RockabillieWillie At City Repertory Theatre, Murder at Shivering Timbers Murder Mystery Dinner Show Fundraiser, Peps Art Walk in Flagler Beach, donations for Travis Sundell and SunBros Cafe, Robert Louis Stevenson on death.
All Else
The African Penguin May Be Extinct by 2035
In October, the African penguin became the first penguin species in the world to be listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. This is a sad record for Africa’s only penguin, and means it is now just one step away from extinction.
Black Bear Kills Man 100 Yards from His Home, 1st Ever Fatal Attack in Florida
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has concluded its initial investigation into what is confirmed to be the first fatal Florida black bear attack in state history this week in Jerome, Florida.
Flagler Beach Will Consider Selling Ocean Palm Golf Club to Leaseholder, With Conditional Milestones
The Flagler Beach City Commission gave the leaseholder of the city-owned Ocean Palm Golf Club a month to submit a proposal to buy the 37-acre property, paired with a capital improvement plan. If there is to be a sale, it would be conditional on Jeff Ryan, the leaseholder, meeting a series of milestones to prove that he is capable of securing the money necessary to do the work, and to do the work to the high standard he is promising. Those milestones will have to be negotiated.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, May 9, 2025
RockabillieWillie At City Repertory Theatre, Ed Danko on Free for All Fridays, Ben Rhodes on the rapid decomposition of the United States, David Brooks talks to Mark Lilla on “Ignorance and Bliss.”
Tariffs, Trade Wars and the Great Depression’s Lessons
The 1930s witnessed not only an economic crisis, but also a transformation of the international system fuelled, in part, by misguided political and trade decisions. This historical lesson, as the current case of Trump’s tariffs demonstrates, continues to be ignored by leaders who prioritise short-term populist measures over global economic stability.
Flagler County Middle Schoolers Qualify for International Competition for 2nd Year in a Row
BTMS seventh-grade students James Webb and Alexander Mangal turned their most recent performance into a berth into the International SeaPerch Competition being held at the University of Maryland on May 31 and June 1. Their second place finish at the Greater Jacksonville SeaPerch Regional Competition April 13 earned “Team Swift Sharks” one of the coveted spots. BTMS student Luke Chrzanowski will also be attending as an alternate.
Without a Single Question, Bunnell Board Approves Rezoning of Nearly 1,900 Acres to Industrial, Outraging Residents
The Bunnell planning board on Tuesday approved the comprehensive plan change and rezoning of nearly 1,900 acres from agriculture to industrial, on land stretching from U.S. 1 to County Road 304. It is the single-largest rezoning of the kind in the city’s or county’s history and would reshape the character of both as surely as would the massive 8,000-home residential development proposed for west of the city. Yet the planning board recommended approval on a pair of 3-1 votes without a single question, inquiry or comment.
Mayor Mike Norris’s Lawsuit Against Palm Coast Has Merit. And Limits.
It is one of the mocking ironies of the Palm Coast reality show known as America’s Next Top Mayor that the same man found to have violated the city charter is now invoking it to boot fellow Councilman Charles Gambaro off the island. Yet the lawsuit Norris filed against the city this week, arguing that the council violated the charter when it appointed Gambaro last October, has merit. The strict wording of the charter, poorly written though it is, is on Norris’s side. But a less fundamentalist interpretation of the charter is not.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, May 8, 2025
The Flagler Beach City Commission meets, Evening at the Whitney Lecture Series, Model Yacht Club Races, a terrible memory triggered by Simenon and one of his Maigret novels.
If Approved, Religious Charter Schools Will Shift Yet More Money from Traditional Public Schools
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on April 30, 2025, in what could be the most consequential case for public education since the court started requiring schools to desegregate in the years following Brown v. Board of Education. If the court allows churches to operate religious charter schools, the public education system, as Americans know it, will take on an entirely new face and set of financial challenges.
Judge Gary Farmer, ‘Discriminatory, Offensive, Sexually Charged, and Demeaning,’ Fights Suspension
Arguing he has “learned his lesson,” Broward County Circuit Judge Gary Farmer, a former Senate Democratic leader, this week urged the Florida Supreme Court to reject a recommendation that he be immediately suspended after an investigative panel accused him of “pervasive and extensive” behavior demonstrating “unfitness to hold office.” Farmer was elected as a judge in Broward County’s 17th Judicial Circuit in 2022 after six years in the Senate. He served as Senate minority leader during the 2021 legislative session but was ousted after a vote of no confidence by fellow Democrats.
Palm Coast and Flagler County Burn Ban Issued in April Is Extended Through May 14 Despite Rain
The Flagler County burn declared on April 23 and in effect countywide has been extended through May 14, the county announced today even though some areas of Flagler County started receiving rain Wednesday.
