The economic toll of the Covid-19 pandemic in the U.S. will reach US$14 trillion by the end of 2023, a team of economists, public policy researchers and other experts have estimated.
Health & Society
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody Wants Supreme Court to Kill Recreational Pot Initiative
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody has submitted ballot language to the Florida Supreme Court for a proposed 2024 constitutional amendment to legalize recreational cannabis in Florida. She also informed the court that she opposes the measure.
The Student Protesters Were Arrested. The Man Who Got Violent in the Parking Lot Wasn’t.
College students arrested. A parking lot altercation. A retired teacher waking up to a broken window. Events at a school district in Conway, Arkansas, illustrate the alarming trend of unrest at school board meetings across the country.
Jeannette Simmons on Mental Health Month
The City recently collaborated with Jeannette Simmons, a Licensed Mental Health counselor and Chief Innovation Officer of local non-profit organization Flagler Cares, to highlight some of the most important mental health issues in our area.
Rick Scott Wants Full-Time Armed Security in Every School in the Country
Sen. Rick Scott has filed federal legislation that would create a block grant program to be run through the Department of Justice to support hiring law enforcement officers to provide full-time security at every K-12 school in the country.
Later Start Time for Middle and High School Students in Flagler Means Earlier Start for Younger Ones
A bill awaiting the governor’s signature would ban school start times before 8:30 a.m. for high schools and 8 a.m. for middle schools, starting in the 2026-27 school year. The Flagler County School Board had been reconsidering its own start times–but in the other direction. Now, it may be faced with making tough choices regarding elementary-school start times, which would go from latest to earliest starting times in the county.
4-Day School Week Is Gaining Popularity, But Not Among State Lawmakers
Nationwide, the number of four-day schools has increased by 600% over the past two decades, now numbering more than 1,600 in 24 states. Many four-day schools report higher test scores, fewer discipline problems and strong support from parents.
End Language that Dehumanizes Immigrants
Sensationalizing, stigmatizing, and misleading imagery and rhetoric surrounding immigration leads to near-constant use of the term “illegal” or “unlawful” to describe unauthorized crossings. An advocate for immigrant survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, and trafficking is alarmed by the use of this language to describe a migrant’s attempt to survive.
From Gun Truck to Healthcare: Ret. Gen. Mark Hertling, Former Commander of 90,000, Talks Leadership in Workplace
These days Mark Hertling lives in Palm Coast, teaches physicians and healthcare administrators how to lead, and talks geopolitics on CNN. When he has a moment, he appears before civic groups for a talk, as he did on a Saturday last month when he addressed the University Women of Flagler at the Hilton Garden Inn, as he will again on May 17 as the keynote speaker at Flagler Tiger Bay’s monthly lunch.
Gun Deaths Drive Biggest Spike in Child Mortality in 50 Years
After decades of steady improvement, the death rate of America’s children and teens shot up between 2019 and 2021 — and Covid-19 wasn’t the reason. Gun-related deaths represented the largest share of the increase — by far.
Florida House Approves Lowering Age to Buy Assault Rifles to 18, Reversing Ban Passed After Parkland Massacre
The Florida House passed a measure that would lower the minimum age from 21 to 18 to buy rifles and other “long” guns, voting to scrap a high-profile change passed after a 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. House bill sponsor Bobby Payne, R-Palatka, said the measure “corrects the wrong we did in 2018.”
Food Stamps Work Requirements Don’t Work
SNAP eligibility is often contingent on beneficiaries working. But the policy doesn’t make people more likely to find a job or make more money, but it does make Americans who could use help buying groceries less likely to get it.
County Plan to Move Whispering Meadows Equine Therapy Ranch to Fairgrounds Collapses as State Says No
The state has rejected Flagler County government’s plan to move the Whispering Meadows Ranch–the equine therapy non-profit–to the county fairgrounds, saying it would privatize public land. The rejection is the latest setback in the ranch’s two-year effort to leave its John Anderson Highway property, where it has operated for 16 years, until neighbors started objecting to its presence.
Josef Ghosn Named AdventHealth University’s New President
Josef Ghosn, Ed.D., MBA will become AdventHealth University’s third president and CEO on May 1, 2023. The university’s Board of Trustees selected Ghosn after a months-long, national search.
On Paul Renner’s Request, House Will Subpoena Trans Treatment Information
The decision to issue the subpoenas is among a series of moves by lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration targeting transgender people and the LGBTQ community. A lawmaker criticized the move as reminiscent of the Johns Committee, a Florida legislative investigative panel that sought to expose communists and gay people at state universities in the 1950s and 1960s.
In Florida, We Are All Child Abusers Now
The Florida Legislature is legalizing a Jim Crow-like system of punishing, demonizing and denying the existence of LGBTQ children. Few sessions of the Florida Legislature provided the legal framework for as much state-sponsored and citizen-empowered terrorism against children as this one.
It’s The Guns
They’re the constituents our elected officials value the most. To most of our lawmakers, guns need careful handling. Not because they’re instruments of death, but because they’re holy and blameless chalices of liberty.
