Flagler County continues to experience a significant number of infections, though totals have fallen for two successive weeks, down to 80 in the week ending Sept. 26, from 109 the previous week and 139 the week before that, with a little over 100 tests a day being administered on average.
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A Real Vaccine Before the Election? It Would Take a Miracle.
There is a small chance that Pfizer’s vaccine trial will yield results by Nov. 3. But it could still take weeks for FDA review. Here’s everything that has to happen and how to tell a political stunt from a real vaccine.
Despite Amendment, Only a Fraction of 1 Million Disenfranchised Floridian Felons Will Have the Right to Vote
Supporters of the amendment blame the dearth of felons’ registering to vote on the coronavirus pandemic, uncertainty about voting eligibility and a series of contradictory court decisions culminating in a Sept. 11 ruling by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld a 2019 law restricting registrations to those who have paid off fines.
Trump Supporter’s Obscenity-Laced Video Against Democrats in Town Center Draws Sheriff’s and Bi-Partisan Rebuke
Sheriff Rick Staly called for calm in the election season after a Palm Coast man’s video of himself hurling obscenities and provoking Democrats at a Town Center rally circulated on Facebook. Democrats, Republican and Trump Club officials all denounced the video.
DeSantis Lifts All Restrictions on Restaurants and Businesses and Prohibits Local Constraints
DeSantis is decoupling for good the connection between science and public health on one hand and the economy on the other, opting exclusively for a focus on business measures in hopes of spurring consumer confidence. That confidence, however, continues to lag as individuals’ apprehensions continue to drive behavior.
Joe Mullins’s Cowering Enablers
By refusing to censure Joe Mullins for insulting Greg Hansen and Charlie Ericksen, Commissioners Donald O’Brien and Dave Sullivan are cowering enablers of Mullins’s bigotry, his bullying, his indecency. They all demeaned the County Commission and the constituents they represent.
Candidates for County Commission and Sheriff Self-Promote Unchallenged in Tame Tiger Bay Forum
It was a rare in-person forum for the candidates in this covid era, without a live audience, but the restrictive and genteel format turned the occasion into something resembling a series of short infomercials for the candidates rather than a challenging political forum.
Bloomberg Seeks to Pay Felons’ Outstanding Fines So They Can Vote. DeSantis Wants Him Investigated.
Attorney General Moody at the request of DeSantis asked the FBI and FDLE to investigate Bloomberg raising at least $16 million for the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, contending it could be a violation of state laws against offering incentives to people or groups in exchange for voting in a particular manner.
The Gardens Development Again Rebuffed as Commission Seeks More Answers and Residents’ Buy-In
The Flagler County Commission on Monday opted unanimously to table The Gardens’ application for a 335-home development on John Anderson Highway, the latest in a series of obstacles the development has faced since reviving a plan first devised by developer Bobby Ginn a decade and a half ago.
Corinne Hermle, Flagler County Commission Candidate: The Live Interview
Corinne Hermle is the Democratic Candidate for the Distritct 1 County Commission seat, facing Republican Andy Dance in the Nov. 3 election. All registered Flagler County voters may cast a ballot in the race regardless of address or party affiliation.
Flagler Sheriff’s New Real-Time Crime Center Merges Tactics, Technology and Powerful Surveillance Tools
The age of command, control, surveillance and crime-fighting in real time is here, and its nerve center at the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, operational since spring, is the Real-Time Crime Center. The sheriff opened it to reporters on Wednesday.
DeSantis Election-Keyed Proposal to Criminalize Certain Acts at Protests Sparks Partisan Furor
The proposal comes as Republicans double down on efforts to deliver a second presidential victory to Trump in Florida, a battleground state with 29 prized electoral votes, on Nov. 3.
Covid ‘Superspreader’ Night and Other Events at Social Club of Palm Coast Cause at Least 2 Deaths and Up to 50 Infections
An August 28 singing night at the Social Club of Palm Coast on Old Kings Road, where people sang and socialized, many without masks or social distancing, triggered a rare covid-19 superspreader event whose toll in infections and deaths the Flagler Health Department is still tallying.
