With half of all renter households now spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing, millions are one emergency away from homelessness. Punishing people for our country’s failure to ensure adequate housing for all is inherently “cruel and unusual.” Widespread homelessness directly violates the human right to housing under international law, which must be recognized in the United States.
Health & Society
Recreational Pot Amendment Backers Raise $61.5 Million as DeSantis Attacks
The political committee sponsoring a ballot initiative that would allow recreational marijuana collected nearly $314,000 in new donations, according to its latest campaign finance filing. Smart & Safe Florida has now raised nearly $61.5 million in its effort to pass the initiative.
Flagler Cares and One Voice for Volusia Merge Safety Net and Substance Use Prevention Services
Flagler Cares and One Voice for Volusia announce that the two organizations have merged into one corporate structure under Flagler Cares. Flagler Cares will remain committed to providing social safety net, behavioral health and outpatient counseling, and prevention services for Flagler County. One Voice for Volusia is doing business as the Substance Use Prevention Coalition and neutral community facilitator in Volusia County, focusing on addressing risk factors and building protective factors to prevent initiation of youth substance use.
More than 1 Million Floridians Couldn’t Afford to See a Doctor in 2022
Approximately 28% of Florida adults can’t afford to see a doctor when they need to, according to newly published data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The data for 2022, the latest available, put Florida among the states with the highest rates of people who skipped medical visits because of high costs. Texas, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi — other states that haven’t expanded Medicaid — were also listed, according CDC Disability and Health Data System data published Tuesday.
Tendentious ‘Statement’ on Florida Abortion Ballot Measure Sparks Controversy
A state panel late Monday finished revising a “financial impact statement” that will appear on the November ballot with a proposed constitutional amendment on abortion rights — with amendment supporters accusing the panel of a “dirty trick to mislead voters.” The statement makes several unsubstantiated claims about costs the abortion measures could impose on the state budget.
Flagler Cares Partners With Re-Nu Mental Wellness Center, Formerly Known as Palm Coast Counseling
Flagler Cares, a one-stop health and social care organization, welcomed Re-Nu Mental Wellness Center to the Flagler County Village in Palm Coast, on July 1 as a community partner. Re-Nu Mental Wellness Center, formerly known as Palm Coast Counseling, was recently sold to Dr. De-Shaunah Dixon, who also owns Wellness Centers in Pompano Beach, Fla. and Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Friday Food-A-Thon Aims for $200,000 for Flagler Food Bank, Underscoring Need Approaching 6,000 Families
Close to 6,000 families have registered with Flagler County’s Grace Community Food Pantry, 2,000 more than last year, as WNZF and Flagler Broadcasting launch the third annual Food-a-Thon in hopes of raising $200,000, money that can be leveraged into $1 million worth of food. The drive is aiming for a bounty of small donations this year.
Lt. Gov. Nunez Links Anti-Abortion Message to ‘Free Florida’ Signs
Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez said the state’s new “Free Florida” welcome signs reflect “freedom to right to life, of course for those babies.” The Florida Department of Transportation has not yet reported how much the signs have cost taxpayers.
Florida Among 13 States With GOP Governors Rejecting Summer Food Program for Kids
A new, permanent summer grocery program will help nearly 21 million kids across 37 states get enough to eat this year while school’s out. Not in Florida. Gov. Ron DeSantis is among 13 Republican governors whose states opted out of the federal program, citing their opposition to what they deride as “welfare” and their unwillingness to cover administrative costs.
Judge Blocks Biden Rule Preventing Gender-Identity Discrimination in Florida
The rule, which was scheduled to take effect Friday, is designed to help carry out a federal law that prevents discrimination in health-care programs that receive federal money. The law prevents discrimination based on “sex,” and the rule would apply that to include discrimination based on gender identity.
