Dr. Martin Kubiet, beloved husband, father, son, and brother, and known to friends as “Marty,” passed away on October 31, 2019, at the age of 56. An obituary.
Florida & Beyond, and All Opinions
Monday Briefing: Diabetes’ Blue Flag, Amy Lukasik Elevated, Bunnell’s Homeless Shelter, Navy Bombing
The Bunnell City Commission holds a special meeting to comply with a Justice Department request, Amy Lukasik is named Flagler’s permanent tourism director, Maria Howell is back in court.
As Local News Outlets Shutter, Rural America Suffers Most
Amid the steady decline in local news, some states are considering stepping in to support the Fourth Estate. But critics worry that doing so might undermine the press’s role as a government watchdog.
Water Less With Seasonal Focus on Conservation To Sustain Water Supply
The St. Johns River Water Management District has launched a new year-long “Water Less” campaign to help raise awareness about water conservation and to communicate easy ways to integrate outdoor water conservation into our daily lives without sacrificing curb appeal.
Don’t Leave Gender Equality or Definition to the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court’s ruling will have a drastic material impact on the millions of transgender people living in the United States. Allowing this discrimination to continue will threaten many more with unemployment and economic hardship.
School Safety Commission Calls for More Mental Health Funding in Second Major Report
A state commission tasked with making school-safety policy recommendations to the Florida Legislature approved a draft report on Thursday that will highlight a need for more mental health funding.
Thursday Briefing: Turtle Hospital Fundraiser Nets $7,000, Hall of Terror, Sean Kennard’s Piano Studio
The annual Taste of the Fun Coast fund-raiser for Whitney Lab’s turtle hospital raises $7,000 in three hours, the Halloween Hall of Terror continues at Station 21 in Palm Coast, a Stetson faculty concert.
More Questions from Court Ruling Pointing to Allowances for Felons Who Can’t Pay All Obligations Before Voting
Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee has sent a memo to county elections supervisors with direction about complying with a federal judge’s ruling on felons’ voting rights — but questions remain about how the state will move forward.
Wednesday Briefing: Hall of Terror, University Board of Governors, Naturalist John Serrao, Alice Munro
The university system’s Board of Governors votes on UNF’s plans for Palm Coast, Palm Coast Fire Station 21 transforms into a Hall of Terror for Halloween, Alice Munro’s happy shades.
DeSantis Criticizes Proposal to Raise Minimum Wage to $15, Saying It’ll Hurt Restaurant Owners
Florida For A Fair Wage is seeking voter support to increase the state’s minimum wage to $10 an hour on Sept. 30, 2021 and increase it by $1 each year until it hits $15 an hour on Sept. 30, 2026.
Sexual Misconduct and the Plague of Himpathy
The alleged perpetrator gets to share his story, to humanize himself, to present himself as relatable, reflective, and truthful to a nation of viewers. The women who accused him don’t.
Status of Migrant Children in Florida Shelters Cloaked in Secrecy in Name of ‘Privacy and Security’
Florida officials have a relatively limited role the state plays in ensuring the well-being of children who were separated from their families after crossing the country’s southern border and being detained.
Monday Briefing: National First Responders Day, Bunnell Annexations, Stamp and Coin Club, Rushdie’s Quichotte
The Lakeside-By-the-Sea community recognizes its first responders with a thank you lunch at Fire Station 41 in the Hammock, the Bunnell commission will consider several voluntary annexations and land use issues, Biden is in Florida.
Florida’s Parental Consent Abortion Bill Is Intended to Shame and Scare Pregnant Girls
“We’re stridently noisily pro-choice creatures,” conservative writer Nancy Smith says. “You know why? Because we remember what it was like to grow up in towns and cities without Roe V. Wade. We were there, eyes wide open.”
Obamacare Premiums Will Fall 4% and Number of Insurers Will Increase By a Third
The news comes despite the Trump administration’s persistent attempts to undermine the Affordable Care Act, which created the market with the goal of providing comprehensive health coverage at affordable prices and reducing the number of Americans without health insurance.
Superintendents Don’t Want Big Pay Increase To Go Directly To Teachers, But to a Pot They Would Control
Four superintendents advising lawmakers say Gov. DeSantis’s proposed $603 million teacher-compensation plan should go into the “base student allocation” — a pot of money districts can use with more flexibility.
