DeSantis is obsessed with remaking education according to his authoritarian tendencies, doing his damnedest to wreck K-12 with his army of book-banning harpies in “Moms for Liberty” and his Scared Karens legislation, and forbidding honest discussion of slavery and racism so as to never make white kids feel “discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress.”
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How a School Superintendent in Maine Addressed the War in Gaza with Students and the Community
Jim Tager, a former superintendent of schools in Flagler, describes himself “privileged and inadequate to fully grasp the experiences of people in the Middle East,” but seeing his district through its prism of diversity and tolerance, he urges students and colleagues to form the kind of friendships across boundaries that enrich local and global communities.
The Big Reveal
Riding Brightline: The Great, the Brash and the Ugly
Earlier this month FlaglerLive Editor Pierre Tristam and his son took a 24-hour round-trip from Orlando to Miami aboard Brightline’s new high-speed line, discovering what may be–what ought to be–the future of rail travel in Florida with all its pleasures, possibilities and limitations. Here’s the story of the trip and a review of the travel experience.
Amid Horrors in Israel, Temple Beth Shalom Prepares to Celebrate 50th Anniversary in Palm Coast
Fifty years ago, 18 Jewish families who found themselves living in Flagler County in the early 1970s, discovered each other and discovered they had no place of worship to call their own. They founded Temple Beth Shalom, which bills itself not as a Conservative or a Reform temple, but rather an egalitarian, independent house of worship. This weekend, it celebrates its 50th anniversary in Palm Coast.
School Board Attorney Gavin Fends Off Firing Squad as Superintendent Will Negotiate Possible Transition
The Flagler County School Board Tuesday evening again stopped short of firing Kristy Gavin, its attorney, after it was sharply cautioned by Superintendent LaShakia Moore against taking such a vote without counsel and risking serious financial consequences. The board voted 4-1 to allow Moore to negotiate moving Gavin to the position of staff attorney, answering to only to Moore.
DeSantis Appealing to U.S. Supreme Court a Ruling Blocking Ban on Drag Shows
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration has gone to the U.S. Supreme Court in a fight about a ruling that blocked statewide a new law aimed at preventing children from attending drag shows. The state’s attorneys want the Supreme Court to approve a partial stay of a preliminary injunction that U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell issued to block the law.
Hailey Lulgjuraj Ended Chemo a Week Ago. She Is Hosting a Benefit for Breast Cancer Patients and Survivors Saturday.
Hailey Lulgjuraj has just ended treatment after she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a double mastectomy. She never stopped working. She decided to channel her gratitude toward the first annual “Tides of Hope” benefit for breast cancer patients and survivors at Oceanside Beach Bar & Grill, the Flagler Beach restaurant her husband co-owns with her brother in law. She tells the story behind the benefit.
Curtis Ceballos’s Invisacook Stove, Built in Bunnell, Lands on Time Magazine’s Top Inventions of 2023
Five years ago Curtis Ceballos, a Palm Coast entrepreneur and inventor, developed Invisacook, an induction cooktop stove that essentially makes the cooktop disappear: no more flames, no more red-hot coils, no more burning surfaces. It’s manufactured in Bunnell and sold worldwide. This week, Time Magazine named the invention one of the best of 2023.
FHP Chase Ends in Shooting at Two Women, Wounding One, at Hammock Beach Resort; Incident Captured on Video
A chase involving units of the Florida Highway Patrol ended in an FHP-involved shooting at the Hammock Beach Resort involving two women, one of whom was injured and air-lifted. A video of the incident shows the women’s vehicle pinned and surrounded by FHP vehicles and troopers when the shooting occurred.
Palm Coast’s Jessy Gilbreath, 28, Arrested for Raping Autistic Child, 12, in His Charge
Jessy Kalany Gilbreath, a 28-year-old resident of 45 Eton Lane, Side B, in Palm Coast, faces a capital felony charge of child rape. Though it’s the first such charge for a Flagler County suspect since the Legislature in its last term revived a law making an individual convicted of raping a child younger than 12 eligible for the death penalty, that does not apply in this case because the capital offense did not take place after Oct. 1, as did other alleged offenses.