Sheriff Staly Cautions Palm Coast Mayor Norris on Mystery Claims: ‘We Just Don’t Go on Witch Hunts and Innuendoes’
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said today that Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris is welcome to report an allegation of a “quid pro quo” involving him and suggesting an attempted bribe from a developer, but cautions that “we just don’t go on witch hunts and innuendoes,” or “fishing expeditions,” and that in any case the way Norris has handled the matter so far has likely undermined any effective investigation.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, May 7, 2025
Connecting to Palm Coast Expo at the Palm Coast Community Center, Separation Chat, Open Discussion, Weekly Chess Club for Teens, at the public library, when Retif de la Bretonne and Ronald Reagan were big readers.
How Trans People Affirmed Their Gender in Medieval Europe
Restrictions on medical care for transgender youth assume that without the ability to medically transition, trans people will vanish. History, however, shows that withholding health care does not make transgender people go away. Scholarship of medieval literature and historical records reveals how transgender people transitioned even without a robust medical system – instead, they changed their clothes, name and social position.
DeSantis Calls House’s Property Tax Cut Study as ‘Dog and Pony Show’
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke out during a press availability in Miami on Tuesday to take more verbal shots at Florida House Republicans — this time regarding the select committee studying a potential cut in property taxes formed by House Speaker Daniel Perez, which convened for the first time on Friday.
Sustainable: Palm Coast Marks 20 Years of Arbor Day
Sunshine, smiles, and sustainability took center stage as Palm Coast’s 20th Annual Arbor Day celebration drew hundreds of residents from across the community this past Saturday. This milestone event marked two decades of environmental awareness and community connection, blending eco-conscious fun with family-friendly festivities.
3-Judge Panel of Fifth District Court of Appeal Hears Arguments at Flagler County Courthouse for 1st Time
For the first time in recent memory, and perhaps ever, a panel of the Fifth District Court of Appeal held oral arguments at the Flagler County courthouse this morning, hearing three cases, none local. One of the three cases centered on the meaning of theft, and whether a defendant had in fact committed a crime–grand theft–when she diverted business from her employer, even though she did not steal products.
U.S. Rep. Randy Fine Picks Ex-Palm Coast Councilman Ed Danko as District Director in Flagler, St. Johns and Volusia
U.S. Rep. Randy Fine, the unfiltered provocateur and former member of the Florida Senate who won a special election in April to claim the Flagler County-centered congressional seat vacated by Mike Waltz, has chosen the like-minded former member of the Palm Coast City Council to be his regional director in Flagler, Volusia and St Johns County: Ed Danko. Danko begins his job on the federal payroll Friday.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, May 6, 2025
5th District Court of Appeal holds a session at the Flagler County courthouse, the Palm Coast City Council decides what to do next on its city manager search, and a new lawsuit, the Bunnell Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board considers a massive rezoning.
How Groupthink Creates Intolerance
People struggle to express tolerance for different moral values – for instance, about sexual orientation, helping the poor, being a stay-at-home mother and so on. In study after study, people are less willing to help, share with, date, be roommates with and even work for people who have different moral values. Even children and adolescents express more willingness to shun and punish moral transgressors than people who do something personally obnoxious or offensive but not immoral.
AdventHealth Hospitals Hire More than 800 Nurses in Flagler, Volusia and Lake Counties in Past Year
Amid a national nursing shortage, the AdventHealth East Florida Division is taking action by expanding its nursing workforce, enhancing hands-on training programs, and reinforcing its commitment to exceptional patient care across its seven hospitals in Flagler, Lake, and Volusia counties. In the past year, the division hired more than 800 new nurses and opened a second center for education and simulation to help nurses gain hands-on experience before they step into a hospital room.
Sales Tax Proposal to Protect Flagler’s Beaches Takes Another Lashing as Commissioners Talk Referendum and Other Alternatives
Flagler County’s $114 million beach management plan is looking like a sand castle on the county’s critically eroded shore, and the water is rising. The Flagler County Commission today could not give its administration–or itself–anywhere near the clear direction needed to forge ahead with a plan every one of its five members agrees is critically needed. Three commissioners find the plan’s revenue formula problematic. The workshop ended with deeper uncertainty as commissioners gave their administration direction to produce yet more alternatives.
Palm Coast Mayor Norris Sues Palm Coast, Seeking Councilman Gambaro Booted and Special Election Held
Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris today filed an emergency suit against Palm Coast government and Council member Charles Gambaro, charging that Gambaro’s appointment last fall violated the charter. The suit seeks to have Gambaro removed through “a judgment of ouster” and a special election declared for the District 4 seat. Norris has been claiming that Gambaro’s appointment was illegal since soon after he was sworn-in late last November. The lawsuit was filed days after Gambaro made an unsuccessful motion for the council to ask Gov. Ron DeSantis to remove Norris from the council.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, May 5, 2025
The Flagler County Commission holds a workshop to decide the fate of its beach-management plan, the Beverly Beach Town Commission meets, press freedom again falls in the United States.
