between fishermen and surfers around the Flagler Beach pier, and the latest proposal to extend the no-surf zone around it, priming angers before Thursday’s Flagler Beach City Commission meeting.
Nuclear Socialism: FPL and Progress Energy Get $282 Million Rate Hike
Though FPL’s and Progress Energy’s nuclear plants may never be built, the Public Service Commission is set to approve billing utility customers now for those future costs.
Flagler Dental Associates
30 Office Park Dr., Palm Coast
(386) 446-3883
(386) 446-5141
Palm Coast Dentists Flagler Dental provide dentures, partials, cleanings, botox, extractions, crowns, bridges, implant restoration, bone grafts, whitening, veneers and more. Accepting new patients.
What I Learned Occupying Wall Street and DC
The unemployed, the foreclosed, and the sick-of-it-all are coming together to discuss the world that we want to see and how to get there, says Lacy MacAuley, an activist, in an attempt to define the movement’s purpose.
Unemployment Largely Stalled: 14.6% in Flagler, 10.6% in Florida; Scott in Brazil
With Florida Gov. Rick Scott touting a recovery from a trip in Brazil with 180 politicians, pals and business interests, Florida’s and Flagler’s unemployment numbers remained more static, 20 percent of Floridians either out of work or under-employed.
Cole Bros. Circus Comes to Palm Coast Trailing History of Violations and Animal Abuse Charges
Cole Brothers Circus owner John Pugh pleaded guilty in February to violating the Endangered Species Act and the circus was fined $150,000, and both face a long list of animal abuse and neglect charges from the USDA.
Existing Home Sales Just Under 5 Million, 11.3% Better Than Last September
Existing-home sales were down in September on the heels of a strong gain in August, but remain well above a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Heiser Time Over: Tourism Council’s Trusted Executive Resigns; Turbulence Ahead
Peggy Heiser’s resignation, attributed to family priorities, will have political and economic ramifications as the Chamber of Commerce’s Doug Baxter–not the tourism council or the county commission–chooses a successor.
Palm Coast Pinch-Hits for Troubled Marathon Promoter Dean Reinke, Securing TDC Grant
Half-Marathon promoter Dean Reinke’s Dean Reinke Sports Group attempted three times to get Tourist Development Council subsidies in the last two years and was turned down because of deceptive practices. Palm Coast government stepped in and got the grant for the January event.
A Florida Bank’s Rise and Fall Spotlights Fast-and-Loose Culture Plaguing the Economy
The rise and fall of U.S. Century, whose leaders used it as their own corporate ATM, exemplifies the failure to regulate banking during the boom years and the slipshod approach to the bailout. Losers are taxpayers and Florida residents grappling with ill effects of sprawl.
Mike Taschler, Palm Coast Data VP and COO, Is Out as Revenue Continues to Fall
Taschler’s departure follows less than three months after the resignation of Palm Coast Data CEO John Meneough, and three weeks after the company posted another steep revenue decline.
The 99% Answer the 53%
In what has turned into one of the most virally circulated pieces of the year, Max Udargo explains the Occupy Wall Street movement to a conservative critic who calls himself part of the 53 percent.
CLASS Act No More: Obama Ends Long-Term Care Program in Defeat for Health Reform
The Obama administration determined the CLASS Act program could not simultaneously meet three important criteria: be self-sustaining, financially sound for 75 years and affordable to consumers.
Seawall Soul-Searching and Yet More Muddles Over Alternatives in Flagler Beach
The Flagler Beach City Commission shelved state transportation dollars that would have refurbished the seawall along 13th Street and skirted around discussions of alternatives to beach-saving in confusing motions Thursday.
Gov. Scott Proposes Corporate Tax Cuts Even As Florida Faces a Deficit of Up to $2 Billion
Gov. Rick Scott wants to double the corporate income tax exemption to $50,000 and eliminate the tangible tax for half of the state’s 300,000 businesses that now pay it. It’s part of his plan to eliminate all corporate taxes ins even years.
Real Living Palm West Home Realty Now at 5048 N. Oceanshore Blvd. in the Hammock
Real Living Palm West Home Realty’s expansion will enable it to provide higher levels of customer service in Flagler County.
Universities Defend Against Rick Scott’s Primitive War on Anthropologists
Not wanting tax dollars spent educating anthropologists, Rick Scott appeared unaware that the science is among the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and math) he himself is emphasizing to add jobs in Florida.
