A work Mozart wrote for a king, but which the cash-strapped composer sold “for a song” to a music publisher, will be featured during “Chamber Music Masterpieces,” a concert by the Daytona Solisti String Quartet. The concert, the second in Daytona Solisti’s Winter Festival celebrating the group’s 20th anniversary, also will include a Mozart serenade featured in the 1984 Oscar-winning biopic “Amadeus,” and Orlando-based guitarist Miles McConnell will perform classical works and Irish tunes.
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Hillsborough Commissioner Donna Cameron Cepeda Wants Lawmakers To End Sunshine Law for All County Commissioners
Among the list of legislative proposals that the Hillsborough County Commission is asking their state lawmakers to enact this year is a request from one commissioner to eliminate the Sunshine Law for county commissioners across Florida. Donna Cameron Cepeda, a Republican first elected in 2022, claims it’s not about reducing transparency but giving county commissioners more room to talk about sensitive subjects out of view of the public.
Flagler County Historical Society Prepares Inaugural Bunnell History Day as Accelerant for City’s Renaissance
With a $5,000 state grant and local sponsorships, the Flagler County Historical Society is organizing Bunnell History Day, with the inaugural all-day event scheduled for June 7. Society members outlined the plan to the Bunnell City Commission as an effort to use history to focus attention on the city’s identity and enduring impact on the county.
26-Year-Old Palm Coast Woman Charged with Molesting 13-Year-Old Boy During Family Christmas
Angel Marie Sexton, a 26-year-old resident of Royal Oak Drive in Palm Coast, was charged with molesting a 13-year-old boy whose family was visiting Sexton’s family over Christmas in Palm Coast. The child’s mother uncovered the alleged assault when she found romantic texts between Sexton and the boy on a family phone the boy had taken for himself. The older woman, according to the texts, was telling the boy that he could be emancipated at 16 and that she would leave her husband and marry him when he was 18.
DeSantis Ramps Up Feud with Legislature, Pledging to Veto Bill Targeting Undocumented Immigrants
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday pledged to veto an immigration bill passed during a special legislative session Tuesday, triggering a potential showdown with Republican House and Senate leaders in a tug-of-war over efforts to carry out President Donald Trump’s agenda. The governor’s latest criticism ramped up what has become a brutal — and public — feud between the Republican legislative leaders and DeSantis, who repeatedly called the bill “weak” and “pathetic” and lobbed personal attacks at his foes.
How Judge Nichols Talked 2 Defendants Off Ledge of Risking Life in Prison at Trial and Accepting Plea Deals Instead
Stephanie Raimundo, 48, and Jeba Johnson, 22, were both facing life in prison on stacks of charges if convicted at the trials they wanted: Raimundo for trafficking drugs and for manslaughter in the death by overdose of 22-year-old Calvin Stull, Johnson for armed burglary and other acts of violence. In a remarkable 75-minute hearing for both before Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols this afternoon at the Flagler County courthouse, the judge talked both of them out of going to trial and accepting plea deals that will result in less than 13 years for Raimundo, once gain time is counted, and 25 years for Johnson.
Bunnell Rubber-Stamping Development Agreement for 8,000-Home Haw Creek Reserve, Residents Complain
The Bunnell City Commission devoted just 60 minutes to a workshop its own planning board had requested to review the 65-page development agreement with the Reserve at Haw Creek, the 8,000-home development west and south of the city that will change the complexion of Bunnell. Residents complained that 60 minutes wasn’t enough, and raised numerous issues that have been raised over the past few months, to a non-reactive commission. But the commission subsequently agreed to set a future workshop.
Selling Palm Harbor Golf Course Draws Strong Opposition as Council Meanders Over Purpose of City ‘Amenities’
The Palm Coast City Council found little support for any suggestion of selling the city-owned Palm Harbor golf course even as council members agreed it could not keep bleeding losses. At the same time, council members differed over the meaning of city amenities like parks and the golf course, which a different council agreed several years ago are not intended to, or expected to, make money. Council member Charles Gambaro wants a fuller analysis of all amenities profit and loss statements, raising questions about the meaning and purpose of city functions.
Unhappy with Choices, Palm Coast Reopens City Manager Search for ‘Unicorn’ Even as It Culls Second-Best Shortlist
It’s not exactly what the short-listed candidates want to hear: you’re OK, but we’d rather not settle for you. We’re still looking. That was, putting it kindly, the message the Palm Coast City Council sent the six candidates it short-listed, out of a shallow pool of 37, as it seeks to hire a permanent city manager. The more precise message is that a majority of council members aren’t happy with the candidate pool it got, and that it’s re-opening the search for at least a month.
