Unless you have a well articulated political science doctor’s note, you have no excuse but to go vote today. Precinct locations and guides included.
Florida
Unemployment Resumes Climb in Flagler and Florida as Economy Fails to Strengthen
Flagler County’s unemployment rate went up to 15.6 percent (from 15.4 percent), and Florida’s went up to 11.5 percent, raising fears of a double-dip recession.
State Troopers Will Surge Drunk-Driving Patrols Through Labor Day
The highway patrol will be out in full force between Aug. 20 and Sept. 6, hunting drunk drivers.
Florida’s High School Students Near Bottom in College Readiness; Flagler’s Do Worse
The college readiness scores, trending downward for the state and for Flagler, undermine the state’s contention that it is improving education on a nationally competitive level.
Back from the Brink, Florida Hospital and United Healthcare Reassure Flagler Clients
For people who need to go to the hospital or its affiliates, nothing changes–until the fine print is made clearer: rates are almost certain to increase.
Stetson University and Flagler College Rank Well, Florida Does Not in Higher Ed Survey
Regional successes aside, Florida’s flagship universities did poorly when ranked against other national public and private universities.
Florida Court Rules Pregnant Woman’s Rights Override Presumptions for the Unborn
In a circuit court decisions with wide implications about the rights of a fetus, a judge ruled a woman had the right to decline hospitalization against doctors’ concerns over her pregnancy.
“Burn the Koran Day” in Gainesville: When Crude Isn’t the Only Thing Mucking Up Florida
Terry Jones’ “Dove World Outreach Center” in Gainesville slimes Florida, but no more so than Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin are sliming American values in the name of the worst of Western civilization.
Cool Project, Cooler Reception: Palm Coast’s Desalination Aims Leaves Others Unmoved
Slower than before, but still expensively, Palm Coast continues to push desalination as its only alternative water source in the future.
Merchants of Greed: How Florida Hospital and United Healthcare Bargain Over Your Body
On Aug. 15, half a million central Floridians, and thousands in Flagler County covered by United Healthcare, including children on medicaid, will be denied insured coverage at Florida Hospital’s facilities, including Florida Hospital Flagler.
Decreasing Rains, Dropping Aquifer: Hydrologic Summary for January-June
Every six months, by Florida law, the state’s water management districts must produce a report on water conditions in the region. Here’s the St. Johns River district report, which includes Flagler County.
How Palm Coast Got Tagged in the Jessi Slaughter Cyberbullying Affair
A Florida girls tries out for fame and becomes a poster-child of cyberbullying instead. If her story were a flag on Iwo Jima, it’d be all red.
Florida 1 of 3 States With Top-Rated Medicare Advantage Plan. But You Can’t Enroll in Flagler.
Top-rated Capital Health Plan, a non-profit, is available only in the four-county Tallahassee area, so local Medicare members are denied enrollment.
More Incitement to Violence Against Florida’s Alan Grayson
A $100 reward is put out to punch Florida Congressman Alan Grayson. A death threat follows, not for the first time.
Florida Tax-Free Days: The Fine Print
The tax-free holiday in all its details: what’s tax-free, what’s not, according to Florida’s tax revenue department.
Coming Soon: A Rickshaw Service for Flagler Beach
It’s zero emission. It’s available in many big cities. And it’ll be offered in Flagler Beach in August.
Move Over, Delbrugge: How Janet Valentine Shifted the School Board on a Tax Levy
New School Superintendent Janet Valentine quietly showed her political and parliamentary skills when she turned the board from opposing to approving a school tax referendum.
Florida Leads States’ Failures in Reporting Problem Caregivers
Florida leads the nation in ignoring federal database reporting of health professionals who have been disciplined on the job, undermining background and safety checks on frontline caregivers.
Food Safety Inspections End At Florida Hospitals, Child Cares and Nursing Homes
A new law designed to diminish duplication of services ends them instead, as food-preparation for children, the sick and the elderly will go mostly uninspected from now on.
Dan Warren, Conqueror of St. Augustine at Its Bleakest, Still Heroic After All These Years
Dan Warren, who took on and broke the KKK’s grip on St. Augustine in the pivotal summer of 1964, was in Flagler Beach for an evening of conscience-rousing Thursday.
Your Water Management District Tax Next Year: $42 (On Average, Anyway)
The tentative $247.4 million budget is 21 percent, or $65.8 million, less than the current fiscal year’s amended budget. Half the budget is made up of your property taxes.
State’s Largest Districts Find “Significant Anomalies” in FCAT Results and Demand Halt to Grading
In the latest FCAT testing scandal this year, superintendents want FCAT tests investigated before high-stakes school grades are released.
Spy-and-Snap Red-Light Cameras Will Enrich Private Company At Palm Coast’s Expense
The traffic cameras generated $1.7 million for Palm Coast since 2008. Most of that money will now go to a private company and to Tallahassee, while the cameras keep snapping.
Florida Beaches Stay Open Despite Tar Balls and Sicknesses
Despite EPA warnings that some Florida beaches may be unsafe, people are taking to them–and getting sick.
Double-Dip: US Economy Loses 125,000 Jobs Even as Unemployment Rate Drops to 9.5%
With census jobs vanishing, so is job creation as the US economy in June appeared headed for a double-dip recession.
