School and sheriff’s officials talk school security, Matanzas High School stands with Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High, “The Nerd” is back at the Flagler Playhouse.
Florida & Beyond, and All Opinions
Wednesday Briefing: Canales in Court, County Commission Candidate Forum, Grand Living, Garcia-Marquez
Jonathan Canales, the veteran who shot his wife in the neck in the Monxed, is scheduled–again–to appear in court, a GOP forum for all county commission candidates, Grand Living replaces Coquina Construction in Flagler Beach.
House Edges Closer to Vote on Bill Mixing Guns With School Safety and New Limits
Those younger than 21 would be prohibited from buying rifles, others would have a 3-day waiting period. Coaches and others could be “deputized” as school marshals.
Tuesday Briefing: School Board Talks Security (Secretly), Palm Coast Photo Contest, Improv for Joy
The Flagler School Board meets in closed-door session to discuss campus security and in open to talk land sale, Palm Coast launches the year’s photo contest, a DC+SC prof talks on the joys of improv.
Senate Passes Safety Plan, Including Armed Teacher Program and $97 Million for More School Cops
Flagler County would be in line for a substantial increase in dollars allocated for school resource deputies, and would have the authority to implement a school marshal program.
First Responders in Florida Aren’t Covered for PTSD. That May Change After Parkland.
Like many states, Florida does not provide lost wages to first responders disabled with PTSD. A bill that would change that is now gaining momentum after 17 people were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last month.
Monday Briefing: Kristin McCabe-Kline, Repaving Old Dixie Highway, U.S. Air Force Band, Tennis Day
Dr. Kristin McCabe-Kline, the emergency medicine director, is FHF’s physician of the quarter, the county commission approves a repaving contract, the legislature talks Daylight Saving permanence.
Florida Senate Backs Arming Teachers And Rejects Assault Weapons Ban
The Senate plan and a similar House proposal would allow school boards to decide whether they want to implement a “marshal” proposal to arm certain teachers.
Gov. Scott Pleads For More Cops In Schools as Safety Plans Provoke Divisions
Scott’s $500 million package would require, among other things, school boards to assign a law enforcement officer to each school and at least one resource officer for every 1,000 students.
Weekend Briefing: The Nerd, Student March, Flagler Reads Together, Fearless Women, Chamber Players
Students march to Flagler Beach, “The Nerd” at the Playhouse, Flagler Reads Together kickoff, the Palm Coast Chamber Players in concert, Robert Wittman, founder of the FBI’s art crimes division, is back, and much more.
Tougher Texting-While-Driving Law Passes House Overwhelmingly But Stalls In Senate
Appropriations Chairman Rob Bradley has indicated the proposal likely won’t appear in the Appropriations Committee before the legislative session ends next week.
Thursday Briefing: Flagler Volunteer Services’ $10,000, Nate McLaughlin Visits Democrats, Ex-Youth Pastor In Court
Flagler Volunteer Services raised $10,000 at its masked and Venice-styled fund-raiser, Chris Miller, the ex-youth pastor found guilty of molesting children, is in court on a probation violation, spring conferences in elementary schools.
Ding Dong! The Obamacare Tax Penalty Is(n’t) Dead–Not Until 2019
That means you still will owe an Obamacare tax penalty if you didn’t have health insurance or an exemption from the mandate in 2017. The same holds true for this year.
Democrats, ‘Party of Intellectuals,’ Have a Second-Amendment Blind Spot
Americans possesses an unalienable and inherent right of self-defense, a lawfully armed citizenry is a free citizenry, and no government has merited the total trust of its people.
Wednesday Briefing: Wadsworth Skate Park Upgrades, Compassionate Friends, Sabal Palms, Orwell
Wadsworth skate park is getting an $80,000 upgrade, Sabal Palms, another assisted living facility, holds its grand opening, texting while driving at the Legislature, Orwell on poverty.
Ban on Assault-Type Guns Fails in Raucous Hearing, Training and Arming Teachers Passes
The intense debate came during a Senate Rules Committee hearing on a broad package addressing school safety, guns and mental health, in response to this month’s massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland that left 17 people, including 14 students, dead.