Andy Dance, Flagler County Commission Candidate: The Live Interview
Andy Dance is the Republican candidate for Flagler County Commission, District 1, facing Democrat Corinne Hermle, for the seat previously held by Charlie Ericksen. All registered Flagler County voters may cast a ballot in the race regardless of address or party affiliation.
Commissioners O’Brien and Sullivan Block Motion to Censure Joe Mullins Even as They Call Behavior ‘Unacceptable’
Don O’Brien and Dave Sullivan refused to censure Joe Mullins for insulting fellow-commissioners, saying it would be bad for Flagler’s reputation. Sullivan didn’t want to be the first chairman on whose watch a censure vote passed.
DeSantis Calls for Criminalizing Numerous Acts By Protesters While Protecting Those Who Hurt Them
DeSantis, a staunch supporter of Trump, calls for new felony crimes when property is damaged or when people are injured as a result of protests while drivers would not be liable for injuries or deaths “caused if fleeing for safety from a mob.”
Flagler Beach Commission Makes It Explicit: The City Will Provide Water and Sewer to The Gardens Development
Flagler Beach can and will provide water and sewer to The Gardens, one of the more controversial proposed developments on any local government’s agenda. Monday evening, the County Commission was set to hear The Gardens’ development applications in one of the last hurdles before it can start building.
Once Short-Listed for Manager, Palm Coast’s Don Kewley Resigns Ahead of Firing in City’s Latest Shake-Up
Don Kewley, who’d been short-listed for Palm Coast City Manager then hired as its innovations chief, resigned before getting fired by Matt Morton, who’d hired him. Morton says he is closing down the division Kewley was overseeing and turning it over to IT for management.
No, Republicans Aren’t Hypocrites: RBG’s Death and The Wages of Power
Charges of hypocrisy are insufficient to change the course of the RBG’s replacement or, in fact, in other Republican attempt to race-bait, disenfranchise voters, or increase the wealth of the affluent.
With No Mention of Hansen or Ericksen, ‘Vague’ Joe Mullins Apology Contradicts Continuing Insults Online
Joe Mullins’s brief apology today was more focused on back-patting and dissembling his role while never taking responsibility for the abuse he’s continued to heap on Commissioners Hansen and Ericksen. The email doesn’t materially change anything, Commission Chairman Dave Sullivan said, with a discussion about Mullins set for next Monday’s meeting.
Unemployment Falls to 6.7% in Flagler and 7.4% in Florida; Government Jobs Account for a Fifth of Gain
The number of people with jobs in Flagler increased to 43,000, up 2,200 from the previous month, but still more than 4,000 workers short of where the labor force stood a year ago, suggesting that thousands remain on the sidelines.
Jobless Claims Are Down Across Florida, But Companies Are Imposing Large-Scale Layoffs
Florida is expected to end its participation in the federal Lost Wages Assistance program, which provides $300-a-week in benefits on top of state benefits. Nothing else has been lined up to replace it.
From Antagonism to Annexation: How Airport Commons Shopping Center Came to Love Palm Coast
The Palm Coast City Council this week annexed the 4-acre shopping center known as Airport Commons, opposite Wawa, on State Road 100, in a big shift from threats to sue the county over disagreements about it two years ago.
Flagler Tiger Bay Club Hosts 2-Night Live Forum With Candidates for Sheriff, County Commission and Palm Coast Council
The hourlong forums will feature all, or nearly all, candidates running in local elections, with candidates for the Flagler County Commission and for Sheriff on Wednesday, and the candidates for Palm Coast Mayor and the Palm Coast City Council on Thursday.
Joe Mullins Again Erupts in String of Abuse Against Commissioner Hansen at 9/11 Event, Spurring Calls for Censure
Less than 48 hours after insulting Commissioner Greg Hansen at a County Commission meeting, Commissioner Joe Mullins unleashed another string of worse abuse on Hansen, to his face–at an event commemorating the death of 3,000 victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. But Commissioners Sullivan and O’Brien are resisting saying whether they’d censure him.
