The thank you procession parade will be held at two separate times on Friday, August 27, 2021: Noon and 8:00 p.m. The community is encouraged to attend and bring and wave signs of support from their vehicles.
Health & Society
Full Appeals Court Will Hear St. Johns School District Transgender Bathroom Fight
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday vacated a July 14 ruling by a three-judge panel that said a St. Johns County School Board policy preventing Drew Adams from using boys’ bathrooms was “arbitrary” and violated equal protection rights.
14 Covid Deaths in Flagler in 4 Days Bring County’s Total to 154; Florida Reports 1,486 Deaths Last Week, a Record
There have been many a worst week since the coronavirus pandemic began in the winter of 2020. In Flagler County, last week was the worst yet as the tally of residents who died from the disease set another record, with nine deaths this weekend alone, the tally of new infections also set a weekly record, at 731 confirmed, and ICU admissions were still rising, though admissions had slowed.
The Meaning of Happiness from the Ashes of Pompeii
“Here dwells happiness,” confidently proclaims an inscription found in a Pompeiian bakery nearly 2,000 years after its owner lived and possibly died in the eruption of Vesuvius that destroyed the city in A.D. 79. What did happiness mean to this Pompeiian baker? And how does considering the Roman view of felicitas help our search for happiness today?
Citing Unprecedented Hospital Crisis, Sarasota Is 6th Florida School District to Defy DeSantis Ban on Mask Mandates
The Sarasota County School Board voted, 3-2, late Friday to impose a 90-day mask mandate for students, employees, and visitors, citing a soaring positivity rate in locals tested for COVID-19, ovewhelmed local hospitals, and the district’s struggle to conduct sufficient school-based testing and contact tracing.
Covid Wars: A Ripped-Off Mask and Verbal Assault Over Rules Unravels Tensions in a School District
Incidents in a Texas school district reflect tensions over masks radiating across the country: In one instance, a parent physically grabbed the mask off of a teacher’s face. In a separate incident, a teacher was repeatedly yelled at by a parent who requested the teacher take off their mask, claiming they couldn’t hear what the teacher was saying.
You’re Free to Refuse the Covid Vaccine. But It’s Un-American.
Throughout history, America’s leaders have recognized that without concern for others, without the highest tradition of cooperative national action, democracy is in peril. People who decide not to get vaccinated must understand that their actions are not just selfish, they are un-American.
State Will Cut Funding for School Boards in Alachua and Broward Over Mask Defiance
The Florida Board of Education will withhold money equal to the salaries of local school board members from districts in Alachua and Broward counties over their tough mask mandates for students, which state officials say violate Florida law.
School Board Members Term Janet McDonald on ‘Witch Hunt’ and ‘Dangerous’ as She Guns for Board Attorney in Wake of Tuesday Tumult
School Board member Janet McDonald called for what would have been an unlawful, closed-door meeting to review the school board attorney’s contract, then called for any special meeting to review last Tuesday’s meeting, when the chamber had to be cleared because of the crowd’s rule-breaking. Two board members–Colleen Conklin and Cheryl Massaro–responded with withering criticism of their colleague.
School or ‘Russian Roulette’? Amid Delta Variant and Lax Mask Rules, Some Parents See No Difference
Even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends “universal indoor masking” in schools regardless of vaccination status, schools across the country are not embracing mask requirements, including for students under 12 who aren’t yet eligible for protective vaccines.
Family Life Center’s Trish Giaccone Sternly Rejects Flagler Beach Mayor’s ‘Rogue’ Attack, But Fences Aren’t Mended
Family Life Center Executive Director Trish Giaccone responded bluntly Thursday to criticism from Flagler Beach mayor Suzie Johnston that Giaccone had gone “rogue” by appearing on a radio commercial hosted by an incendiary county commissioner. But it does not appear as if relations between the city and the Life Center will improve.
Covid Deaths in Flagler Reach 140, an Increase of 26 in 3 Weeks; 90 Hospitalized in Palm Coast, ‘All ICUs at Capacity’
Local infections and hospitalizations for covid continue to break records. Data is emerging that points to vaccines losing their efficacy over time, underscoring the push for booster shots in a significant shift from earlier guidance. The reason: the delta variant of the coronavirus, far more infectiously virulent, has radically changed the landscape, making so-called “breakthrough” infections of the vaccinated more common than originally thought and forcing public health agencies to adjust.
