Three Florida cases are the many the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear, which means a ban on Florida university faculty’s travel to Cuba stands, as does Florida’s authority to execute a Daytona Beach murderer with an IQ of 70.
Backgrounders
Lord of the Flies On a School Bus: The Bullying of Karen Klein
Karen Klein is the 68-year-old school bus monitor from Greece, N.Y., cruelly bullied by seventh graders and recorded on a YouTube video that went viral. The middle schoolers are acting out the persecuting spirit that christens their daily lives.
Wire Essentials, June 22: Banning College Football, Joking About Obama’s Blackness
Last Updated: Friday, 1:57 p.m. Banning college football: a debate, the Chamber of Commerce is undefeated at the US Supreme Court, the state of poverty in America, religious freedom as a license to discriminate, heckling and joking about Obama, press freedom’s scorecard.
The Live Poll: Obama-Romney
Take the poll: Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are battling for Florida’s 29 electoral votes, which are more essential to Romney than they are to Obama: Romney can’t win without them, Obama can.
Mike Pius, Firefighter Just Back from Winning Gold in Europe, Is Seriously Hurt in Wreck
Lt. Mike Pius, one of the more popular and decorated Flagler firefighter-paramedics, suffered several broken bones and may be out six months following a wreck in St. Augustine, after a truck cut through Pius’s right-of-way. Flagler Fire Chief Don Petito said the firefighter brotherhood kicked in immediately after the wreck.
Poll Pots: Floridians Like Stand Your Ground, And Like Voter Roll Purges Even More
A new Quinnipiac University poll shows Floridian voters support the Scott administration’s ineligible-voter purge by 60-35 percent, and approve the stand your ground law by a 56-37 margin.
Democrats Outpacing Republicans In Florida Registrations, But Not in Flagler
More Democrats than Republicans registered to vote in Florida in May, driven by women and Hispanics, but Independents continue to make the biggest gains, and in Flagler County, Republicans have widened their registration lead to a full percentage point.
Adult and Community Education Summber B Class Registration Now
The Flagler County Schools’ Adult & Community Education Department announces the beginning of the Summer B 2012 semester of classes. Summer B Session will begin July 9, 2012. Students may register by phone from June 18 – 29 by calling (386) 597-5480. After June 29, students may register at any Adult & Community Education Center, with locations throughout Flagler County including the Belle Terre Swim & Racquet Club, 73 Patricia Drive, Palm Coast, the A1A Center in the Hammock, and Flagler Technical Institute, 1 Corporate Drive, Palm Coast.
Riley Eddy
Little Miss Flagler County Contestant (2012)
Riley Eddy is a Little Miss Flagler County contestant in the 5 to 7 year old category of the 2012 Flagler County Pageant.
Florida and Flagler Back to Anemic Job Growth as Unemployment Stalls, Reflecting U.S. Trend
Florida added just 5,300 jobs in April, and the state unemployment rate would have risen back sharply had the labor department not revised its April figures to show a much higher unemployment rate than it announced last month.
Wire Essentials: June 15
Voter purge deja vu, tea party versus Ronald Reagan, quitting Microsoft in song, when Indianapolis was nuked, Romney’s bullying problem, Marco Rubio votes against food stamps, Fifty Shades of Gray’s origins, and more.
Stop and Frisk Follies
Stop and frisk is a constitutionally suspect police tactic that entails stopping and searching an individual for weapons arbitrarily. The practice disproportionately targets blacks and Latinos while yielding a minimal number of weapons–usually on whites.
Flagler School District Won’t Lift Facebook Ban, But Cracks Are Beginning to Appear
Facebook is blocked on Flagler County school district networks, though students and faculty access it anyway by bypassing the network on phones, and the district, which prides itself on technology uses, is considering lifting the ban during after-school activities.
Florida Prison Sentences Lengthen an Average Of 166% Since 1990, Most By Far in U.S.
Costing Florida taxpayers $1.4 billion a year, Florida’s prisons have some of the highest incarceration rates in the nation, too, even though the state still has the nation’s ninth highest violent crime rate, suggesting a poor return on investment.