Prescription Pill-Popping By Far a Leading Killer as Florida’s Drug Deaths Spike 20%
Oxycodone, the addictive prescription pain-killer also known as OxyContin, directly caused more deaths in Florida in 2009 than cocaine, heroin and morphine combined.
Pressing for Raises, Teachers’ Union Holding District Hostage Over Class-Size Compromise
The union would approve a district plan to comply with class-size requirements in exchange for $2.4 million in raises.
Flagler Get Your Gun: Supremes Rule 5-4 That 2nd Amendment Extends to States and Locals
The ruling is more likely to confuse rather than clarify how state and local gun regulations may be written into law.
Drill This: Hundreds in Flagler, Thousands Across Globe’s Sands Link Against Oil
The moment was as symbolic as it was literal: a human chain in Flagler Beach against off-shore oil drilling and for alternatives to fossil fuels.
Hit the Beaches: Solidarity Against Oil As Hands Across the Sands Gets Set for Noon
Colleen Conklin, the school board member, is organizing the event–handing out slips and whistles, synchronizing the human link–along with Carmen Arasknick.
FCAT Scores, A Month Late, to Be Released After Untold Damage to Schools
The Department of Education and testing company Pearson are still playing word games over the cause and extent of the delay, which ruined district and student planning for fall.
Flagler Has 30 Days Left to respond to 5 Proposed Manatee-Protection Speed Zones
Flagler’s committee is at the half-way point of responding the state’s proposed speed zones in the Intracoastal.
100,000 Barrels Per Day? The Internal Document that Contradicts BP’s Claims on Oil Flow
The 100,000-barrels-per-day scenario contrasts sharply with BP’s public pronouncements of a much smaller spill rate.
Census Jobs Help Lower Unemployment; Flagler at 15.1%, Florida at 11.7%
As in the rest of the nation, census employment is lowering the unemployment rate. But will it last?
Citing School Board Flux, Conklin Opts Out of Taking on Thrasher Or Others Until 2012
Her eyes set on higher office in 2012, School Board member Colleen Conklin said she came close to running against John Thrasher but will let a Duval Democrat take him on.
How the Oil Slick Is Fouling Florida’s Government Budgets–And What To Do About It
The oil spill is Florida’s 9/11. People won’t die. A way of life will. The Florida Legislature should be in crisis mode, not in recess, anticipating what to do next.
Catch FlaglerLive on CNN
I’ll be on CNN Newsroom with Fredricka Whitfield during the 3 p.m. hour discussing the oil spill’s impact on local governments, and particular local school districts.
Crist, Rediscovering His Inner Moderate, Vetoes Anti-Abortion Bill
The veto continues Crist’s rejection of GOP hard lines against teacher unions and in favor of unregulated business.
Fury and Fallacies Hook Red Snapper Fishing Ban
The indefinite extension of the ban on commercial or recreational fishing for red snapper off Florida’s coast will hurt boaters. But so would overfishing and crashing fish populations.
Mica: Bunnell Still Has “Fighting Chance” for a Train Station; Data and State’s Will Are Key
In an interview with FlaglerLive, John Mica outlines what Bunnell has going for and against it as it angles for a train station.
Marineland Mobilizes Against BP Oil Spill — and Beyond
Florida has no contingency plan if dolphins, turtles and manatees begin showing up coated in oil. Marineland’s Jim Jacoby wants to fix a blind spot in planning dating back to two Jeb Bush vetoes in 2000 and 2001.
Hanging With Manatees
It’s not just seeing manatees upclose alone that moves you. It’s seeing their injuries, and their utter helplessness.
Feds, Not Florida, Will Pay for Medicaid’s 1 Million New Beneficiaries
Attorney General Bill McCollum’s claim that health reform forces Florida to shell out too much money for Medicaid is demonstrably false.
Ten Things You Should Know About the $70.4 Billion Budget Crist Is About To Sign
Undermining Bright Futures, imposing ultrasounds on pregnant women, studying school funding, favoring bikers, and more curiosities from the state budget.
Florida Legislature’s Spending Misleadingly Labeled as Pork
Most of the spending called “pork” (or “turkeys” by Florida TaxWatch is of immediate and necessary benefit to senior health, care for the poor and transportation.
Loner Palm Coast Drips Desal to Fraction of Original Plan; Water Costs Would Rise Sharply
The city is reducing its desal ambitions to a sixth the original size, but 1,000 gallons would cost five to six times more than current water.
How Flagler County Is Preparing for the BP Oil Slick–If It Hits (And What You Need to Know)
Flagler County’s emergency response to the oil slick hitting Flagler Beaches is similar to hurricane preparation. It’s happening now.
Flagler Unemployment Lowest in a Year, Remains State’s Highest; Florida’s Dips for First Time Since 2006
Led by federal census jobs and tourism jobs, Florida’s employment rolls showed their best gains in four years. Flagler’s decline is due in part to population loss. The complete April unemployment report.
Florida Medicaid Audit Reveals Shockingly Poor Oversight
Lax state oversight of Medicaid is fueling runaway costs in the health program covering 2.7 million poor and elderly Floridians.
Florida’s Abortion Follies:
When Lawmakers Are Sexual Predators
Florida’s latest anti-abortion legislation shows that sexual predators aren’t just the monsters who assault and rape. They can also be men who control women and girls by subordinating them their moral assumptions, which usually have immoral results.