Tuesday Briefing: Palm Coast Charter, Wickline Center’s Future, Get Out the Vote, Entrepreneur Night
The NAACP holds the season’s first Get Out the Vote campaign, Sheriff Staly is the Elks’ Citizen of the Year, Palm Coast talks charter, Flagler Beach talks Wickline, and Willie is in St. Augustine.
As Calls For Broward Sheriff’s Removal Mount, Scott Orders Investigation of School Shooting Response
The directive came as House Speaker Richard Corcoran sent a letter co-signed by 73 Republican House members requesting that Scott suspend Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, a Democrat.
Monday Briefing: Banning Vaping in Bunnell, Old Kings EarlyAct, African-American Entrepreneurs, Orientalism
Bunnell wants to ban vaping in certain places, The African-American Entrepreneurs Club hosts a networking event to celebrate Black History Month, The McCartney Years.
Inside Atomwaffen As It Celebrates a Member for Allegedly Killing a Gay Jewish College Student
When Samuel Woodward was charged with killing 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein last month, Atomwaffen members cheered the death, concerned only that the group’s cover might have been blown.
Lawmakers Craft Law Allowing Teachers To Carry Guns In Florida Schools
The controversial measure would allow trained teachers to bring guns to schools, a concept that has divided Republican politicians and faces opposition from Democrats and educators.
Weekend Briefing: Job Fair, Volunteer Services Gala, Flagship Showcase, Shakespeare In the Park, George Winston
Flagler Volunteer Services holds a fund-raising gala, The annual Flagler jobs fair at DSC, Shakespeare in the Park all weekend in Town Center, Leading ladies at FPC, George Winston performs at Stetson.
Thursday Briefing: African-American Read-In, Shakespeare In the Park, Leading Ladies, Art League Gig
Two plays kick off, Belle Terre Elementary hosts its second African-American Readi-In, vacation rentals get two legislative hearings, Kim Weeks in court, the art league celebrates its 40th.
School Shooting Survivors Demand Change in Tallahassee, But NRA-Backed Bills Only “Paused”
Students turned into activists as they cried, pleaded and argued with lawmakers Wednesday in the state Capitol, but they made limited gains, if any, with pro-gun bills merely paused.
Wednesday Briefing: Elijah Miller, Veterans Show on WNZF, Citizenship Ceremony, Gordon Lightfoot
Flagler College celebrates its new president with a U.S. citizenship ceremony, a new show for veterans begins on WNZF, suicide prevention in Tallahassee, Gordon Lightfoot is at the Peabody.
Teacher Unions Protected But Public Funding of Private School Students Advances
The Florida Senate rejected a House proposal to dissolve teacher unions if membership falls below a certain point, but also approved a version of a school voucher program funding private school students.
Tuesday Briefing: Hurricane Problem-Solvers, Matanzas Flagship, Revision Commission, Trump’s Russian-Style Propaganda
The Flagler School Board discusses a new flagship program for Matanzas High, last Constitution Revision Commission hearing within commuting distance, Bunnell Planning talks variance v. special exception.
Gun Control Could Become a Key Issue in Florida’s Elections
Major political donors on both sides plan to use support for “common-sense” legislation as a litmus test for candidates during the 2018 midterm elections.
Claiming “Nothing Will Be Done” On Guns Lets NRA Off the Hook, Overstating Its Strength
NRA influence has limits, and there’s evidence it’s on the wane, but fatalism spares opponents of gun reform from even having to make their arguments for protecting the gun lobby.
Monday Briefing: Heat Again, Constitution Revision Commission Hearing, Commission Triple-Header
This afternoon may be your only chance to address the Constitutional Revision Commission in person, in a 5-hour Jacksonville hearing, the Flagler County Commission has three meetings, more dune walkovers open up in Flagler Beach.
Thoughts and Prayers, As Pointless as Outrage
The ultimate, most pointless outrage is at lawmakers and gun freaks, one and the same, who stand in pools of blood as they tell us our gun epidemic has nothing to do with it.
Deal Could End Wrangling Over Trauma Centers Around Florida
The Legislature has wrangled with whether to continue with current regulations or to allow a more competitive environment that would increase the number of trauma facilities.
Weekend Briefing: Afro-American Heritage, Race the Runways, Dance Party, Nouvelle Trio, Sweetwater Birds
Flagler Beach Rotary’s runway run at the airport, the Annual Black Heritage Day Festival, birding at Sweetwater, Willie Nelson postpones to Feb 27, and a lot more.