Schools and Covid Safety: What Works and What Doesn’t
Vaccines and masks work. Plexiglass and temperature checks aren’t worth it, testing everyone isn’t necessary, but students should still keep their distances when eating–and the delta variant still has many unknowns.
White House Orders Nursing Home Workers in Florida Vaccinated, Whatever DeSantis Says
As Covid-19 cases continue to surge in Florida, the White House announced Wednesday that nursing homes that rely on Medicaid and Medicare funding must require their staff members to get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus.
School Board Rejects Renewed Mask Mandate in 3-2 Vote at Meeting That Devolves into Chaos and Defiance
It was one of the Flagler County School Board’s more raucous meetings in recent memory this evening, with several key votes, including a rejection by the board, on a 3-2 vote, to restore a mask mandate in schools, with an opt-out provision. The board chamber had to be cleared for 45 minutes, and more than half a dozen sheriff’s deputies responded.
No, Indian Trails Middle Isn’t Requiring Vaccines, Detaining or Banning Students, But Falsehoods Go Viral Anyway
The case of a parent’s reaction to her son at Indian Trails Middle School being required to quarantine for at least four days illustrates how easily inaccurate information is misused to politically tendentious ends–it’s led to a call for a showdown before the school board this evening–or inflated into non-existent problems or false claims.
Food Stamps Benefits Will Increase 25%, First Increase in 15 Years, Helping 15,000 in Flagler
In Flagler County, 14,809 people in 7,546 households were receiving food stamps, and 3.3 million Floridians in 1.9 million households were. Average monthly benefits will increase to $157, or $36 more than pre-pandemic levels.
21 Flagler Residents Have Died of Covid in Last 2 Weeks, 1,600 Deaths in Florida, But State Is Masking the Figures
Flagler’s death count was released only after a public record request. The state Health Department is masking death counts for the state as a whole, just as it has been fudging vaccination figures to make them seem higher than they are, just as it has eliminated daily reports of case counts, whether for the state or the counties, in an apparent effort to downplay the intensity of the crisis.
Flagler Mosquito District Will Expand in Plantation Bay and Palm Coast But Scraps Plans to Cover the Whole County
The East Flagler Mosquito Control District voted this morning to expand its spraying boundaries slightly west and south to include an area of U.S. 1 and all of Plantation Bay. But the district abandoned further plans to phase-in spraying of the entire county, opting instead to revert to a 2003 agreement with the county to continue spraying West only on an as-needed basis.
Fact-Check: DeSantis’s Executive Order Claim that Masking in Schools Lacks Scientific Support Is False
DeSantis’ July 30 executive order falsely claimed that “forcing students to wear masks lacks a well-grounded scientific justification” and cherry-picked a study that offers little basis for his position and includes a variety of elements that are not accurate.
U.S. Department of Education ‘Stands With You,’ It Tells Florida Superintendents Willing to Enact Mask Mandates
The U.S. Department of Education is “deeply concerned” about Gov. Ron DeSantis’ executive order seeking to ban school mask mandates and is ready to help districts directly, the federal agency said in a letter to the governor Friday.
Pfizer CEO to Public: Just Trust Us on the Covid Booster
Pfizer has not yet delivered conclusive proof to back up confidence that a third, booster, shot would improve immunity. The company lacks late-stage clinical trial results to confirm a booster will work against covid variants including delta, which now accounts for 93% of new infections across the U.S.
DeSantis Pursues Mask Crackdown in Schools as Covid Surge Continues and Counties Defy Orders
The State Board of Education has scheduled an emergency meeting Tuesday “to consider the compliance of school districts, including Broward and Alachua” with the rule and a new state law. Broward and Alachua have imposed mask requirements in schools.
My Kids’ School Won’t Reinstate Masks Despite the Covid Surge. Here’s What I Chose to Do.
“It’s disappointing that the districts are not implementing the strategies recommended by the CDC to keep these kids safe when there is moderate to high transmission,” said Elizabeth Stuart, a biostatistician at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in reference to districts that are not requiring masks. “It puts families into these really challenging situations.”
AdventHealth Physician Sounds Alert to Increase of Children in Hospital for Covid, Renewing Call for School Masks
AdventHealth Palm Coast had 82 patients admitted with covid, while the AdventHealth Central Florida division was reporting 12 children admitted as evidence continues to pile up: vaccines are an overwhelming buffer against hospitalizations, and masks are an effective buffer against infections, including in schools.
