Head Start has given 20 million Americans a positive start in life since 1964. Marian Wright Edelman argues that continued success is in jeopardy as Republicans aim to decimate the program in the name of budget cuts.
Backgrounders
Duval, Clay, Volusia Helping Flagler; 18 Homes Pre-Evacuated; White Eagle Flaring Anew
Other counties’ crews should help relieve local firefighters and press the case for a declaration of a state of emergency. Pre-evacuation warnings affect the western portion of Flagler, north of S.R. 100.
Video Tour: Lt. Richard Bennett Takes You Into the Heart of the Espanola Fire
Lt. Richard Bennett is the Flagler County Fire Department’s operations chief, overseeing all fires. He describes and explains the extent of the Espanola fire and what firefighters have been doing to try to stay ahead of it.
Flagler Fires: New 70-Acre Blaze Northwest of Palm Coast, 3 in Southwest, Espanola Billows
The 70-acre late-afternoon blaze northwest of Palm Coast, beyond Hargrove Grade, was contained by evening, but three fires in the southwest are burning anew, and Espanola is approaching 2,000 acres.
Coquina Defund: Palm Coast’s Desalination Hopes Dry Up As Last Partners Drop Out
The Coquina Coast Seawater Desalination project unveiled 14 general sites where the plant might be located in Palm Coast, but it may be a moot discussion as the city’s financial partners are quitting, and Palm Coast can’t afford it on its own.
When Will That Walmart Open on Old Kings Road? “Nobody Knows”
Expanding Old Kings Road was to guarantee Walmart’s opening by 2011, with 400 to 500 jobs. Instead, the city is left holding a bag-full of empty promises–and a $6.3 million loan from its utility fund.
FCAT Scores: Indian Trails Middle School (ITMS)
FCAT Scores, passing rates and historical data for Indian Trails Middle School, including 2011.
FCAT Scores: Rymfire Elementary School
FCAT Scores, passing rates and historical data for Rymfire Elementary School, including 2011.
FCAT Scores: Old Kings Elementary School
FCAT Scores, passing rates and historical data for Old Kings Elementary School, including 2011.
FCAT Scores: Wadsworth Elementary School
FCAT Scores, passing rates and historical data for Wadsworth Elementary School, including 2011.
FCAT Scores: Buddy Taylor Middle School (BTMS)
FCAT Scores, passing rates and historical data for Buddy Taylor Middle School, including 2011.
FCAT Scores: Bunnell Elementary School
FCAT Scores, passing rates and historical data for Bunnell Elementary School, including 2011.
FCAT Scores: Flagler Palm Coast High School (FPC)
FCAT Scores, passing rates and historical data for Flagler Palm Coast School, including 2011.
FCAT Scores: Belle Terre Elementary School
FCAT Scores, passing rates and historical data for Belle Terre Elementary School, including 2011.
The Live Crime Blotter, May 16-30, 2011
A burglary at the Imagine School work site, a woman flees and eludes a cop all the way to her home, a dog licks a cop and trouble follows, a long list of larcenies from unlocked cars, and more.
Firefighters and 3 Helicopters Contain Fire Near White Eagle Saloon; US 1 Open
Firefighters are battling a large fire at just east of US1, trying to keep it from jumping the highway, as another fire near Espanola had grown to 320 acres.
An Empty $105 Million High School, Suicide Kits, Mahler, John Wayne and Scott-Heron: The Live Wire
Budget-cut follies as a $105 million high school sits empty, Niall Ferguson as an emblem of brain-dead conservatives, when Mahler took Manhattan, a Times Square flash mob, Sarah Palin’s weird hikes, creepy corporate mascots, and more.
Firefighters Battling Large, Twin Blazes Merging Into One Just West of Espanola
Flagler County firefighters and other dire departments were deployed against a 200-acre fire west of Espanola and north of the Mondex Monday evening, where two brush fires had joined into one large one.
Eying Jobs and Tourism Dollars, Orlando Ready to Build $274 Million Arts Center
Arts columnist Josh Garrick appraises the value of Orlando’s Philips Center for the Performing Arts–stalled for four years, now scheduled to open in 37 months with two stages, and a third at a later date.