Coming YMCA Could Give Belle Terre Club a Few Years’ Reprieve. 2 School Board Members Won’t Hear of It.
After yet another round of hardened, inconclusive debate over the fate of the Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club during the school board’s workshop on Tuesday, the board agreed to vote on the matter one way or the other at its May 16 meeting. But this time a new element is in play, with the very strong possibility of a YMCA coming to town in a few years.
Bob Snyder, Guardian of Public Health in Flagler for a Decade, Is Boy Scouts Council’s Golden Eagle Award Winner
Bob Snyder, the Flagler County Health Department administrator since 2015 and the county’s leader in public health, is the 2023 Golden Eagle honoree. He’s receiving the honor this evening at the annual Flagler County Boy Scout Golden Eagle Dinner at Hammock Dunes Resort.
It Is Unconstitutional, But Florida Lawmakers Approve Death Penalty in Child Rape Cases
Lawmakers hope the bill (HB 1297) will ultimately lead to the U.S. Supreme Court reversing a 2008 decision that barred the death penalty for people who rape children. The state House passed the bill last week.
Trans Bathroom-Ban Bills Affect Private Businesses, Schools, Public Shelters and Healthcare Facilities
The sharply restrictive bills making their way through the Florida Legislature don’t just attempt to control bathroom use by transgender people but represent a much more “broad and vague” ban on gender-inclusive restrooms and changing facilities in private businesses, health care facilities, schools, public shelters, and jails.
Florida Lawmakers Approve Abortion Ban Past 6 Weeks, One of the Most Restrictive in U.S.
In less than a year, Florida has moved from a 15-week abortion ban to the passage of one of the most restrictive bans in the nation — a 6-week abortion ban. The state House approved the legislation after at least six hours of questions, amendments, debate, protests and a final vote that will clear the way for Gov. Ron DeSantis to consider the bill.
Anti-Trans ‘Bathroom Ban’ Is Quickly Moving Through Florida Legislature
Florida could be next in line to criminalize transgender adults who intentionally enter a restroom or changing facility opposite their sex at birth, according to two bills hastily moving through the Legislature. Similar bathroom bans are advancing through legislatures around the country.
AdventHealth Palm Coast COO Wally De Aquino Named President and CEO of New Hospital on Parkway
AdventHealth today named Wally De Aquino president and CEO for AdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway. The 100-bed, four-story hospital on Palm Coast Parkway set to open in August, alongside a new medical office building. It will be a 158,000-square foot, $167 million facility.
After Clearing Gallery of Public, Florida Senate Passes 6-Week Abortion Limit
The bill touched off heavy debate Monday that was interrupted by Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, ordering the clearing of the Senate seating gallery because of repeated outbursts from audience members opposed to the bill.
DeSantis Lowers Flags in Response to Tennessee School Shooting as Lenient Gun Laws Move in Legislature
The gesture by Gov. Ron DeSantis comes as the Florida Legislature debates controversial bills that would allow any adult to carry a deadly weapon without having to register with the state or undergo firearms training.
House Republicans Attack Justice Department Memo Warning of Threats to Local School Boards
The GOP has for roughly 18 months targeted an Oct. 4, 2021 memo issued by Attorney General Merrick Garland instructing federal law enforcement across the U.S. to “open dedicated lines of communication for threat reporting, assessment, and response” on possible criminal threats to local school board members over politically charged issues that flared up during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
$700 Million Affordable Housing Package Bans Rent Control Measures
The bill would create tax incentives for developers to build more affordable housing and expand a program designed to help working Floridians purchase homes, but leaves out rent-control measures as a tool to help the poor pay housing costs.
In less Than 24 Hours, an ‘Open Carry’ Bill Is Introduced then Re-Holstered, Disappointing Advocates
But a permitless carry bill proceeds. That bill, HB 543, would repeal the requirement that Floridians who carry a concealed weapon must get a license through the state. It would also mean Floridians would not have to take a gun safety and training course.
NASCAR’s Hailie Deegan and AdventHealth Partner to Mark Women’s History Month
AdventHealth is launching a platform in March during Women’s History Month to celebrate the women working in NASCAR, including women drivers and the business professionals who serve as the backbone of race teams, tracks, agencies and media organizations.
Belle Terre Swim Club’s Finances Are Not as Dire as Projected, Club Advocate Says
Doug Courtney, a member of the Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club’s advisory committee, questions the school district’s claims that closing the club to public use would be a financial benefit.
6-week Abortion Limit, With 15-Week Rape Exception Only If Women Prove They Were Assaulted
The new bills would allow abortions up to 15 weeks of pregnancy in cases of rape or incest, but they would require women to present documentation to prove they were victims.
Flagler District Wants Earlier High School Start Time Just as State and Research Go the Other Way
A disconnect is developing between the Flagler County School Board and a proposed state law to push middle and high school start times later. The Flagler board favors a later start time for middle schools. But it’s pushing an earlier start time for high schools.