Weekend Briefing: “Spring Awakening,” Ethics Commission, Holler-Ween, FPC’s One-Act Plays, Turtle Sculpture
City Repertory’s “Spring Awakening,” Blues Night in Town Center, Halloween events at the Agricultural Museum and the public library, FPC’s one-act plays, a new turtle sculpture unveiling.
DeSantis Backs Letting College Athletes Cash In on Endorsements as Bills Are Filed to Scrap Prohibitions
Four bills have been filed for the 2020 session, two by Republicans and two by Democrats that seek to allow college athletes to be compensated through endorsement deals that use their names, images and likenesses.
Flagler Beach Commission Set to Impose Steep Increase in Water and Sewer Rates for 5th Year in a Row
The city is proposing a 12.5 percent increase for water and sewer rates and a 12.8 percent increase in the stormwater fee. That’s after water and sewer rates went up 25 percent this year, 34 percent the previous year, 20 percent in 2017 and 13 percent in 2016.
Florida Senate Removes Broward Sheriff Scott Israel from Office
Special Master Dudley Goodlette, a former Republican state representative from Naples, recommended last month that Israel be reinstated, finding that DeSantis’ lawyers failed to present evidence to support the suspension.
China Plays the NBA
The obvious prioritization of commercial ties with a government that’s attacking demonstrators in Hong Kong and putting millions of ethnic Uyghurs in concentration camps is a damning statement about what the league — and the economic system it operates in — truly values.
Senate Panel’s Republican Majority Backs Ouster of Democratic Sheriff Scott Israel
Ignoring the conclusions of a Senate special master, a key committee voted along party lines Monday night to uphold Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ouster of Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel.
Where Is Line Worker Barbie?
Mattel rolled out an extensive line of “Career Dolls,” including Barbie pilots, firefighters, and robotic engineers, to inspire its young patrons. But there’s one career you won’t find in this line: the typical working woman on the Mattel payroll.
Monday Briefing: Scott Israel Special Session, Victor Williams Trial, Cutting Bus Drivers, Mosquito Board
The Florida Senate convenes a special session to decide the fate of Broward Sheriff Scott Israel, the Victor Williams trial begins, the county commission approves a series of social services grants.
Judge Says Florida May Not Deny Felons Right to Vote if “Genuinely Unable” to Pay Obligations
The federal court ruling was only a partial victory for voting-rights and civil-rights groups that challenged the constitutionality of a new state law designed to carry out a constitutional amendment restoring voting rights to felons who have served their sentence.
Stetson University’s Monumental Man John B. Stetson Honored with Campus Sculpture
Installed in Palm Court in August, the larger-than-life statue and bench weighs approximately 1,600 pounds and features a relaxed Stetson sitting on the bench while tipping one of his famous hats and beckoning folks to grab a seat or strike a selfie pose.
Tobacco Use by Flagler and Florida Youth at All-Time Low, But Vaping Spikes to All-Time High
In Flagler, 15.1 percent of students in middle and high school reported using a vaping product in the past 30 days, up from 13.8 percent in 2016 and 7.8 percent in 2014.
Think ‘Medicare For All’ Is The Only Democratic Health Plan? Think Again
If you tuned in for the first five nights of the Democratic presidential debates, you might think “Medicare for All” and providing universal care are the only health care ideas Democrats have. They’re not.
DeSantis Says Soviet-Born Businessman Arrested on Campaign-Finance Charges Was “Just Like Any Other Donor”
DeSantis was among Florida Republican candidates who received contributions during the 2018 election cycle from Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, who were arrested on campaign-finance charges involving the pro-Trump super PAC America First Action.
Case of Student Arrested and Released After Allegedly Planning School Shooting Worries Safety Commission
In early September, law enforcement officers arrested a 15-year-old student who they say scribbled in a notebook six pages of specific and well-researched strategies to carry out a mass shooting at Baker County High School.
Tuesday Briefing: Superintendent Search, No Bullies, Safety Commission, Food Truck Tuesday
The Flagler County School Board discusses its next superintendent, rezoning and a community survey, it’s Food Truck Tuesday in Central Park, the school safety commission meets, Jefferson on differences of opinion.
What Life On the Margin Feels Like
The University of Wisconsin-Madison, is in an uproar over a video to promote the school’s homecoming that features no students of color. Here’s how young people of color feel at being treated like “others.”
New Building Improvement Regulations Eyed to Withstand Hurricanes
The Florida Building Commission gave tentative approval to more-stringent wind resistance requirements for vinyl siding and additional mitigation requirements for rooftop decks, among other recommendations to lawmakers.