31 Test Positive At Grand Oaks Rehab; Flagler’s Covid Death Toll Up to 21 as Cases Spike Again to Near Peak
Two more covid-related deaths were added to Flagler’s tally and a serious spike in cases at the Grand Oaks rahab and nursing home, in schools and at social clubs has resulted in a return of near-peak case loads for the county.
America Is About to Lose Its 200,000th Life to Coronavirus. How Many More Have to Die?
As a nation, we became inured to a national death toll that has only recently dropped below a thousand people a day. Think about that. Every week, we lose far more of our fellow citizens than died 19 years ago in the most devastating terrorist strike in American history.
Palm Coast Council Approves ‘Luxury,’ Woods-Ringed 256-Apartment Complex on West Side of W-Section
The development of 12 three-story buildings on 92 acres of woodlands and lakes near U.S. 1 in Palm Coast has drawn little attention and none of the opposition that traditionally barnacles to large apartment complex proposals in the city.
Appeals Court Hears Challenge to Schools Using Non-Cops as Armed Security on Campuses
A controversial state program that allows school “guardians” to carry guns on campus came under scrutiny Tuesday, as an appeals court heard arguments in a legal challenge to Duval County’s “school safety assistants.”
How Detectives Used Facebook, Cell Phone Records and Tag Readers in Home-Invasion Armed Robbery Arrest
The story behind the latest arrest is a window into detectives’ methods, illustrating how the use of technology such as license plate readers, search warrants for cell phone records and Facebook accounts, and old-fashioned on-the-ground interviews combined to help connect the dots and build a case against an otherwise elusive suspect.
Haunted by Covid, Palm Coast and Sheriff Prepare for Halloween With Balance of Tradition and Safety
While such standard events as the Palm Coast Fire Department’s Hall of Terror have been cancelled, Parkview Church’s mega trunk-or-treat event will unfold as a drive-through version, and the sheriff is adding a drive-through event in early October.
County and City Taxes Will Stay Flat for Most Homesteaded Properties Except for Spike in Bunnell
Residents of Flagler County and each of its cities will again see little to no change in their property tax bills next year as governments are adopting tax rates that either stay flat or roll back a little, with the exception of Bunnell.
Suspicious of Trump Pressures, Most Adults Are Wary of Any Vaccine Approved Before the Election
Six of 10 adults said they were worried the Food and Drug Administration will rush to allow a vaccine because of political pressure. The concern is held by 85% of Democrats, 35% of Republicans and 61% of independent voters.
After Briefly Defying Judicial Order, DeSantis Names Orange County’s Jamie Grosshans to Supreme Court
Jamie Grosshans was appointed to the 5th District Court of Appeals in 2018 by then-Gov. Rick Scott after serving as an Orange County judge, will be the only woman on the seven-member Supreme Court.
Save Lives. Fill Out Your Census.
Certain communities — such as rural, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, immigrant, and LGBTQ folks — are especially likely to be undercounted. Some experts warn this year’s census could be the worst undercount of Black and Latinx people in 30 years.
Joe Mullins Fires Demeaning Personal Insults at Commissioners in a Meeting, Repeating ‘Dangerous’ Pattern
Flagler County Commissioner Joe Mullins called fellow-Commissioner Greg Hansen a “fat sonofabitch” and Charlie Ericksen a “useless old man” at a meeting Wednesday just months after Ericksen had felt so threatened by Mullins that he called on Sheriff Staly for help.
Opponents of The Gardens Development Win Commissioners’ Concern Even as They Lose Appeal
Preserve Flagler Beach, a group largely opposing the proposed 335-home Gardens development on John Anderson Highway, lost a procedural battle but gained commissioners’ sympathy and concerns on substantive grounds in a hearing Wednesday.