Bleak and Bleaker: State Revenue to Fall Another $2.5 Billion Over the Next 2 Years
The Legislature’s revenue estimating economists today announced a shortfall of about $1 billion for the coming year and $1.5 billion the following year. Rick Scott continues to rule out tax increases.
Rubio’s Rig: Florida’s Answer to Obama Health Law Leaving Small Businesses Cold
Florida’s Marco Rubio-created insurance exchanges aren’t open to individuals, provide no subsidies or tax credits, and no essential health benefits, as federal plans do. The exchanges have not been popular.
Florida Is No. 1–In Costs and Effects of Hunger
In the past 3 years, costs related to hunger rose 62 percent in Florida. In 2010, the state’s hunger bill was $11.7 billion, or six times more than the $1.75 billion in budget cuts Gov. Rick Scott proposed for public schools.
Occupy Jacksonville: Video and Reports of Saturday’s Occupy Wall Street-Inspired Protest
Occupy Jacksonville at hemming Plaza Saturday drew between 200 and 300 people, including participants from Palm Coast and Flagler County. Video of the protest, updates and pictures.
Saturday’s Great Bed Race in Flagler Beach Postponed Until Dec. 3
Weather is causing the postponement of the third annual Great Bed Race, which means that there’s two more months to enter the contest, which has already drawn a record 17 beds.
Palm Coast’s First Business-to-Business Expo: How-To For Recession-Defying Entrepreneurs
Some 60 businesses and agencies turned up for the day-long business-to-business expo organized by Palm Coast’s Business Assistance Center to focus on local, small and emerging businesses.
A Shade Less Than Dire, Unemployment Holds Again at 9.1% as 103,000 Jobs Are Added
July and August figures were revised upward for a net addition of 287,000 jobs over the last three month, still far short of what the economy needs to be healthy, or to bring the unemployment rate down.
Obama’s Job Creation Record: Millions Created or Saved, Still Too Few to Overcome Crisis
While the $825 billion stimulus raised employment from at least 1 million to 3.3 million people and significantly softened the recession, subsequent cutbacks at all level of governments reversed the gains and prevented a sustained recovery.
Recoiling Over Park Fees, Little Leagues Shine a Light on Palm Coast’s Increasing Insularity
A debate over new lighting fees at Palm Coast’s athletic fields reveals a city out of touch with its community organizations and contradicting its own claims about being kid- and sports-tournament friendly.
All-Business Snub: Flagler County Can’t Fill Its Own Economic Development Council Seats
Only four people have applied for the county commission’s eight-member economic development council, an embarrassing result for the government that dissolved Enterprise Flagler, claiming it could do the job better.
Of Course It’s Class Warfare. And the Rich Are Winning in a Rout.
Republicans are accusing President Obama of waging class warfare, which, Donald Kaul argues, is a little like the Japanese complaining about the time Pearl Harbor attacked them in 1941.
At European Village Jewelry Store, Two Unspeakable Words, One Charge, Then Jail
Dan and Edith Ferrena have run Palm Coast Gold Buyers at European Village for more than two years. At noon Friday, their world unraveled in a brief confrontation with a man who threw a supreme insult at Edith and accused Dan of pointing a gun at him.
Florida’s Bondi, 25 States and Obama Ask U.S. Supreme Court To Take Up Health Law
Florida Attorney general Pam Bondi led 26 states’ call to the US Supreme Court to take on Obama’s health care law. So did the Obama administration, as the court prepares to convene for its new term on Monday.
Florida Hospital Flagler Breaks Ground on $15 Million Satellite Near Palm Coast Parkway
The 34,000 square foot medical plaza in Cobblestone Village near Walmart will give Florida Hospital Flagler an imprint on the northern side of town and add between 15 and 25 jobs by next summer.
Much Slimmer Water Management District Approves Lower Tax Rate Imposed From Above
The St. Johns River Water Management District’s 26 percent tax reduction resulted in lay-offs of 95 people and the elimination of more jobs through buyouts and vacancies, affecting various parts of the district’s mission.
Palm Coast Civic Association to the Rescue: O’Donnell Crafts Creekside Compromise
The compromise gives the chamber of commerce a face-saving bail-out and allows all political candidates for Palm Coast City Council to meet Creekside visitors under the Flagler Palm Coast Civic Association’s tent.
Town Simmer: City Retreats From Four-Laning Bulldog Drive or Condemning Ajram Property
Lack of money and traffic and the threat of a lawsuit forced Palm Coast to keep Bulldog Drive a two-lane road for now, beautifying it, but also dropping its long-running condemnation threat against property owner Gus Ajram.