Florida House Advances Proposal to Renew Medical Pot Cards by Telehealth
A Florida House panel on Thursday unanimously signed off on a proposal that would allow doctors to renew patients’ medical-marijuana approvals using telehealth.
Iowa Outdoes Florida’s ‘Parental Rights’ Abuses
GOP lawmakers pushing a “parental rights” agenda nevertheless think it’s just fine for gun owners to leave loaded weapons in cars in school parking lots, to loosen child labor laws, to cut unemployment benefits for parents with more than three children.
Teens-In-Flight Makes Plane-Piloting Dream Come True for Terminally Ill 16 Year Old
Austin Booth has been afflicted with numerous illnesses since birth and was given only eight or nine years to live. He’s now 16, and last week he took off from Flagler County airport at the controls of a Teens-in-Flight Cessna, making a lifetime’s dream come true.
Lawmakers Seek to Cut Florida’s Abortion Ban to 6 Weeks, from Current 15
Much of the bills would be contingent on the Supreme Court effectively upholding the 15-week law. The current limit has drawn criticism because it does not include exemptions for victims of rape or incest.
Annual Mental Health Summit Set for March 29 at St. Augustine Amphitheatre
The third annual BRAVE Summit, a free event for teens that aims to break the stigma surrounding mental health, will the held on March 29, 2023, at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre. The event, hosted by Flagler Health+, is free and open to all high school students throughout Florida.
Challenged in Flagler Schools: McCormick’s Sold, a Review and a Recommendation
Patricia McCormick’s “Sold,” about the experiences of a 13-year-old girl sold into sexual slavery, is among the 22 books that a trio of “moms for liberty” have sought to ban from high school library shelves. A school committee voted to keep the book. The banners appealed the decision to a district committee, which meets on March 6. The following review is presented as a guide.
Judge Orders Mental Evaluation for Matanzas Student Who Assaulted Aide
A judge has ordered a mental evaluation of 17-year-old Brendan Depa, the Matanzas High School student accused of attacking his paraprofessional. Court documents related to the order for the first time confirm that Depa has been treated for mental illness and is on various medication for psychological issues.
Lawmakers File Bills that Would Outlaw Certain Treatments for Trans Youths
The bills are the latest in a series of moves by lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration aimed at transgender people. Doctors who commit violations could either lose their license of face criminal charges.
Matanzas Assault Case: A Miscarriage of Justice Hardens Before Our Eyes
The public reaction to 17-year-old Brendan Depa’s assault of Joan Naydich at Matanzas High School is mostly compassionate and balanced. The more strident reaction among elected officials–the State Attorney, school board members–is not not. Elected officials are not only exploiting the situation. They’re exploiting Depa. They want blood.
Florida Lawmaker Files Bill to Expand ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Through 8th Grade
A House Republican on Tuesday filed a proposal that would bar instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity through eighth grade, expanding a controversial 2022 law that prohibited such instruction in early grades.
CareSource Foundation Opens $400,000 Funding Competition
The CareSource Foundation Grant Challenge will award a total of $400,000 to Florida community-based organizations and nonprofits focused on demonstrating effective, practical solutions to address the needs of children and youth in medically complex care.
One Texas Judge Will Decide Fate of Abortion Pill Used by Millions of American Women
By filing a lawsuit in Amarillo, the Alliance Defending Freedom was almost guaranteed to draw U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a President Donald Trump appointee who worked as deputy general counsel at First Liberty Institute, a conservative nonprofit advocating for religious liberty, before being confirmed to the federal judiciary in 2019.
School Board’s Chong Demands ‘Safe Space’ Sign Be Removed Seconds After Decrying Violence at Matanzas
Flagler County School Board member Christy Chong had just decried a Matanzas High School student’s attack on a teacher aide there when, not a minute later, she demanded that a “safe space” poster associated with LGBTQ groups and anti-bullying be removed from a Matanzas classroom.
GOP Bills Disrupting Trans Youth Care Are Sweeping the Nation Beyond Florida
Republican lawmakers in more than half the states are continuing a party-line push to restrict doctors and other medical providers from offering some gender-affirming health care to minors, even with parents’ consent.
Group Seeks to Legalize Homegrown Medical Pot with 2024 Ballot Proposal
A political committee has started moving forward with a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow medical-marijuana patients and patients’ caregivers to grow cannabis at home.
Era of ‘Free’ Covid Vaccines, Test Kits, and Treatments Is Ending. Who Will Pay Tab Now?
Time is running out for free-to-consumer covid vaccines, at-home test kits, and even some treatments. Vaccine prices will be steep, as will covid treatments, and benefits will depend on insurance coverage even as many are poised to lose insurance because of new government rules.
Florida Health Boards Back Banning Treatment for Trans Youths
The Florida Board of Medicine and the Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine on Friday refused to scrap new rules prohibiting doctors from using gender-affirming care for trans youths, after dozens of transgender men and women pleaded with them to reverse the treatment bans.