Good Riddance: How the Shuttle and the Space Station Crippled America’s Space Program
Between the space shuttle and the International Space Station, America’s space program’s addiction to manned flights has been held hostage to an unimaginative low-orbit. It’s long-past time to scrap both and push the limits of unmanned exploration.
Widespread Declines in 3rd Grade FCAT, With 2 Exceptions–Rymfire and Imagine
The declines in passing rates in the regular schools were slight but consistent, and more dramatic at two charter schools. Also, 107 of the 990 students tested failed, jeopardizing promotion to 4th grade pending summer school results.
Lessons Against Drowning: Tom Gillin’s Water Tutorials Before Schools Let Out for Summer
Tom Gillen, Flagler Beach’s parks and recreation director and its life-guard-in-chief, has taken his junior-lifeguard lecture on the road to local schools to prepare children for summer break’s biggest attraction.
Poll Dumps Rick Scott Approval to 29%, Worst of Any Governor Quinnipiac Tracks
Gov. Rick Scott’s disapproval rating continues to rise, to 57 percent at last count, up almost 10 points in six weeks. Even Republicans have curbed their enthusiasm.
Rapture On: God Is Great, Beer Is Good, People Are Crazy
Judgment Day came and went and we’re still here. Most of us, anyway. A few thoughts about the book of Revelation and the greatest country song since “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.”
Flagler Ranks Low in Latest Florida Forever Priorities, But Money Is Elusive Anyway
Only one project–the 4,200-acre Flagler County Blueway–made the list of the state Florida Forever priorities for preservation this year, and at a low ranking–with little to no money in the state fund anyway.
Brush Fire in Residential Area of Bunnell’s Mondex Flirts With Clothing Ministry
The fire in a residential area, believed to have been triggered by a lightning strike, was near a house and God’s Clothing Ministry, which hands out free clothes and shoes twice a week. No evacuations were necessary.
Bean-Counting Innovation: When Small-Bore Government Patents Job-Killing
Innovation is at the root of job creation. The U.S. Patent Office is innovations’ gate-keeper, with a backlog of 715,000 patent applications. Yet Congress just reduced the office’s budget by $100 million while dickering over reforming its administration.
Thelma and Louise of Geometric Abstractions Ride Into Hollingsworth Gallery
Louise Lieber, a sculptor and painter, and Antoinette Slick, a painter, are paired in a beguiling new show at the Hollingsworth Gallery. Their art is a journey into the possibilities and beauties of geometry.
Wicked Transition to Stage Magic as FPC Goes Emerald With “Wizard of Oz” This Weekend
“The Wizard of Oz” at the Flagler Auditorium is the biggest FPC stage production to date, with a live orchestra and a cast and crew of 75. The production gelled in a mere six weeks under a new director, after the previous one quit.
Select Flagler School Seniors Receive 239 Scholarships Worth $240,000 at Ceremony
The annual ceremony hosted by the Flagler County Education Foundation celebrated its 25th year Tuesday as 108 organizations’ scholarships were presented to 138 seniors. See the full list.
Kent State, Trump Foxed, Holocaust Tales, a Fawn Saved in Flagler Beach: The Live Wire
Remembering the 14 students shot by their own troops at Kent State in 1970, First Fridays in Flagler Beach, Rick Scott in Daytona, the super-rich’s tax hypocrisies, and the continuing stupidities of Donald trump, and more.
Circulation Still Declining at News-Journal, Rising at Sentinel and St. Augustine Record
The News-Journals losses over the past 12 months were not as steep as in previous years: a 1.2 percent decline on weekdays, 2.5 percent decline on Sundays, though other regional newspapers are seeing increases in circulation.
Jacksonville Symphony Pops “Americana Under the Stars” at Palm Coast Concert
Featuring a slew of favorites from Gershwin to Berlin (Irving, that is) to Strauss, the Jacksonville Symphony’s annual pilgrimage to Flagler is the Palm Coast Arts Foundation’s signature event and fund-raiser.
Obama Releases Long-Form Birth Certificate; Trump Takes Credit
President Obama this morning released his long-form birth certificate, hoping to end conspiracy theories about his place of birth. The release is unlikely to put an end to birthers midwifing new theories.