Drive Begins to Get Medicaid Expansion on Ballot as 653,000 Floridians Lost Coverage in Past Year
More than 653,000 Floridians who lost their Medicaid coverage over the past year because the state determined they were ineligible. Nearly 315,000 Floridians in the so-called coverage gap, ineligible for Medicaid or insurance through the Affordable Care Act. Florida Voices for Health, a nonprofit advocacy group that works on multiple health issues including expanding Medicaid, is pushing to get Florida to join the majority of states that have expanded Medicaid.
For the Homeless, ‘Stay Awake or Be Arrested’
In a 6-3 decision written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, the Supreme Court rejected the claim that criminalizing sleeping in public by those with nowhere to go violates the Constitution’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. The decision, disappointing but not surprising, will not lead to any reduction in homelessness, and will certainly result in more litigation.
Supreme Court Will Decide Legality of Transgender Care Bans in Decision That Will Affect Florida Law
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether a Tennessee law restricting puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender children is unconstitutional, in a closely watched case that is almost certain to affect similar laws in Florida and more than a dozen other states. Justices will hear the case in the fall, with a decision likely coming in June or July 2025.
15-Month-Old Hospitalized After Seizing from Pot Ingestion; Father Charged With Felony Child Neglect
A 15-month-old Flagler County girl who ingested marijuana her father allegedly left unattended was hospitalized at Wolfson’s Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville for Sunday after seizing and developing a distended stomach. Her 26-year-old father, Cody Robert Spiegelhalter, was booked at the Flagler County jail on a felony charge of child neglect.
Dr. Andrew Weinfeld Appointed Chief Clinical Officer for AdventHealth East Florida Division
The AdventHealth East Florida Division has selected Dr. Andrew Weinfeld to serve as Chief Clinical Officer (CCO), effective July 8. Comprising seven hospitals with a total of 1,397 beds in Daytona Beach, DeLand, Orange City, New Smyrna Beach, Palm Coast, and Tavares, the AdventHealth East Florida Division employs over 11,000 team members.
With Thomas in Dissent, Supreme Court Upholds Ban on Domestic Abusers Owning Guns
The U.S. Supreme Court Friday upheld a federal law that bars people subject to domestic violence restraining orders from owning a firearm. In an 8-1 decision on United States v. Rahimi, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the opinion that “our Nation’s firearm laws have included provisions preventing individuals who threaten physical harm to others from misusing firearms.”
Biden Is Right: Over 100 Million Americans Would Lose Protection for Preexisting Conditions if ACA Is Repealed
A previous fact-check ruled Biden’s claim that 100 million Americans have preexisting conditions as in the ballpark, and nothing suggests that’s changed. Depending on the definition, the number could be smaller, but it also could be even greater and is likely to have increased since 2014.
The Broader Strategy to Push Out Homeless People
Advocates for unhoused people argue anti-camping laws targeting the homeless effectively make homelessness a crime. Depending on its ruling, the Supreme Court could intensify cities’ efforts to treat the unhoused as criminals.
Supreme Court Unanimously Upholds Access to Abortion Pill Without Foreclosing on a Future Challenge
Thursday’s ruling means that mifepristone will continue to remain widely available in the United States, where it is used in over 60% of abortions by health care providers. The decision, however, does not necessarily foreclose another challenge to the FDA’s actions. Three states with Republican attorneys general – Idaho, Missouri, and Kansas – joined the dispute in the lower court earlier this year.
Federal Judge Stops Florida’s Law Banning or Restricting Transgender Care, Calling It Discriminatory
A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that a 2023 Florida law and regulations prohibiting the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy to treat children for gender dysphoria and making it harder for trans adults to access care are unconstitutionally discriminatory and were motivated by “animus” toward transgender people.
After All the Battles to Keep Belle Terre Swim Club Open, Here’s the Public’s Chance to Still Have Access
The Belle Terre Swim Club’s Advisory Committee is soliciting $20-a-month memberships that would enable members to use the facility on an hourly and daily basis. But at least 120 members are needed to open the club one hour a day. The committee’s goal is to build up to enough members to open the facility several hours a day, six days a week.