Sharply Rebuking DeSantis, Lawmakers Opt for Special Session on Their Own Terms, and Override Budget Veto
The House and Senate started and quickly ended a special legislative session that DeSantis called — and then immediately opened their own special session and released proposed immigration legislation. The moves came after DeSantis angered House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, and Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, by calling a special session that they said was premature.
Aiden Barnett, 20, Arrested on Aggravated Child Abuse Charge Days After Telling Judge He’s a ‘Changed Man’
Three weeks ago 20-year-old Aiden Barnett of Palm Coast’s B-Section wrote a judge that he was a “a completely changed person” since he fled from a cop at 115 miles per hour. On probation, he was asking for a waiver on his anger-management class and community service hours. On Friday, he was arrested on a first-degree felony charge of aggravated child abuse after allegedly punching a 17-year-old girl so hard that she had a concussion and was hospitalized.
Palm Harbor Golf Course Lost $3.4 Million in Operating Costs Alone, Far More in Capital Since Palm Coast Took Ownership
Since it opened in 2009 as a city-owned facility, and with one meager exception in 2022, Palm Coast’s Palm Harbor golf course has been a drain on city coffers. The course has run combined losses of $3.44 million in the last 16 years, or an average of $215,000 a year. The figure increases sharply when depreciation and capital losses are included. Taxpayers have been subsidizing the golf course all those years. Palm Coast City Council members are tiring of the losses.
Imagine What Will be Left of Florida After Our Leaders Are Done With It
This is the country we’re now living in: dictatorial, unrepresentative, and deeply unkind. What will be left of Florida in four years? What will be left of America?
Sheriff Grady Judd Opposes Trump Pardons of Jan. 6 Insurrectionists and Tells Deputies: I Have Your Back
Grady Judd, one of the most well-known sheriffs in Florida is letting his officers know that he has their backs against people recently pardoned by President Donald Trump. And furthermore, he thinks the President messed up by getting them released from lockdown.
American Trilogy: OJ Simpson, Louis Farrakhan, Donald Trump
On Oct. 3, 1995, after a trial that had lasted as long as a presidential election campaign, a jury found O.J. Simpson not guilty of murdering Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Blacks cheered. Whites were horrified and angered that Blacks cheered. Blacks cheered even louder at whites being horrified. All they saw was white derangement syndrome. Sound familiar?
Should Public Money Fund Religious Charter Schools? Supreme Court Will Decide Constitutionality.
In Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond and St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond, the Oklahoma Supreme Court agreed with the state’s attorney general, Gentner Drummond, that the charter school board violated state law, the Oklahoma Constitution, and the U.S. Constitution when it allowed St. Isidore, a Catholic online school, to become a charter school.
Flagler Beach Pier Construction Delayed to Spring as City Commission Approves $14.1 Million Construction Contract
After a relatively brief discussion that belies nearly nine years of anguish, delays, debates, financing and design of a new pier, the Flagler Beach City Commission Thursday evening unanimously approved a $14.1 million contract with Beckley, W.Va.-based Vecellio and Grogan to build a 714-ft. concrete pier in place of the existing, 97-year-old wooden relic, which has been closed to public or any use since the fall of 2022. Construction was previously set to start last December. It may not start until late spring, and it’ll be a challenge to complete it by July 4, 2026.
Flagler Unemployment Falls Slightly to 3.8% but Labor Force Continues to Decline; Home Sales Rebound a Little
Flagler County’s unemployment rate edged back below 4 percent for the first time in six months, at 3.8 percent, as a couple hundred people gained jobs and the number of unemployed residents fell by 300. But Flagler County’s labor force again shrank, as it has most months for more than a year, to 50,849. The labor force is at its lowest level since February 2023, when it was 50,773 and rising.
Behind Daniel Fish Losing Head Football Coach Job at FPC: Major Fumbles in Classroom, and 2nd Reprimand in 14 Months
Following an internal investigation that ended in December, Daniel Fish, who was fired last week as head football coach at Flagler Palm Coast High School, was the subject of a letter of reprimand for a series of grave failures in his teaching and administrative duties. It was the second disciplinary write-up for Fish in 14 months. He had been the subject of a “letter of caution” in October 2023 following a violent incident that had started among student-athletes in the football team’s unsupervised locker room. He retains his teaching job.