Calling Their Tactic “Legal but Immoral,” Jim O’Connell Asks Flagler’s Write-Ins to Withdraw
In an open letter to write-in candidates in coming elections, Jim O’Connell, the former Flagler County Commissioner tells the write-ins their presence on the ballot will deny 40,000 voters their right to vote.
Gov. Scott Walker and the Pyrrhic Victories of Union-Bashing
Inspired by Ronald Reagan’s union-busting, the latest round in the war on labor is a self-inflicted wound on the American economy, where workers-union and non-union alike–have been losing ground for 30 years.
Understated Slivers: The Unique Fragility and Vitality of Barrier Islands
Barrier islands such as the one that hosts Flagler Beach are fragile, diverse and play a vital, understated but often unappreciated role in coastal ecology and protection. Frank Gromling provides a tour.
Write-In Sham: How an Obscure GOP Group Is Disenfranchising 40,000 Voters in Local Races
Democrats and Independents would normally be allowed to vote in primaries featuring only Republican candidates. By fielding write-ins who have no chance or intention of winning, the Ronald Reagan group is locking out those Democrats and Independents by creating the artifice of a contested general election.
“The Wreckage Was Vast and Startling”: Ernie Pyle on Omaha Beach, June 6, 1944
Ernie Pyle on Omaha Beach after the D-Day invasion of June 6, 1944 describes a wreckage “vast and startling” along “this shoreline museum of carnage” even as he anticipates inevitable victory for the Allies.
Lesbians’ Parental Rights Case Challenges Florida’s “Birth-Mother Only” Law
The lesbian couple’s case, now before the Florida Supreme Court, is unprecedented in Florida because the fertilized egg of one woman was implanted in her then-partner, who gave birth. The couple began raising the child together, but a legal battle began after a break-up that included the birth mother moving to Australia with the child.
Verdict on Jeb Bush’s Education Guru: “Nonsensical, Confusing and Disingenuous.”
Matthew Ladner got a 2011 Bunkum Award for the research he has published while working at Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education, a nonprofit whose mission is to encourage Florida-style education reform in other states.
Dolphin Deaths and Seismic Shockwaves: A Theory
Dolphins have been washing ashore, dead, by the hundreds, in Peru. Scientists theorize that oil and gas exploration’s blasting underwater, which breaks dolphins’ bones around the ear, may be the cause.
Mark Dwyer, Again Running for Judge in Flagler, Finds Himself on the Defensive. Again.
Attorney Mark Dwyer two years ago was admonished by the Florida Bar for a minor trust account issue. He’s now being reprimanded for a more serious issue, but Dwyer wants it explained at length. He takes the stand in his defense.
FPC Commencement 2012
My Daughter, the Graduate
I have covered an endless number of graduations in my career. Tonight, for the first time, my child–my daughter–was among the graduates. There was only one way to cover this one: in the first person.
Five Questions for Wansley Walters, Head of Florida’s Department of Juvenile Justice
Before becoming secretary of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, Wansley Walters directed the Miami-Dade County Juvenile Services Department, considered a national model for saving money while reducing the juvenile arrest rate. She’s the first woman to lead DJJ.
Businesses Don’t Create Jobs. Consumers Do.
Nick Hanauer’s TED talk demolishing the notion that businesses create jobs was allegedly censored by TED. That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but the controversy around the talk helps spotlight a prevailing dogma worth debating about job creators.
70 Homes and Counting as Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Project in New Orleans Builds On
Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation, which builds affordable homes in new Orleans’s deva In many cases, the private sector can move faster and better than government agencies. In my opinion, that is the record of Brad Pitt’s vision and action in New Orleans.
Be Prepared: 9 to 15 Tropical Storms or Hurricanes Predicted Beginning June 1
NOAA predicts a 70 percent chance of nine to 15 named storms, four to eight of them strengthening to a hurricane (with top winds of 74 mph or higher) and of those one to three will become major hurricanes. Be prepared.
Romney Takes 6-Point Florida Lead Over Obama; Rubio’s Impact as VP Is Minor
In a big reversal from two months ago, when the Republican primary contest was damaging Mitt Romney’s brand, Barack Obama’s fortunes have dimmed considerably in Florida, while a Marco Rubio addition to Romney’s ticket appears to yield less than a bang.