Florida High School Athletic Association Replaces Word ‘Gender’ With ‘Sex’ in Snub at Anti-Discrimination Guidelines
The State Board of Education on Wednesday approved changes in the Florida High School Athletic Association’s bylaws that include replacing mentions of the word “gender” with the word “sex,” amid a larger dispute between federal and state officials. The changes came as Florida and other Republican-led states are challenging a Biden administration rule that would help carry out Title IX, a decades-old law that bars discrimination in education programs based on sex.
Is the Armadillo Spreading Leprosy in Central Florida?
Leprosy remains rare in the United States. But Florida, which often reports the most cases of any state, has seen an uptick in patients. The epicenter is east of Orlando. Brevard County reported a staggering 13% of the nation’s 159 leprosy cases in 2020. Leprosy experts believe armadillos play a role in spreading the illness to people.
Voices From the Grave:
Admiral Rickover’s Nukes Warning: ‘We’ll Probably Destroy Ourselves’
Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, who died in 1986, was among the more outspoken, abrasive, often controversial and at times innovative military leaders in the nation’s history. In his last congressional hearing in 1982 he warned of the danger posed by nuclear weapons and nuclear power, predicted that the human race was on its way to extinction by nuclear conflagration, and deemed “silly” any talk of multiplying the Navy’s fleet, or even its aircraft carriers, which he said would last two days in a nuclear confrontation.
California Will Add 11% Tax Guns and Ammo. That Could Diminish Violence.
Starting in July, California will be the first state to charge an excise tax on guns and ammunition–11% on each sale on top of federal excise taxes of 10% or 11% for firearms and California’s 6% sales tax. The National Rifle Association has characterized California’s Gun Violence Prevention and School Safety Act as an affront to the Constitution. But the reaction from the gun lobby and firearms manufactures may hint at something else: the impact that the measure, which is aimed at reducing gun violence, may have on sales.
School Board Appears Clueless as Unexpected Conflict Over Fair Use Emerges at Belle Terre Swim Club
Flagler Fluid, the private swim-team organization that’s been renting the Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club for years, is suddenly facing scheduling conflict provoked by the school district division controlling access to the club that the school board earlier this year voted to close to all but specific uses. Board members were unaware of the conflict.
Affordable Housing in Palm Coast-Flagler: Plenty of Ideas, Not Enough Political Follow-Through
The Palm Coast Community Center was not the place to be this afternoon if you wanted to hear cheery answers and simple solutions to increasing the dismal stock of affordable housing in the city and the county. But it was the only place and one of the rare times in recent years where local governments–the county and Palm Coast–devoted a serious forum to explore difficult questions and realistic possibilities to bring more affordable housing to the region.
Flagler Fluid and Advisory Group Float Pair of Plans to Keep Belle Terre Swim Club’s ‘True Spirit’ Viable
Flagler Fluid, the independent swim-team organization operating out of the Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club since 2001, has submitted a plan to the school district as part of a proposal to take over and run the club as a business, potentially with a fee-based, public-use component, to reverse the district’s recent decision to end membership access to the club.
I Run a Food Pantry. Without Food Stamps, It’s Not Enough.
Pantries are a critical piece of the anti-hunger puzzle, but they’re filler pieces. Government nutrition programs — with the infrastructure and funding to get the job done — should be the centerpiece. SNAP is the nation’s most effective anti-hunger program, feeding nearly a quarter of all U.S. children. But the end of a Covid-era boost in benefits is leaving nearly 13 percent of the population experiencing food insecurity.
That Color in Your Water Is Due to Low Rainfall and Palm Coast’s Use of Certain Wells
The City of Palm Coast is actively responding to the challenges posed by the current dry conditions, which have led to significantly increased water usage and heightened demands on our water supply. As a result, residents may notice a change in the color of their water, particularly throughout the summer months.