Old Dixie Motel Owners Have 5 Months To Secure Building Permits or Face Demolition by County’s Order
A special magistrate gave the owners of the neglected Old Dixie hotel five months to secure four permits from Flagler County or face demolition of the property. The decision by the magistrate, Sean McDermott, amounts to a further life extension for the hotel property, yet again frustrating the county’s attempts since last March to demolish a building it considers to be a nuisance and a danger to public health.
Protesters Disheartened and Disbelieving at an Abortion-Rights Rally in St. Pete: ‘Florida Is Gone’
Two months after a proposal to repeal Florida’s six-week abortion law and enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution failed to gather the 60% required for passage, more than 100 people gathered Wednesday on four street corners in downtown St. Petersburg to advocate for the cause. But it was a dispirited and disbelieving protest.
Trump’s Attack on Birthright Citizenship
One of President Donald Trump’s first executive orders relating to immigration and immigrants is a direct attack on the long-standing constitutional principle of birthright citizenship. That’s the declaration in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution that anyone born on U.S. soil is a U.S. citizen, regardless of their parents’ nationalities or immigration status.
AdventHealth CEO Audrey Gregory Cautions Employers of Labor Crunch Ahead, and to Prize Workers Accordingly
A labor crunch is tightening the job market all over America from IT to education to retail, but more especially in restaurants, hotels, construction and healthcare, AdventHealth East Region Executive Vice President and CEO Audrey Gregory told a sold-out audience at today’s Flagler Tiger Bay Club monthly lunch. The way to manage through it is primarily to nurture and value existing employees, to further their education at the company’s expense, to move them up, and to pay them better.
Vincent’s Clubhouse Spurs Opportunities for People with Disabilities, Bridging Needs Beyond School District
Vincent’s Clubhouse Enrichment Center at Palm Coast’s European Village is an evidence-based program focused on vocational and life skills training, personal development, hygiene, financial skills, marketplace skills, and literacy for adults and younger people. But it was not until late last year, after years of evolution and growth, that Vincent’s Clubhouse’s nomadic years ended with the opening of its permanent home, a 1,600-square-foot facility–what would otherwise be a shopfront–at European Village, with a faculty of five and 20 adult “members” enrolled.
Florida Lawmakers Are Looking for Money, Now that Biden’s Covid Aid Has Dried Up
Florida lawmakers have started filing what are expected to be hundreds of proposals seeking money for local projects and programs — but legislative leaders are cautioning not to expect as much spending as in the past few years. As of Tuesday morning, House members had filed 40 funding proposals, while one had been filed in the Senate, according to legislative websites. Lawmakers will consider the proposals as they negotiate a budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year during the legislative session that will start March 4.
Yacht Club Gives Up Palm Coast Boat Parade After 41 Years, Citing Costs and City’s Obstacles; Mayor Pledges Takeover
The Palm Coast Yacht Club is giving up on the Holiday Boat Parade, a local fixture for 41 years. The Yacht Club cited burdensome costs and too many obstacles and expectations from the city, all of which have taken the fun out of running it, its organizer says. The Palm Coast City Council today signaled its willingness to take it over and run it as a special event. But it would have to be approved through the coming budget process.
Sorry Palm Coast, No Snow For You: Winter Storm Warning Boundaries Are North and West of Flagler
If you’re hoping to see a few snow flurries as a rare winter storm barrels through the Gulf of Mexico, you’ll have to go north and west of Flagler County even as winter storm warning boundaries were extended southward to include all of Duval and Clay counties overnight. Putnam and St. Johns have a winter storm advisory.
Manifest Perfidy: Trump Is No Seward
As the Dear Leader asserted the other day in his completely rational press conference, if the 51st-staters don’t play nice, we’ll bring them to their frostbitten knees with “economic force” and turn their so-called “provinces” into good Christian Florida counties with lousy hospitals and empty libraries.
“We Cannot Walk Alone… We Cannot Turn Back”
A brief history of the origins and battles of the Martin Luther King federal holiday, and of the MLK monument at the Washington Mall, with full text and video of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech.”
David Lynch Exposed the Rot at the Heart of American Culture
Lynch’s films and TV series reflected the dark, ominous, often bizarre underbelly of American culture – one increasingly out of the shadows today. American cinema holds up a mirror to society. Lynch was a master at this. His images of corruption, violence and toxic masculinity ring all too familiar in America today.