Judge Will Weigh DeSantis Order Banning Mask Mandates in Schools
A Leon County circuit judge has scheduled a hearing Friday in a lawsuit filed by parents challenging an executive order by Gov. Ron DeSantis that seeks to prevent school districts from requiring students to wear masks during the Covid-19 pandemic.
DeSantis Administration Threatens to Dock School Officials’ Pay Over Masks. White House Says It May Cover Paychecks.
Most districts have reluctantly acceded to the rules, requiring kids to wear masks but offering opt-outs at the request of parents or guardians. Broward County school officials voted Tuesday to mandate masks and if necessary challenge DeSantis in court. The Flagler school district is not going so far as to mandate, even with an opt-out. Reports from schools today indicate that only a minority of students masked up, while top school officials visiting the schools did so unmasked.
Flagler Gets the Message as Vaccines Quadruple in 4 Weeks, and Councilman Barbosa Declares Himself a Convert
As vaccine shots have quadrupled in Flagler in comparison with four weeks ago and covid hospitalizations have continued to rise, Palm Coast City Council member Victor Barbosa, just back from being hospitalized for covid, is now urging to get the vaccine he had previously resisted.
Rule Clarified: In Flagler Schools, the Vaccinated Exposed to Covid Don’t Have to Quarantine; Others Must at Least 4 Days
Unvaccinated students and teachers who have been exposed to Covid must quarantine at least four days before they are eligible for rapid-testing and, if asymptomatic, a return to the classroom. But the vaccinated, and those who have been Covid positive in the previous 90 days, and show no symptoms, can stay in school even after exposure, according to a new state rule.
As Virus Rages, It’s Back to Long Delays to Get a Covid Test
As the nation confronts its latest and worsening surge of covid cases, consumers are again facing delays getting tested, many turning to social media to complain. The problem appears mostly in the South and Midwest, where infections driven by the virus’s delta variant are proliferating the fastest.
Contradictory State Rule Upends Flagler Schools’ Plans for Rapid Testing of Teachers and Students
Plans by Flagler schools and the Health Department to minimize quarantines through rapid testing were upended by an emergency rule issued by the state on Friday. The rule appears to pre-empt the right of local authorities to use rapid testing for at least four days, and up to seven days, during which individuals must quarantine regardless.
Back at Work, an FPC Teacher Worries About an Unmasked School and a District Unprepared for the Unexpected
A Flagler Palm Coast High School teacher describes a lack of information from the school board concerning Covid protocols, no discussions of contingency plans in case of breakouts, and no clarity about quarantines even involving staffers who are vaccinated but experience breakthrough infections.
To the Dismay of Some, and Against Public Health Guidance, It’ll Be School as Usual in Flagler Come Tuesday
The Flagler School Board will not buck the governor’s order against masking requirements, while schools will resume Tuesday under almost entirely normal conditions. But local physicians and the health department chief are concerned that the ongoing covid surge across the county will replicate in the schools.
Flagler Health Department’s Covid Testing and Vaccination
Free Testing and vaccination will be offered five days a week from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Health Department in Bunnell, but plans to start offering rapid testing to school staff and students are in limbo following the state health department’s issuance of a rule Friday that may pre-empt rapid testing at least in the first four days of exposure.
Narcissists
Some people are more narcissistic, others less so. Narcissism typically involves an inflated view of oneself, a sense of superiority and entitlement and a lack of concern for others. It’s a familiar portrait. But it isn’t the only one.
Flagler Records 154 Covid Infections Today as AdventHealth Palm Coast’s In-Patients Soar to 86, Another Record
The 16-hospital AdventHealth network in Central Florida has 1,350 in-patients with covid, 400 more than it had during the highest previous peak of the pandemic last January. Patients who survive stay an average of 14 to 21 days at the hospital, averaging in age between 50 to 55–younger than in previous waves–but all ages have been seen in hospitals. Of the 1,350, some 350 are in ICU and on ventilators.
Ramping Up Campaign Against Covid Safety, DeSantis Now Opposes Hospitals Requiring Vaccines of Staff
Florida reported an additional 20,133 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, making the state responsible for about 22 percent of the new cases reported nationwide for the day, according to data posted Thursday by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In a Boost for Its Palm Coast Hub, UNF President David Szymanski Stepping Down to Become CEO of MedNexus
Szymanski’s decision signals the breadth and weigh of UNF’s investment in MedNexus and now places the person most responsible for it behind its development, in Jacksonville and in Palm Coast, where it came about through the lobbying of former Mayor Milissa Holland.
