About $220 million of the $1.1 billion would be used to replenish a storm reserve, Kirk Crews, executive vice president and chief financial officer of NextEra Energy, FPL’s parent company, said Friday during a third-quarter earnings call with analysts.
Florida & Beyond, and All Opinions
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, October 29, 2022
Witches of Flagler Beach Bike Ride, “Charley’s Aunt,” at City Repertory Theatre, Halloween Scavenger Hunt in Flagler Beach, Northeast Florida Jazz Association, Boswell, Vaclav Havel.
Angry American Voters. Good for Turnout. Bad for Democracy.
Guided by the mantra that an angry voter is a loyal voter, politicians have a strong incentive to agitate the American public – incumbents and challengers alike. Anger’s ability to cause individuals to socially polarize has potentially drastic ramifications for the health of American democracy. Crucially, social polarization precludes opportunities to form ties and build relationships with people from diverse backgrounds.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, October 28, 2022
Early voting, the Scenic A1A Pride Committee meets, Theatre UCF’s ‘Working,’ the Volstead Act and Erasmus’s Praise of Folly, and a happy birthday to Andy Sipowicz.
A New Tool for Protecting Newly Hatched Sea Turtles
Humans can best protect sea turtle hatchlings as they make their way from the beach to the sea if they know precisely when the baby turtles will appear. But predicting emergence has been difficult. By placing a simple sensor disguised as a turtle egg in the nest, it indicates when the baby turtles would emerge from the sand and swarm toward the water.
Trump’s Persistent Lies About 2020 Results Undermining Supervisors of Election’s Assurances of Sound Process
The challenges have come amid supervisors’ years-long battle to convince voters that, contra Trump lies, election processes aren’t rigged, an issue that took root and spread as Trump and maga supporters continue to maintain that Joe Biden’s 2020 victory was fraudulent.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, October 27, 2022
Early voting, The Flagler Beach City Commission talks pier and utility rates, The Flagler Education Foundation hosts a tour of Flagler Palm Coast High School’s Classrooms to Career programs, Teddy Roosevelt’s racism, Ross Douthat on California’s extremism.
State Courts Are Fielding Sky-High Number of Lawsuits Ahead of Midterms
The current volume of state election litigation also has the potential to derail the safeguards that state courts can provide. When every aspect of an election becomes a lawsuit, negative effects may follow – including destabilizing elections, overwhelming already strained courts and imposing significant costs on states.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, October 26, 2022
Early voting continues, so does Carlos Dupree’s trial for home invasion, Hurricane Ian Information Forum in Flagler Beach, Weekly Chess Club for Teens, Domenico Scarlatti’s birthday.
DeSantis Administration Violated Public Records Law With Snub of Migrant Flight Data Request
A Leon County circuit judge Tuesday ruled that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration did not comply with the state’s public-records law after an open-government group sought records about a controversial decision to fly migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
2022 Is Already Record Year for School Shootings, With Months To Go
There have been shootings at U.S. schools almost every year since 1966, but in 2021 there were a record 250 shooting incidents – including any occurrence of a firearm being discharged, be it related to suicides, accidental shootings, gang-related violence or incidents at after-hours school events.
Culture Wars, Abortion, Crime, Immigration and Spin Dominate Raucous DeSantis-Crist Debate
Crist opened the evening as a clear underdog whom DeSantis has far outstripped in fundraising and polling. The governor’s sitting on more than $107 million in cash on hand. Crist has just $2.2 million in comparison.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, October 25, 2022
Carlos Dupree, 36, goes on trial for a home invasion in Palm Coast’s P Section, the Flagler County Public Library’s Freedom Readers Club, new music concerts at Stetson and UCF, watch today’s eclipse of the sun, old age, a beginner’s guide.
It Matters: Rishi Sunak Is Britain’s 1st Prime Minister of Color
Sunak was born in the southern English port city of Southampton in 1980. His father, Yashvir, was a family doctor and his mother, Usha, a pharmacist. They were born and brought up in present-day Kenya and Tanzania, respectively, before moving to the UK. Sunak’s grandparents on both sides were from India and had migrated to East Africa.
Nation’s Report Card Echoed in Florida Shows Alarming, Appalling Losses in Reading and Math
A large majority of Florida eighth graders do not read proficiently and struggle with 8th grade-level math skills, according to a nationwide assessment of students in 2022 — an uncomfortable reality for teens unprepared for a rigorous high school schedule.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, October 24, 2022
The Bunnell City Commission tries for the third time to dispose of its Charter Review discussion, many trials in felony court but none high-profile, the disunited States, Annie Edson Taylor goes over in a barrel.
That’s Disgusting. So Why Are You Delighted By It?