Bars May Reopen Monday at 50% Capacity Indoors, Full Capacity Outdoors
Bars and craft breweries were among the businesses ordered to go dark in March by DeSantis in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus, which causes the respiratory illness known as Covid-19.
Heroes
If Flagler County had a Nobel Prize, Flagler Health Department Chief Bob Snyder and Dr. Stephen Bickel, the medical director there, would have won it this year for their management of the coronavirus pandemic, absurd claims against them notwithstanding.
12 Arrests, 27 Warrants For Frequent Flagler Drug Suspects as Sheriff Notes Sharp Rise in Overdoses
There have been 179 suspected drug overdoses in Flagler County so far in 2020, up 189 percent from 2019, Sheriff Rick Staly said during a live-streamed news conference about the latest sweep of local suspected drug dealers.
FPC and Matanzas Face Off Sept. 18 on Gridiron as Fall Sports Return and Uncertainty Outnumbers Fans
Attendance at FPC will be limited to 640 people in the stands, or about 13 percent of the stadium’s capacity of 5,000. No tickets will be sold at the gate, no interactions between fans and athletes will be allowed.
Jobless Claims Ease to 36,541 in Florida But Permanent Layoffs in Tourism and Hospitality Loom
The state’s latest number is down from an adjusted total of 45,590 first-time claims during the week that ended Aug. 29 and 51,647 claims during the week that ended Aug. 22.
Joey Renn Jr., 21, Charged With Vehicular Homicide in Death of Logan Goodman, 14, in Woodlands
Using video footage, a traffic homicide investigator clocked Joey Renn going 109 miles per hour on his Suzuki motorcycle before impact after failing to negotiate a curve in Palm Coast’s Woodlands.
County Commission Meeting Turns Circus as Defiant Anti-Maskers Spread Falsehoods Before They’re Asked to Leave
A group of anti-mask militants held up the county commission meeting for 30 minutes today before addressing the panel in brews of misinformation, social media memes and alternative facts and calling for the removal of the Health Department’s Bob Snyder and Dr. Stephen Bickel. The commissioners explicitly rebuffed the militants in turn.
Trimming Budget and Rancor, Flagler Beach Commissioners Agree to No Tax Increase Next Year
In recognition of residents’ difficulties with Covid-19, Flagler Beach city commissioners agreed to a net-zero tax increase next year, which will translate to a modest tax decrease for many property owners, or some increase for those who aren’t homesteaded and whose assessed values have shot up.
Flagler Sees 3 More Covid Deaths, New Spike in Cases and Hospitalizations; 14 Cases at Old Kings Elementary
There’s been 184 new cases in the last 14 days alone in Flagler, and 28 positive cases in the Flagler County school district through today since school reopened on Aug. 24, half of them at Old Kings Elementary, as a renewed spike has the local health department chief concerned.
Palm Coast Will Establish an Arts District in Town Center as New Spur for Commerce of Culture
The Palm Coast City Council is moving toward establishing an arts district in Town Center, bringing together key arts and culture organizations through an arts council and dedicating revenue from the Town Center redevelopment zone to match private grants, spur artistic and cultural activity in the district and further encourage economic development.
Renatha Francis’s Appointment to Florida Supreme Court Draws Renewed Challenge
Rep. Geraldine Thompson’s attorneys challenged the constitutionality of the appointment and contended that the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission should provide a revamped list of candidates to DeSantis.
America Doesn’t Have a Coherent Strategy for Asymptomatic Testing. It Needs One.
While it battles a virus that can spread quickly via silent carriers, the United States has yet to execute a strategy for testing asymptomatic people. This is a problem, especially as the CDC pushed guidelines that people without symptoms didn’t necessarily need to be tested.
Mary DiStefano, Two-Term Palm Coast Council Member Through City’s Boom and Bust, Dies at 83
Mary G. DiStefano, an X-ray technician by trade and marketing professional for medical companies, ran for the council in 2003 and served until 2011. She was named Rotarian of the Year and Woman of the Year in her 28 years in Palm Coast.