Trump’s Trillion-Dollar Hit to Homeowners, and $680 Billion Gift to Corporations
By reducing deductions for real estate taxes, Trump’s 2017 tax plan has harmed millions — and helped give corporations a $680 billion gift. An analysis shows how.
Gender Traitors: Fired While Gay
The Supreme Court will decide three cases that ask a question you should be offended to hear still asked today: may an employer fire a worker for being gay? The answer in most states, including Florida, is yes.
Florida Will Use $116 Million in Pollution-Settlement Money from VW to Buy Alternative-Fuel Buses
New public-transit and school buses that run on electricity and alternative fuels would get much of Florida’s share of a federal payout from a Volkswagen emissions scandal.
Dry September Creating Drought Conditions in North Florida
Typically one of Florida’s wettest months of the year, this September was drier on average, according to data collected by the St. Johns River Water Management District, and drought conditions are developing in north Florida, with Baker County experiencing severe drought.
Thursday Briefing: Literature Nobel, Turtle Quilty, Waltz at Tiger Bay, Diabetes, “Lion in Winter”
Two Nobels for literature are announced this morning (for 2018 and 2019), Mike Waltz at Daytona’s Tiger Bay, Palm Coast Arts Foundation’s sixth addition to its turtle trail, a free diabetes management class.
Calling It an “Administrative Nightmare,” Federal Judge Urges Lawmakers to Revamp Felon Voting Law
U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle made the comments as he finished a two-day hearing in a challenge to the law, which was passed along partisan lines by the Republican-dominated Legislature this spring and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Bear Management Strategies in Florida Forests Include Shooting and Trapping
The 209-page draft from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission offers ways to keep the state’s bear population of about 4,000 above the 3,000 mark.
Talk of Reparations for Slavery and Jim Crow Moves to State Capitols, Including Florida
Four centuries after the first African slaves landed on Virginia shores, state lawmakers across the country are taking up the debate over how to atone for what’s been called “America’s Original Sin.”
Bernie’s Heart. And Ours.
Bernie has a huge and eternally healthy heart, filled with the lifeblood of empathy and dedication. In essence, that’s what the 2020 Sanders campaign is all about. Not him. Us.
DeSantis Seeks to Raise Minimum Salary for Florida Teachers to $47,500, or $7,000 Higher Than in Flagler
The Florida Education Association statewide teachers union issued a news release saying it was “encouraged to hear Gov. Ron DeSantis make clear that teacher pay matters to his administration.” But it also raised questions about how the plan would be funded and what it would do to help retain longstanding teachers.
Monday Briefing: Snelgrove in Court, AdventHealth Adding 7th Operating Room, Dunes Rebuilding
The Flagler County Commission approves a formal agreement with Flagler Beach on dunes reconstruction, double-murderer David Snelgrove is in court for a status hearing, Advent Health adds an operation room.
U.S. House Approves Bill Allowing Banks to Help Marijuana Businesses, But Senate Uncertain
The bill would prevent marijuana businesses from operating on a cash basis. Cash-only businesses can attract thieves and make it harder for law enforcement to monitor financial transactions.
Economy Adds 136,000 Jobs, Streak at 108 Months of Growth, Unemployment Down to 3.5%
The national economy added 136,000 jobs in September, and figures for July and August were revised upward by 45,000 jobs, sending the unemployment rate to 3.5 percent, matching a level last seen in December 1969.
Wall Street Is Killing Newspapers
This is a crisis. This country lost more than a fifth of its local newspapers between 2004 and 2018, while newspapers lost almost half of their newsroom employees between 2008 and 2018.
Underground Power Lines Plan Moves Forward, But Residents and Businesses Will Pay More
The Florida Public Service Commission approved proposed rules to carry out the law, which is expected to lead to residents and businesses paying more in their electric bills for storm-protection projects.
Thursday Briefing: Shapiro on Church-State Separation, UNF in Palm Coast, Diabetes Management, Elias Canetti
Rabbi Merrill Shapiro discusses the Flagler school board’s consideration of starting its meetings with prayers, committees of the university system’s board of governors meet to discuss, among other things, UNF’s proposed plans for Palm Coast.
Federal Lawsuit Challenging Florida’s Felon-Voting Rules Appears Moot as Amendment 4 Battle Continues
Legal battles are intensifying over a state law carrying out a constitutional amendment that restored felons’ voting rights, but the new process appears to be ending an older lawsuit that challenged what one federal judge branded Florida’s “fatally flawed” clemency system.