Halloween is a time to embrace all that is disgusting, from bloody slasher films to haunted houses full of fake guts and gore. But the attraction to stuff that grosses us out goes beyond this annual holiday.
Top Republicans Are Embracing Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Violent Rhetoric
The lure of violence is not an inherently Republican thing or a Democratic thing; it is a human thing. But at this moment in American history, members of only one party are featuring assault weapons prominently in their campaign ads and even family Christmas cards. Only one party is tolerating and even promoting the likes of Greene, with none daring to condemn her message.
My Newspaper Died
Our papers are getting worse at a time we desperately need them to get better. Why? Because they are no longer mediums of journalism, civic purpose, or local identity. Rather, they’ve been reduced to little more than profit siphons, steadily piping local money to a handful of distant, high-finance syndicates.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, October 23, 2022
St Elizabeth Ann Seton Community Fall Festival, DragQueen Halloween, William Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure,” Theatre UCF’s “Working,” remembering Johnny Carson.
A Severe Polarization of School Boards on the Whole Continent
Groups that oppose the teaching of critical race theory and 2SLGBTQ+ supports in schools often position themselves as truly or more accurately in favor of social justice by co-opting social justice language, alleging critical race theory discriminates against white people. School boards have been at the centre of these attacks.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, October 22, 2022
The first Palm Coast Arts Festival in Town center, St Elizabeth Ann Seton Community Fall Festival, Teens-In-Flight Inc. hosts the grand opening of its new digs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, John Reed shakes the world.
How Pit Bulls Went from Our Best Friends to Public Enemies and Back
Pit bulls are not inherently dangerous. Like other dogs, they can become dangerous in certain situations, and at the hands of certain owners. But there is no defensible rationale, other than canine profiling, for condemning not only all pit bulls, but any dog with a single pit bull gene, as some laws do.
Trump-Appointed Judge Refuses to Block Florida Law Muzzling Gender ‘Instruction’ In Schools
Skirting merits of the law by citing lack of standing, U.S. District Judge Wendy Berger refused to block school districts from carrying out a new state law that restricts instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in classrooms. She rejected arguments by parents, students and a non-profit organization.
Federal Judge Refuses to Block Law Banning Payments to Petition Gatherers for Ballot Measures
The law, passed by the Republican-dominated Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, made it a crime to continue a longstanding practice of paying petition gatherers based on the number of signatures they collect. Experts have said the changes doubled the cost of getting initiatives on the ballot.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, October 21, 2022
A Stetson University Symphonic Band and Concert Band Concert, “For Whom the Bell Tolls” at 82, Bach, Beethoven and Brahms at the Jacksonville Symphony, and lots of theater, including William Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure,” but you’ll have to travel a little out of town.
Florida Man Genesis: Why So Many People Move to Sunshine State and Into Harm’s Way
Over 22 million people currently live in Florida. That’s about 37% more than the 16 million who resided in the state in 2000.Today’s new and part-time Floridians are drawn by the same factors that have lured settlers and snowbirds for a century: warm weather and waterfront views, along with lower taxes and fewer regulations than in other parts of the country.
School Boards Now Required to Out LGBTQ Bathrooms and Muzzle Discussions of Gender and Race
County school boards and charter schools will have to follow new requirements for notifying parents about policies involving access to bathrooms and locker rooms, and teachers could be fired if they violate two controversial new laws muzzling discussion of gender identity and racial matters.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, October 20, 2022
Drug Court, Barack Obama on the midterms and other late-empire issues, the History of the Fairchild Family, Theatre UCF’s “Working.”
Meet Shehan Karunatilaka, Sri Lankan Novelist and Winner of the Booker Prize
Sri Lankan novelist Shehan Karunatilaka has won the 2022 Booker Prize for his second novel, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. The Booker prize is the among most important international literary prize for writers of English after the Nobel. It is awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland.
Demings and Rubio Have a Combative, Substantive Debate, But It May Not Change Minds
Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and his Democratic challenger, Congresswoman Val Demings, quickly got combative Tuesday as they sought to sway remaining undecided voters in their only head-to-head meeting ahead of the Nov. 8 election for a seat the GOP must retain if it wants to take control of the U.S. Senate.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, October 19, 2022
Democrat Dave Aronberg, the State Attorney for the 15th Circuit, at Tiger Bay, The Palm Coast Planning and Land Development Board meeting, Alaska Day without snow crabs. Can’t happen here? It already has.
How Abuse Is Baked Into American Sports
A pilot study of several hundred athletes (of all genders) at both large and small schools has revealed troubling examples of abusive coaching behavior. Data and research strongly suggest that abusive behavior is widespread and baked into the very essence of organized sports.
