Family Life Center Executive Director Trish Giaccone responded bluntly Thursday to criticism from Flagler Beach mayor Suzie Johnston that Giaccone had gone “rogue” by appearing on a radio commercial hosted by an incendiary county commissioner. But it does not appear as if relations between the city and the Life Center will improve.
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Covid Deaths in Flagler Reach 140, an Increase of 26 in 3 Weeks; 90 Hospitalized in Palm Coast, ‘All ICUs at Capacity’
Local infections and hospitalizations for covid continue to break records. Data is emerging that points to vaccines losing their efficacy over time, underscoring the push for booster shots in a significant shift from earlier guidance. The reason: the delta variant of the coronavirus, far more infectiously virulent, has radically changed the landscape, making so-called “breakthrough” infections of the vaccinated more common than originally thought and forcing public health agencies to adjust.
Flagler Beach Fire Department Again Requests $546,000 Pierce Truck, and Again Embers of Opposition Flare
The Flagler Beach Fire Department is requesting approval of a $546,000 fire truck to replace its 25-year-old Engine 111. The commission is receptive. But as in 2016 and again in 2020, when fire-truck purchases were floated, the proposal is drawing some opposition, some of it intimating (again) that the city should consider consolidation with county fire services.
White House Orders Nursing Home Workers in Florida Vaccinated, Whatever DeSantis Says
As Covid-19 cases continue to surge in Florida, the White House announced Wednesday that nursing homes that rely on Medicaid and Medicare funding must require their staff members to get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus.
In ‘Huge Deal,’ Flagler School Board Votes to Double Impact Fees on New Construction, 1st Increase in 16 Years
The school board in a series of unanimous votes Tuesday approved a doubling in school impact fees, the one-time levy imposed on new construction and designed to defray the cost of new schools required by a growing population. The “huge deal,” in the words of Board Attorney Kristy Gavin, will increase the single-family home impact fee from $3,600 to $7,175.
School Board Rejects Renewed Mask Mandate in 3-2 Vote at Meeting That Devolves into Chaos and Defiance
It was one of the Flagler County School Board’s more raucous meetings in recent memory this evening, with several key votes, including a rejection by the board, on a 3-2 vote, to restore a mask mandate in schools, with an opt-out provision. The board chamber had to be cleared for 45 minutes, and more than half a dozen sheriff’s deputies responded.
No, Indian Trails Middle Isn’t Requiring Vaccines, Detaining or Banning Students, But Falsehoods Go Viral Anyway
The case of a parent’s reaction to her son at Indian Trails Middle School being required to quarantine for at least four days illustrates how easily inaccurate information is misused to politically tendentious ends–it’s led to a call for a showdown before the school board this evening–or inflated into non-existent problems or false claims.
Food Stamps Benefits Will Increase 25%, First Increase in 15 Years, Helping 15,000 in Flagler
In Flagler County, 14,809 people in 7,546 households were receiving food stamps, and 3.3 million Floridians in 1.9 million households were. Average monthly benefits will increase to $157, or $36 more than pre-pandemic levels.
County’s Budget Agreement Nets Sheriff 10 of 15 Requested Deputies and $400,000 Mobile Command Vehicle
The Flagler County Commission this afternoon agreed to lower the county’s property tax by a symbolic decimal point next year, though county revenue will still grow by nearly $6 million and the sheriff will get an additional $2.2 million, ensuring the addition of 10 new deputies and a $400,000 mobile command center.
21 Flagler Residents Have Died of Covid in Last 2 Weeks, 1,600 Deaths in Florida, But State Is Masking the Figures
Flagler’s death count was released only after a public record request. The state Health Department is masking death counts for the state as a whole, just as it has been fudging vaccination figures to make them seem higher than they are, just as it has eliminated daily reports of case counts, whether for the state or the counties, in an apparent effort to downplay the intensity of the crisis.