Trump’s Coming Tax Plan: Shift Handouts from Poor to Rich
Republicans plan to give the richest Americans a fresh round of individual tax breaks, slash the corporate tax rate yet again, and cut taxes on capital gains and dividends, which would let their Wall Street friends keep even more of their winnings when they sell a stock or are showered with dividends. Then they’ll move to step two: draconian budget cuts for the programs Americans rely on.
Childhood Vaccination Rates Are Slipping in ‘Health Freedom’ Florida and Other States with Exemptions
Pediatricians in states with high exemption rates, such as Florida and Georgia, say they’re concerned by what they see — declining immunization levels for kindergartners, which could lead to a resurgence in vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles. The Florida Department of Health reported nonmedical exemption rates as high as 50% for children in some areas.
Marineland Suspends All Event Permits Until Town and Flagler County Comply with State’s River to Sea Park Rules
The Marineland Town Commission Thursday evening agreed to suspend all permitting of special events, including vendor markets, 5K runs and weddings anywhere on the grounds of the River to Sea preserve–a public park–until the town and Flagler County government are in full compliance with the management terms of the preserve both had violated. The suspension is not a small matter for Marineland, whose character as a town with only a handful of residents and just one private business is defined at least in part by the events that take place in town, especially in connection with its natural amenities.
Senator Files Bill to Scrap Later Start Times for High School Students, Putting Transportation Ahead of Student Needs
With Florida school districts facing a 2026 deadline, a Senate Republican on Friday filed a proposal that would repeal requirements aimed at later start times for many high schools. The proposal would benefit Flagler County schools, where officials in 2023 devised a new start times, but in the opposite direction. Supporters of later start times have argued that the changes would help high-school students get more sleep. But the requirements have faced concerns from school districts about issues such as bus schedules.
Despite Extension, City Manager Opening Draws Just 38 Applicants; Only 1 Managed a City of Palm Coast’s Size
Only 38 candidates have applied to be Palm Coast’s next city manager. The general quality of applicants is not stellar: top-flight candidates are not beating down the city’s door. Less than half the applicants (17) have previous city manager experience. Only a handful of those have managed a city with more than 50,000 people. Among the three, only one has managed a city with a population close to Palm Coast’s 107,000 (the current city manager of Edison, N.J.)
In ‘Every Brilliant Thing,’ City Rep Produces the ‘Most Hilarious Show About Depression You’ve Ever Seen’
“Every Brilliant Thing” a one-man play, is the story of a man who as a child sought to cope with his mother’s depression and suicidal tendencies, and to find a way to cheer her up. At first glance, “Every Brilliant Thing” may seem to be a play that labors and strains under the profound, harsh realities of depression and suicide. But a critic called it “the most hilarious show about depression you’ve ever seen.”
It’s Not Your Imagination: Palm Coast Homes Used as Vacation Rentals Increase by 70% in 2 Years, to Over 500
It’s not your imagination. The number of single-family homes used as short-term vacation rentals has increased by 60 percent in two years across Flagler County, while the number of vacation rentals in Palm Coast alone, where most of the growth is concentrated, has surged by 70 percent, with the overwhelming share of those in single-family homes, condos or town houses.
After Ragga Surf Cafe Exit, Flagler County and Marineland Seek to Win Back State’s Trust in Preserve Management
Flagler County government and the Town of Marineland administration have drafted a joint plan to reassure the state agency with oversight of the River to Sea Preserve that the two local governments are still capable of managing the Preserve, which had fallen out of compliance with state requirements and put both governments at risk of losing ownership. Meanwhile, Ragga Surf cafe has left Marineland and will reopen at a location in St. Augustine on Friday.
Jury in Minutes Finds Daniel Rodriguez, 27, Guilty on All Charges of Raping and Molesting Boy; Life In Prison Next
A jury of three men and three women found Daniel Rodriguez, 27, guilty on all charges of sexually assaulting and molesting a young boy he had groomed and befriended since he was 10, and started abusing when he was 11, until he was 13. The abuse took place in Palm Coast between 2020 and 2022. Rodriguez faces mandatory life in prison without parole when he is sentenced at a later date. The judge will have no discretion to lessen the sentence.
The Paints They Are A-Changin’: Palm Coast May Lift Most Restrictions on House Colors
The Palm Coast City Council appears on the verge of repealing most restrictions on house colors. As a consequence, homeowners would be allowed to paint houses in darker, less light-reflecting colors than allowed in the city’s 25-year history. But the move occurs in opposition to environmental trends that are encouraging lighter, whiter urban colors as a tool of fighting climate change, as darker colors absorb heat rather than reflect light and require homes to spend more energy on cooling.