DeSantis, Transportation Department and Contractor Sued Over Records on Migrant Flights
The Florida Center for Government Accountability filed a lawsuit last week against Gov. Ron DeSantis and the governor’s office and this week against against the Florida Department of Transportation and a state contractor, alleging they did not comply with public-records requests stemming from controversial flights of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
seeking to force the release of records relating to
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, October 18, 2022
The Palm Coast City Council makes appointments to its planning board, The Flagler Woman’s Club hosts Candidates’ Night, Community Cats of Palm Coast hosts Cat-Oberfest, the pleas of College Mariste de Champville.
Fog Reveal: Some Police Forces Use App to Track People Without a Warrant
Government agencies and private security companies in the U.S. have found a cost-effective way to engage in warrantless surveillance of individuals, groups and places: a pay-for-access web tool called Fog Reveal.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, September 17, 2022
The County Commission takes up another development at the south end of Old Kings Road, a trip to the center of the universe, the non-ideological Ron DeSantis in Flagler Beach.
Way Down in the Hole: The Inhumanity of Solitary Confinement
The United States leads the world in its use of solitary confinement, locking away in isolation more of its population than any other country. The authors interviewed 100 people confined or employed in solitary confinement units to better understand what it is like from both sides of the bars. The interviews form the basis of “Way Down in the Hole,” a book published on Oct. 14, 2022.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, October 16, 2022
Murder at the Howard Johnson’s, Sun-A Park and Esther Park at the piano, celebrating William O/ Douglas in a reactionary age.
Development on Florida’s Barrier Islands Made Ian Evacuation Virtually Impossible
Builders trying to exploit a hot housing market for big profits ran roughshod over common-sense regulations intended to protect the public. Meanwhile, our elected officials went along with whatever the developers wanted. Hurricane Ian did the rest.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, October 15, 2022
Pink: A Salute to Women, at Flagler Auditorium, Island Festival in Palm Coast’s Central Park, Stetson Choral Festival, Bridge Day, Knopf rejects Jorge Luis Borges.
8.7% Cost of Living Raise in Social Security Checks Is Biggest Since 1981: 6 Questions Answered
How are Social Security benefits adjusted for inflation? Are the benefits taxable? What other government programs typically get a COLA? Does the tax system also adjust for inflation? Why does the government adjust benefits for inflation?
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, October 14, 2022
Rise Up, the second annual Conference on Domestic Violence, Swearing in of Palm Coast Fire Chief Kyle Berry Hill, Stetson University Symphony Orchestra in concert, The Battle of Hastings, Eisenhower, and the punishing of children’s mental health problems.
Anthony Bourdain and the Farce of the ‘Unauthorized’ Biography
The farce is the positioning of this battle as one conducted between “unauthorized biography” on the one hand and “authorized” biography on the other – the publisher, for hinting at scandalous content by casting the work as “unauthorized,” and the aggrieved, to think they have any power to “authorize” whether the biography gets published in the first place.
Florida Politicians Decry Jury Verdict Against Death Penalty for Parkland Murderer
Many Florida politicians think life in prison for Nikolas Cruz isn’t “justice” for the 17 students and school staff he killed on Valentine’s Day in 2018. Under Florida law, the jury’s duty was to weigh factors aggravating in favor of death against mitigating factors.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, October 13, 2022
The Flagler Beach City Commission meets, Alexander Heffner at Flagler College, Evenings at Whitney Lecture Series, “Turning News Into Art,” Murder at the Howard Johnson’s, Lenny Bruce in full, Sacha Baron Cohen on saving democracy from conspiracies.
What the Jan. 6 Committee Could Learn from the Failure of Truth Commissions
Truth commissions are independent or government groups that investigate political crimes and human rights violations. They have provided a common way of transitioning out of political crises around the world, by hearing testimony of people involved in political violence and producing a comprehensive report with recommendations to the government.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, October 12, 2022
Public Safety Coordinating Council meeting, death penalty in decline, but not in the United States, wrapping your head around the size of the universe, Woodrow Wilson’s lusty racism.
‘Silent Spring’ 60 Years On: Essential Reads on Pesticides and the Environment
In 1962 environmental scientist Rachel Carson published “Silent Spring,” a bestselling book that asserted that overuse of pesticides was harming the environment and threatening human health. Carson did not call for banning DDT, the most widely used pesticide at that time, but she argued for using it and similar products much more selectively and paying attention to their effects on nontargeted species.
Gopher Tortoises Are ‘Not in Danger of Extinction,’ and U.S. Denies Increased Protection
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a 113-page decision that said gopher tortoises would continue to be considered a threatened species in parts of southwest Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana under the Endangered Species Act, but not in Florida and elsewhere.