AdventHealth Hired 10,000 Nurses Since 2020
Four years after a global pandemic rocked the health care industry and exacerbated a nationwide nursing shortage, AdventHealth celebrates a major milestone: 10,000 registered nurses hired across its Central Florida hospitals and health care locations since 2020. AdventHealth’s hospitals in Flagler, Lake and Volusia counties have successfully reduced turnover by 22 percent and travel-nurses by 39 percent.
Unquiet Silence: Inside a Jacksonville Abortion Clinic After Ban Kicks In
On Monday, almost 60 people came to A Woman’s Choice, a clinic in Jacksonville that offers abortion services. Half did so for their abortions, and half for the preliminary consults. A third were from somewhere other than Florida. The vast majority were past six weeks of pregnancy. By Wednesday morning, it was all over. Outside, half a dozen abortion opponents chanted prayers. Inside the clinic was quieter. The six-week ban had kicked in.
At Brendan Depa Sentencing, Prisons’ Mental Health Chief Draws Bizarrely Rosy Picture of Services Awaiting Him
To hear Suzonne Kline, chief of mental health at the Florida Department of Corrections, mental health services in Florida prisons are so extensive, so thorough, so attentive, you’d want to get imprisoned just to get a piece of them. She testified during the first portion of the sentencing hearing of Brendan Depa, the former Matanzas High School autistic student who pleaded to severely assaulting his teacher aide, and is facing the possibility of prison time. Kline’s testimony was a tactical success for the prosecution.
Florida Joins GOP Lawsuit to Kill Federal Protections for Transgender Students
Republican State Attorney General Ashley Moody has enlisted Florida in multi-state litigation challenging new Biden administration regulations protecting transgender people from discrimination in schools, colleges, and universities.
Florida’s 6-Week Abortion ban Goes in Effect Wednesday. Here’s What It Means for Patients and the South.
More than 25,000 women traveled to Florida for an abortion over the past five years, most from states like Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi with little or no access to abortion. Hundreds traveled from as far as Texas. Starting on May 1, Florida’s 6-week ban goes in effect. The ban could be short-lived if 60% of Florida voters in November approve a constitutional amendment adding the right to an abortion.
Why Do Your Groceries Cost So Much? Price-Gouging, Not Inflation.
According to a new report by the Federal Trade Commission, the largest grocery retailers — which include Walmart, Kroger, and Amazon, which owns Whole Foods — used the pandemic as an excuse to raise prices across the board. The same is true for big agribusinesses like Tyson Foods and DuPont, which sell the lion’s share of meat products and seeds. These giant companies wrote themselves a blank check during Covid, which they now expect us to pay for.
With Zero Evidence, Florida Surgeon General Says Mask Wearers ‘Just Like to Hide Their Faces’
Florida’s Surgeon General is continuing to evangelize against mask wearing like it’s 2022. His latest theory? People wearing protective coverings over their faces simply don’t want to be seen, said the state’s Chief Health Officer and doctor of medicine at the University of Florida.
Flagler Free Clinic Announces Expanded Access for More Floridians
The Flagler Free Clinic in Bunnell announces expanded eligibility for its services, thanks to a statewide bill passed recently by the Florida Senate. The newly enacted legislation, focusing on a vast array of health care improvements across the state, will significantly increase the number of Floridians eligible to benefit from the clinic’s comprehensive, no-cost health care services.
Lawsuit Blames Flagler Schools’ Failure to Address Brendan Depa’s Known Needs and Risks Before Attack on Aide
Brendan Depa, the now-18-year-old former Matanzas High School student captured on surveillance video attacking his teacher’s aide 14 months ago, filed suit today against Flagler County schools, accusing the district of failing to properly address his behavioral end mental disabilities, to properly train the staff in charge, or to provide legally required educational supports. The failures led to a grave but foreseeable, violent incident, the lawsuit states, injuries to the aide, and the prospect for prison for Depa.
