The United States avoided a recession largely because of a surge in immigration, and its economic output is expected to be $7 trillion higher over the next 10 years largely because of immigration–legal or not: the Congressional Budget Office doesn’t distinguish between the two. As native-born fertility declines and Americans age, the country cannot afford to close its borders. Those immigrants at the border aren’t an invasion. They’re not a crisis. They’re a lifeline: theirs and ours.
Flagler, Palm Coast & Other Local News
47-Year-Old Woman Dies, Man Critical in Single-Vehicle Crash on I-95 Near Old Dixie Highway
A 47-year-old woman lost her life when the vehicle she was riding in struck and flipped over the guardrail on I-95 north of Old Dixie Highway late Saturday night. The driver, a 47-year-old man from Hastings, was in critical condition.
Flagler County’s Unemployment, at 4.1%, Registers Second-Highest Total of Unemployed in Over 2 Years
Flagler County’s unemployment rate again crossed the 4 percent threshold, for the fourth time in six months, registering at a not-seasonally adjusted 4.1 percent in January, up from 3.7 percent in December and 3.6 percent a year ago. The more telling average of the last 12 months was 3.7 percent, compared to 3.3 percent for the previous 12 months, underscoring a small but perceptive trend upward.
To An Increasingly Hysterical Right, Women and Their Bodies Are a Danger To the Republic
What’s America’s biggest problem? Not catastrophic climate change; not income inequality; not systemic racism. It’s women. OK, also communists. They’re everywhere, but the Florida Legislature means to nip that in the bud. But even the threat of a worker’s revolt pales in comparison to the Woman Problem. To the increasingly hysterical Right, women — and their unruly bodies — are a danger to the Republic.
Corrected: Flagler County and Cities Net Record $151 Million of Half Billion Requested as Budget Heads to DeSantis
The budget includes $151 million in appropriations for Flagler County, Palm Coast, Flagler Beach and Bunnell, a record besting last year’s haul by about $45 million. Palm Coast’s future, western expansion drew $80 million for the loop road the city is planning, but existing residents’ needs for a better Old Kings Road were stiffed. Flagler County is facing a funding cliff next year as Paul Renner and Travis Hutson will be gone.
Five 11-Year-Old Indian Trails Students and Community Problem Solvers Experience Alzheimer’s ‘Through Their Eyes’
Five Indian Trails Middle School sixth graders–Anabella Glasco, Anthony Demaio, Katelyn Castello, MacKenzie MacDonald and Priya Vargas–put themselves through experiences replicating Alzheimer’s disease and interviewed dementia patients as they developed a Community Problem Solvers project called “Through Their Eyes.” The team, one of several from Flagler County, is showcasing its project in state competition this weekend in Orlando.
‘Reading Is My Passion’ Sums Up Read Across Flagler Literacy Celebration Bookmarked by Media Specialists
Read Across Flagler Literacy Night at Palm Coast’s Town Center was as much a celebration of reading as it was of the school district’s media specialists who, pound for pound, have been the single-most besieged group of professionals in the district in the last couple of years of book bans, disrespect and ignorant rhetoric from the very school board members who should be championing them.
Renner Power: Lawmakers Curb Local Regulations of Vacation Rentals, But Protect Flagler’s Ordinance With Carve-Out
The bill would preempt regulation of vacation rentals to the state while allowing local governments to have short-term rental registration programs that meet certain parameters. The bill would “grandfather” in regulations adopted by counties before 2016. During floor debate Thursday, Senate sponsor Nick DiCeglie, R-Indian Rocks Beach, said the exception applies to Flagler County — home to House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast — and Broward County.
‘Long Road Ahead’ for Flagler Sheriff’s Deputy Benjamin Stamps After Severe Motorcycle Crash on I-95
For Flagler County Sheriff’s deputy Benjamin Stamps, it’s going to be “a fairly long road to recovery” after his motorcycle crash Tuesday morning on I-95, as Stamps was riding the emergency lane to investigate a possible incident ahead that had slowed traffic to a crawl, Sheriff Rick Staly said on Wednesday.
Bomb Squad Explodes Suspicious Bundle of 40 Palm Coast Observers After Delivery Misfire at Courthouse
A suspicious package found at a door of the courthouse this morning, before the day’s proceedings began, forced a lockdown of the building and restricted access to law enforcement. The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office’s bomb squad has been summoned, leaving the courthouse empty for now. No one had to be evacuated from the building since no one had gone in yet. But three judges were set for hearings at 8:30 and 9.