On the Stand, Alleged Victim Describes Sex Assaults Since He Was 11 by ‘Father Figure’ and ‘Best Friend’
Daniel Revay Rodriguez, now 27, is accused of sexually assaulting a young boy over several years after grooming him and his family by making himself an essential father figure and by showering the boy with expensive gifts, food and at times pot. His trial began Monday. He faces mandatory life in prison if he is convicted.
DeSantis Calls Special Session on Immigration, Condo Safety, Hurricane Relief and Petition-Gathering
Saying he expects a “sea change” in federal immigration policies from the incoming Trump administration, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday called the Florida Legislature into special session to deal with illegal immigration and three other issues. The session will begin on Jan. 27 and will include deliberations on condominium safety regulations, hurricane relief, and fraudulent signature-gathering petitions for constitutional amendments.
Flagler Beach Grants Final Approval for 22-Unit Apartment Complex Made to Look Like Single Family Homes
Ratifying the recommendation last month of its planning board, the Flagler Beach City Commission approved the final site plan for the 22-apartment complex called Legacy Pointe Cottages on 3 acres of currently wooded land at the end of Joyce Street, west of John Anderson Highway. The project is a scaled down version of a plan that first consisted of 39 apartments in two buildings, that the City Commission had approved last year.
Less Than a Year After Witnessing Friend’s Death By Overdose, She Causes One and Faces Manslaughter Charge
Less than a year after she was in the house when her friend Brian O’Shea died of a fatal fentanyl overdose, Stephanie Raimundo caused the death by overdose of Calvin Stull, who was about to mark his 22nd birthday. Stull was found dead at Belle Terre Park on jan. 3, 2024. Raimundo was charged with manslaughter and may face up to 30 years in prison if found guilty.
USTA and Palm Coast Play to New Courts, New Tournament and Possible Doubles Partnership
Less than an hour before qualifiers were to start for the inaugural Women’s USTA Pro Circuit tournament at the Southern Recreation Center this morning, Palm Coast officials, representatives of the USTA and players gathered at the newest court-side in town to cut the ribbon on four new clay courts.
When Democracy Dies in Broad Daylight
While Trump openly bellows whatever imperial fever dreams about Greenland, Canada, the Panama Canal and the Gulf of Mexico visit him in the dark of night, once proud institutional bulwarks rush to prostrate themselves before him in advance of any demand that they do so. Alas, the mainstream media is not immune to this siren-call of cowardice.
How the U.S. Could Make Canada an American Territory
Every Canadian needs to pay attention to American history: In one treaty, the U.S. annexed the present-day states of California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas and Wyoming. It subsequently illegally invaded Indigenous territory in the west. Canada could be next — perhaps not immediately as the 51st state, but quite possibly as a U.S. territory that would deny Canadians any voting rights for Congress or the presidency. The constitutional architecture exists in the U.S. to make it happen.
Judge Scraps Biden’s LGBTQ Protections and Bans Requiring Teachers to Use Students’ Chosen Pronouns
A federal district court judge struck down President Joe Biden’s effort to protect transgender students and make other changes to Title IX, ruling the U.S. Department of Education violated teachers’ rights by requiring them to use transgender students’ names and pronouns. The ruling, which applies nationwide, came as a major blow to the Biden administration in its final days and to LGBTQ+ advocates. President-elect Donald Trump took aim at transgender people in a culture war-focused campaign.
Bunnell Board Tells City Commission: Shrink Haw Creek Reserve Mega Development By 2,500 Homes
On its third try since November, the Bunnell Planning and Zoning Board recommended approval of the rezoning and development agreement controlling the Reserve at Haw Creek–the largest single development proposal in Flagler County since Palm Coast was conceived in the 1960s–but not before issuing nearly a dozen proposed conditions to the Bunnell City Commission, which takes on the proposal next. Among those conditions: Lower the planned 8,000 home total to 5,500.
Veranda Bay Developer Pauses Annexation into Flagler Beach to Draft Litigation Threat Workaround
The Flagler Beach City Commission Thursday evening agreed to pause indefinitely further annexation steps involving Veranda Bay, the large development along John Anderson Highway. The city did so at the developer’s request. The pause and its indefinite timeline look more dramatic than they are. In fact, the pause appears to be more of a strategic retreat allowing the developer to redraw annexation plans in light of the threat of a lawsuit by opponents of annexation, had the original plan gone forward.