Florida Was Eyeing Fast-Tracking Concealed Weapon Licenses Without Background Checks
A proposal that would allow some concealed-weapons license applications to be approved when background checks have not been completed was put on hold Thursday because of the deadly high-school shooting in Broward County.
Thursday Briefing: Farm Swap at Ag Museum, Stayin’ Alive at Auditorium, FHF Auxiliary, Galileo
It is Galileo’s birthday, disco fever at the Flagler Auditorium, a new weekly gig at the Florida Agriculture Museum, the African Diaspora, an evening of chamber music.
Florida Democrats Speak of Margaret Good’s Victory as a Sign of a Coming “Blue Wave”
Margaret Good’s victory on Tuesday, winning a Florida House seat in Sarasota County, represents the 36th time a Republican seat has flipped Democratic since the 2016 election.
No Love for Working Families This Valentine’s Day
A secretary gets an extra $1.50 a week from the GOP tax bill. The Koch brothers get an extra $27 million (minus a $500,000 thank-you note that went to Paul Ryan’s re-election committee).
Reducing Traffic Fines Part of Renner’s Tax Cut Push, But Local Revenue Would Fall
Renner, a Palm Coast Republican, chairs the committee introducing a bill that would cut some traffic fines by 18 percent and provide a $332 million tax cut, but local government revenue would fall by $38 million.
Bill To Keep Florida On Year-Round Daylight-Saving Time Advances Easily
A proposal to shift the Panhandle to Florida’s eastern time failed, but that of keeping the state on daylight saving keeps clearing committees with unanimity.
For All The Talk Of Obamacare Imploding, ACA Enrollment Is “Remarkably Stable”
ACA plan enrollment ticked downward this year but states running their own marketplaces saw slight gains and did better than those relying on the federal exchange.
Military Inferiority Complex:
Dear Leader Wants A Parade
The military doesn’t need parades. It needs to come home. Worshipping it in time of endlessly losing wars only locks and loads more cannon fodder.
Campus ‘Free Speech’ Bill Is A Litigation Nightmare in the Making
The inappropriately named “Campus Free Expression Act,” approved Tuesday by a 7-4 vote of the Florida Senate Education Committee, would offer students about as much freedom as a prison yard.
Opponents of Drilling Not Convinced Florida Is Off the Table. Nor Proponents.
Participants in competing press conferences after an open house on off-shore drilling agreed on one thing: the federal government’s claimed stance on a Florida exemption isn’t final.
Thursday Briefing: Flagler Beach Library Reopening, George Wood Sentencing, Dr. Carter Wing, Vacation Rentals
Palm Coast’s George Wood faces a stiff sentence following convictions for the 12th time on felonies, Sheriff Staly renames a jail wing in honor of Dr. Morris Carter, who’s been the jail’s doctor for four decades, G.K. Chesterton on public opinion.
Supreme Court Hears Latest Red Light Camera Case, But Justices Skeptical of Illegality
Several justices appeared skeptical as that the way a Florida city handles citations issued to motorists caught on camera is unlawful.
Pianist George Winston, a Stetson Alumni, Returns For a Benefit Concert Feb. 25
The intimate evening of music with George Winston supports Stetson’s School of Music Scholarship Fund. Stetson dropped out of studying sociology at Stetson in the 1960s, but got an honorary doctorate in 2004.
Wednesday Briefing: Meet School Board Candidates, Record Skywarn Class, Opioids and Hazing
The year’s first election forum features school board candidates at a Republican committee meeting, the Supreme Court hears a hazing case, legislators talk opioids.
Lawmakers Seek to Ban Campus “Free Speech Zones” and Make Universities Liable
Florida universities and colleges could be sued for up to $100,000 in damages if students or others “willfully” interfere with campus speakers or protestors.
What Trump Wants on Immigration Is Ethnic Cleansing
Trump’s offering a fig leaf of legal status for a relatively small slice of the undocumented population in return for a drastic cut of all immigration to the U.S.
Tuesday Briefing: Blood Moon Odyssey, Palm Coast Cell Tower, Hammock History, Knausgaard’s Autumn
The Palm Coast Council may approve the first lease for a new cell tower under new, looser wireless rules, Al Hadeed talks Hammock history at the Hammock Community Center, the story of a Blood Moon shot.