Students Who Oppose Masks Could Qualify for Vouchers to Transfer to Private Schools, at Public Expense
The State Board of Education is set to hold a conference call Friday, in part to consider an emergency rule that would expand the state’s Hope Scholarship voucher program to allow students who don’t want to wear masks to transfer to private schools.
Covid-19 Vaccine Breakthrough Cases: Data from the States
The rate of breakthrough cases reported among those fully vaccinated is well below 1% in all reporting states, ranging from 0.01 percent in Connecticut to 0.29 percent in Alaska. The hospitalization rate among fully vaccinated people with COVID-19 ranged from effectively zero to 0.06 percent, and the rates of deaths were even lower.
Is It Time to Retire the ‘My Body, My Choice’ Slogan?
Whether talking about reproductive health or COVID-19, choices involving health care are not only freedoms from external control. They also rely on the ability to access necessary care. As abortion rights make their way back to the Supreme Court during an ongoing global pandemic, it is a good time to reconsider whether “my body, my choice” is the right slogan for a right to health care.
Robert Batie, Accused Rapist of 16-Year-Old Patient, Was Employed By Practice Working With Flagler Schools
Therapist Robert Batie was arrested on four charges of molesting and raping a 16-year-old patient at his office on Hargrove Grade in Palm Coast. He had worked with Palm Coast Counseling, engaged by Flagler schools since 2020 to provide mental health services to students at the practice or elsewhere.
In Florida Covid Crisis, Politics Define Gov. DeSantis’s Decisions from Barring Mask Requirements to Vaccine Passports
Elected officials’ attitudes and actions about masks and vaccinations have become a flashpoint in the increasingly tribal nature of partisan politics. The ideological schism over preventive protocols in Florida has aided DeSantis’ rise as a national presidential contender and, at the same time, become a cornerstone of Democrats’ efforts to oust him.
Catholics for Choice Condemns U.S. Bishops for Urging Supreme Court to Restrict Abortion Rights
Catholics for Choice, which uplifts and amplifies the voices of the majority of Catholics who believe in reproductive freedom, denounced the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) today for asking the Supreme Court to uphold a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks.
Florida Covid Hospital Rate Tops the Nation, Taking Up 22% of All In-Patient Beds; ICU Occupancy at 86%
As of Monday, 11,863 inpatient beds in Florida were being used by Covid-19 patients, about 22 percent of all inpatient beds in the state, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services data show. No other state had as high of a utilization rate. The number of in-patients at AdventHealth Palm Coast on Monday was 80, more than double the January peak.
Flagler Health Department Chief Bob Snyder Reveals He Was a ‘Breakthrough’ Covid Case, But Vaccine Kept Symptoms Mild
Bob Snyder, the Flagler Health Department chief, had managed to make it through a year and a half of the pandemic’s most viral trenches unscathed, even when he was unvaccinated for two-thirds of that time.
Today, Snyder revealed he was among the “breakthrough” cases, contracting the delta variant recently despite his January vaccination. The infection barely sidelined him.
Where Canadian Dads Are Warm, Kind and Gentle, American Dads Punish Harshly and Lack Emotional Support
Canadian dads were much more likely to show warmth, provide emotional support, engage in caregiving and use positive discipline. In fact, American dads outperformed their Canadian counterparts on only one of the survey measures – the use of spanking and other harsh disciplinary tactics.
Ahead of Its Planned Hospital on U.S. 1, Flagler Health+ Joins Palm Coast United Methodist in Health Village and Church Campus
Flagler Health+ and Palm Coast United Methodist Church celebrated the groundbreaking expansion of each institution on July 27 in North Palm Coast as Flagler Health+ openly competes with AdventHealth and the church will build a “North Campus” to reach more youth.
80 Hospitalized for Covid at AdventHealth Palm Coast as Infections in Flagler Continue to Soar: 900 in Last 7 Days
As many Flagler County residents got infected in the past seven days as did the total number of Flagler residents did in the first seven months of the pandemic last year, from January to Aug. 1, 2020. Two Flagler County commissioners today joined a very small number of elected officials who are asking residents explicitly to mask up and to get vaccinated, as the county’s vaccination rate remains below 50 percent.
DeSantis Adds Florida to 11 States’ Play to Overturn Roe v. Wade’s 2-Semester Abortion Standard
The governors filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of a 2018 Mississippi law banning abortions after 15 weeks. The filing doesn’t make these states party to Mississippi’s defense of its statute, but voices their legal support for that state’s case.