Being Sick in America
The recently ill are more likely to say the cost and quality of care have worsened over the past five years, compared to people who weren’t sick. A significant proportions say their treatment was poorly managed.
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.
Flagler’s FCAT Writing Scores Collapse, a Reflection of Florida’s Tougher Standards
As expected, Flagler County’s writing scores for 4th, 8th and 10th graders, released today, fell precipitously as the state imposed a new writing standard and a new passing grade, but itself failed to convey those standards clearly to teachers and principals ahead of time.
Crime Falls, Cop-Killings Rise: Flagler Officers Honor the Fallen and Gauge a Disturbing Trend
For the second year in a row, Florida led the nation in cops killed on the job. The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office held its annual ceremony for the fallen, and local top cops discussed the disturbing trend.
Flagler 911: Pit Bull Attacks, Combatant-Roomies, Violent Sibling
A pit bull attack near Fischer Lane, a crash-and-run on Rymfire, roommates fight their way to jail, a brother assaults his sister at European Village, a car gets keyed on Karas Trail, and more.
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.
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.
Fighting Obesity Like Cigarettes
America’s obesity epidemic has public health leaders looking at the war on tobacco for inspiration through more informative food labels, limits on marketing to children, and taxes on unhealthy products.
John Pollinger’s GOP Ballot Status In Question Over Dual Registration
John Pollinger, a Democrat in New Jersey until his move to Palm Coast, blames a small cabal of local Republicans for attempting to derail his candidacy for Flagler County Sheriff, but Florida law appears to support the claim that his previous registration disqualified his bid as a Republican.
For Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre, A Nuclear Drama to End a Radiant First Season
“The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds” is a terrible title but wonderful play, a wrenching, angry drama with comedic elements that caps the City Repertory Theatre’s first season at Hollingsworth Gallery, with six performances this weekend and the next.
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.
Progress Energy’s Nukes Plant Costs and Delays Escalate, But Customers Must Still Pay Ahead
A controversial Progress Energy Florida project to build two nuclear reactors in Levy County will not start producing electricity until 2024 — and likely will cost between $19 billion and $24 billion, the company now says, but customers will still have to pay for them now.
Remembrances of Jonathan May’s Past: Flagler Youth Orchestra Tours in Founder’s Memory
The Flagler Youth Orchestra on Saturday performed at three of Palm Coast’s assisted and independent living facilities in memory of Jonathan May, its founder and music director, who died in 2010.
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.
Pot Tourism in Retreat in the Netherlands
Pot tourism over? A Dutch court on Friday upheld a new law that will prevent foreigners from buying marijuana in coffee shops across the Netherlands.
Loans and Self-Contributions Swell Big Money Pots in Flagler Sheriff’s and County Judge Races
John Pollinger in the Flagler sheriff’s race and Melissa Moore Stens in the county judge race are leading in money raised so far, but largely on the strength of their own contributions. Almost $117,000 was raised by all candidates in 11 Flagler County races as of March 31.
At Nature Scapes, Palm Coast Garden Club Grows Its Annual Show Into a Special Event
The Palm Coast Garden Club found a new home for its annual garden show at Nature Scapes, the stately nursery on Old Brick Road, where, on Saturday, some 50 vendors drew a few thousand visitors and plant lovers.
DCF Goes Dr. Spock: A Free E-Book on Parenting at All Ages
From coping with a crying child to potty training techniques to keeping your teen drug-free and other parenting FAQs, the Department of Children and Families’ booklet, “Family Development: A Caregiver’s Guide,” is now available through a free download.
Car Plows Through Publix Entrance at Belle Terre; 10 Injured, But Heroic Acts, Too
A car plowed at least 20 feet through the main entrance of Publix at the Belle Terre and Palm Coast Parkway at 1:30 this afternoon causing eight injuries and one trauma alert. Authorities are at the scene evaluating the injured. Will have more details at they become available.
In Palm Coast’s New Garbage Contract, Some Savings and Big, Green, Long-Term Benefits
The $7 million, 5-year contract Palm Coast ratified with Waste Pro this week requires the company to build a natural gas fueling station and make it available to city vehicles by June 1, 2013, opening the way for considerable potential savings and cleaner fuel consumption for some of the city’s 258 vehicles.
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.