Florida High School Athletic Association May Recognize Video Gaming as an Official Sport
The Florida High School Athletic Association could potentially sanction competitive video gaming, or esports, as an official sport, amid growing interest from member schools. Many schools already have video gaming teams or programs, but none are recognized as a sport.
Supreme Court Will Decide Constitutionality of Laws Like Florida’s Against Homeless
On April 22, 2024, the Supreme Court will hear a case that could radically change how cities respond to the growing problem of homelessness. It also could significantly worsen the nation’s racial justice gap.
The Dis-Education of Brendan Depa
Brendan Depa, the now 18-year-old former Matanzas High School student to be sentenced on May 1 on a first-degree felony count of assaulting a teacher’s aide, is alone being punished for what in fact amounts to a systematic and catastrophic failure, on the part of Matanzas High School and district officials, to follow Depa’s Individualized Education Program, which set out guidelines and requirements on how to contend with his mental health issues.
Palm Coast Honors Curtis Gray’s Memory and Proclaims Rise Above the Violence Day
The Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday issued a proclamation remembering Curtis Gray, the 18-year-old Flagler Palm Coast High School student gunned down in a dispute at a local strip mall on April 13, 2019, and proclaimed the date Rise Above the Violence Day.
Evading Usual Bill-Signing Spectacle, DeSantis Kills Local Efforts to Protect Workers from Florida’s Brutal Heat
Gov. Ron DeSantis has quietly signed into law a measure barring local governments from requiring employers to provide workers with basic protections like shade, accessible water, and breaks from the Florida’s scorching heat and humidity.
For the Homeless, Housing Works, Not Handcuffs
Too many communities are responding to rising homelessness by criminalizing the unhoused. It’s more humane and effective to house people. According to the National Homelessness Law Center, almost every state restricts the conduct of people experiencing homelessness. In Missouri, sleeping on state land is a crime. A new law in Florida bans people from sleeping on public property — and requires local governments without bed space for unhoused people to set up camps far away from public services.
The Flood of anti-LGBTQ+ Laws Shadowing Nex Benedict’s Suicide
Nex Benedict’s death is shadowed by the sentiment and ideology behind a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ laws sweeping the country. In 2024 alone, various state legislatures have introduced almost 500 such bills, many of which target LGBTQ+ youth in schools. Some of these bills restrict which restrooms transgender students can use and which sports teams they can join. Others censor the information that all students receive at school about sexual orientation and gender identity.
Flagler Free Clinic Is Recipient of $100,000 Gift from Hammock Dunes Cares
The Flagler Free Clinic today announced it received a $100,000 donation from Hammock Dunes Cares, the none-profit arm of Hammock Dunes Club in Palm Coast.
DeSantis and Surgeon General Turn Fentanyl Bill-Signing Into Attack on Transgender Athletes
Just moments after the governor said that he would sign two bills, one promoting opioid antagonists to prevent deaths from overdose and another boosting penalties for recklessly exposing first responders to fentanyl, Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo opened fire on athletic competitions that pit transgender women and girls against those who are biologically female.
More Kids Are Dying of Drug Overdoses from Counterfeit Pills Laced with Fentanyl
Buprenorphine prescriptions for adolescents were declining as overdose deaths for 10- to 19-year-olds more than doubled. These overdoses, combined with accidental opioid poisonings among young children, have become the third-leading cause of death for U.S. children. The main culprits are fake Xanax, Adderall, or Percocet pills laced with the powerful opioid fentanyl. Nearly 25% of recent overdose deaths among 10- to 19-year-olds were traced to counterfeit pills.
To Win in November, Recreational Pot in Florida Must First Defeat Reefer Madness
Now that the Florida Supreme Court has cleared the proposal to legalize recreational pot for the November ballot, the drug of choice among those who want to defeat the proposal is going to be disinformation. So it’s worth having a look at what we’ve learned from other states that have inhaled.