Birther Myths, Imagine’s Cheerleaders, In Defense of Flogging and Typewriters: The Live Wire
Anderson Cooper takes on birthers, Imagine School’s cheerleaders take on Sarasota, Unions take on the Florida Chamber, a prison scholar takes up flogging, the typewriter is still clicking, and more.
John F. Kennedy’s Speech on the Arts and Robert Frost, Amherst College (1963)
Full text and audio of John F. Kennedy’s Amherst College speech on the arts in 1963, one of the most eloquent defenses of the artist and art’s role in American civilization by an American president.
NTSB Preliminary Investigation Report: Flagler County Airport Crash on March 26, 2011
Full text of the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary investigation report, released on April 19, 2011, of the fatal plane crash at the Flagler County Airport on March 26, 2011, involving an Aerostar S A YAK-52, piloted by Bill Walker.
Bunnell Police Miscues Helping To Lessen Case Against Ex-Cops John and Lisa Murray
Lisa Murray faces one less count of official misconduct, but while a grand theft charge against John Murray was dropped, a charge of official misconduct was added. The cases, for now, are proceeding to trial.
It’s Not Enough to Say No to a Seawall in Flagler Beach: An Action Plan Past Opposition
Sherry Epley, a resident of Flagler Beach, lays out a six-point action plan on how to build and sustain opposition to a seawall while developing a viable alternative that saves the beach and State Road A1A.
Textual Titillations, Chamber Scott, Perot Trump, Buying Legislators and Poetry in Jazz: The Live Wire
Buy one legislator, get one free, what’s far worse than sexting, a free speech leap in Vancouver, the Rude Pundit on Obama, when Donald Trump insults “the blacks,” and more.
Stereotype This: “Lazy Mexicans” And Other Insolvent Myths of American Superiority
As it turns out Mexicans are not only harder workers than Americans. They are the hardest workers in the industrialized world, while smugness, selfishness and the pursuit of inequality are becoming American brands.
Water Wars, Side B: Why a Subdivision With 10% of Bunnell’s Residents Is Suing the City
Bunnell has been reading Palm Terrace Mobile Home park’s water meters and servicing its sewer station for 27 years. The city wants to stop doing so to save money, billing the park in one lump sum. The park owner says the city is breaching a 27-year-old annexation agreement.
Conklin Is Fired From State-Backed Job After Talk of Suing the State Over Education Funding
Colleen Conklin has been an outspoken advocate for education as a Flagler County School Board member for 10 years–and as the COO of a largely state-funded education foundation for the last four. One job cost her the other.
Palm Coast Maps Out Gentler, Kinder Impact Fees on Developers, But Questions Arise
The one-time impact fees developers pay when they build something would be lower for residential construction. Builders would get discounts for paying up front, or get to pay them on an installment plan.
Flagler County School District Employee Health Insurance Benefits, 2011-2012
Flagler County school district employee health insurance benefits, dental and vision plans as provided by United Health Care for 2011-2012: chart and comparison with previous year’s premium costs.
Barack Obama and Rick Scott In Florida Voters’ Eyes: From Lousy to Dismal
The latest poll has Obama’s approval at just 44 percent, and Scott’s at 35 percent, with Scott’s disapproval rating doubling in two months, and 60 percent of Floridians saying Florida is on the wrong path. The poll reveals widespread dissatisfaction.
At Public Forum on Sex Education, Passionate Opinions and Reprimands, But No Consensus
Some 40 people spoke out of the 100 who showed up at the school district’s forum on what direction sex education should take. The disappointing turnout underscored the board’s point–that parents are uninvolved, making the district’s role more vital.
Far Apart, School Unions and Flagler District Negotiators Still Looking for a Common Page
After two sessions on Wednesday, negotiators only agreed to meet again in mid-April to discuss clearer, fresher budget numbers before negotiating proposed cuts of $3.5 million that would affect most employees and students in the district.
School Employees Facing Steep Increases in Health Insurance Costs, Further Eroding Pay
Premiums are rising by up to 37 percent for many of the 1,337 school district employees who seek health coverage, particularly for those with family coverage. Employees also face another pay cut next year if retirement contributions are expected of them.
Sex Education In Flagler County Schools: Students’ Comments, Part 1
Complete set of (anonymous) comments by students from grades 6 to 12 in response to a sex education survey by the Flagler County school district. Comments are provided here unedited and uncensored.