Rising Electricity Demand Could Bring Three Mile Island Back to Life
Three Mile Island was the site in 1979 of a partial meltdown at the plant’s Unit 2 reactor. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission calls this event “the most serious accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history,” although only small amounts of radiation were released, and no health effects on plant workers or the public were detected. Unit 1 was not affected by the accident. University of Michigan nuclear engineering professor Todd Allen explains what restarting Unit 1 will involve, and why some other shuttered nuclear plants may also get new leases on life.
Religious Charter Schools’ Fate May Hinge on Justice Roberts
The Supreme Court on Wednesday was divided over a Catholic virtual charter school’s bid to become the country’s first religious charter school. With Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused from the case, the outcome appeared to hinge on the vote of Chief Justice John Roberts, who asked probing questions of both sides but did not make his position clear.
Randy Fine’s Bill Banning Pride Flags at Public Buildings Fails, as Does Preferred-Pronoun Ban
LGBTQ advocates are celebrating several bills — including one that could have banned Pride flags flown at government buildings — stalling out this Session. Some of the dead bills including HB 75/SB 100 that would have banned government buildings, schools and universities, from flying flags that represented a “political viewpoint.” The proposal was sponsored by outgoing state Sen. Randy Fine before he left for Washington, D.C.
Flagler Beach Reels at Death of SunBros Café Owner Travis Sundell, 49, ‘Passionate Part of What Makes This Town Special’
Travis Gene Sundell, the 49-year-old owner and operator, with his wife Leigh Ann, of SunBros Café in the heart of Flagler Beach since 2021, died Friday. Family, friends, neighbors and regular patrons of the restaurant and bar, which one regular compared to “Cheers” for its friendliness, were reeling at the unexpected announcement this weekend. Sundell died from from an aortic aneurysm.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, May 4, 2025
Bringing back the décrotteurs, RockabillieWillie At City Repertory Theatre, Paws for Music: Benefit for Community Cats of Palm Coast, the unending corruptions of Napoleon and his family.
Social Security Could Run Short on Funds Within a Decade
Under current law, when the trust fund is empty, Social Security can pay benefits only from dedicated tax revenues, which would, by that point, cover only about 79% of promised benefits. Another way to say this is that when that trust fund is depleted, the people who rely on Social Security for some or the bulk of their income would see a sudden 21% cut in their monthly checks in 2036.
A Gutted Education Department Is Rolling Back Civil Rights and Targeting Transgender Students
The Education Department is being radically reshaped away from education, fairness and equity toward a more prosecutorial arm of the federal government as it negates civil rights investigations and ramps up investigations targeting transgender students and schools that apply more event-handed treatment of students and athletes. Civil rights offices are closed. Workers are fired. Investigating discrimination in schools is practically “impossible.”
Daytona State Rocket League Esports Team Wins NJCAAE Championship for DSC
Daytona State College’s No. 1 seed Rocket League Esports team claimed its second national championship Wednesday night, winning the 2025 NJCAAE Spring Premier Series National Title. The team defeated the No. 4 seed Columbia Basin College Hawks 3-0 in the Grand Finals matchup.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, May 3, 2025
RockabillieWillie At City Repertory Theatre, Arbor Day in Palm Coast’s Central Park at Town Center, The Flagler Beach All Stars hold their monthly beach clean-up, the end of an era and time’s dark matter.
Jesse Helms’s Children: The Renewed Push To Defund PBS and NPR
The Republican Party’s long-standing goal of ending federal funding for NPR, the nation’s public radio network, and PBS, its television counterpart, may be near. Across the country, 1,500 independent stations affiliated with NPR and PBS air shows such as “Morning Edition,” “Marketplace,” “PBS NewsHour,” “Frontline” and “Nova.” Some 43 million people tune into public radio every week, and over 130 million watch PBS every year, according to the networks.
State Prison Inmate on a Work Crew in Palm Coast Is Arrested for Burglary
An inmate from the Putnam Correctional Institution, assigned to a prison inmate work crew contracted by the City of Palm Coast, faces charges of burglary stemming from when he was working in a Palm Coast neighborhood. He had previously been convicted on burglary- and theft-related charges and sentenced by a court to state prison.
Palm Coast Has a City Manager. A Replacement Can Wait Until the Council Defuses Its IED.
The Palm Coast City Council did the right (and impressive) thing when it voted down both of the last two remaining candidates for city manager on Tuesday. It’s now time to shelve that search, stick with Lauren Johnston as city manager, and work on restoring the City Council’s reputation before launching a new search. The city is not in crisis. The same recycled gadfly demagogues addressing the council at every meeting should not create the false impression that it is.
Florida Lawmakers Raise New Barriers to Citizens’ Ballot Initiatives
With Democrats calling the changes an “assault on the very spirit of Florida’s democracy,” the Republican-controlled Legislature on Friday finalized a plan that will impose additional hurdles on the ballot-initiative process and heighten penalties for wrongdoing. Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed lawmakers to crack down on the process after highly contentious and expensive battles over proposals last year that sought to place abortion rights in the state Constitution and allow recreational marijuana for adults.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, May 2, 2025
RockabillieWillie At City Repertory Theatre, Sneaker Ball Gala at the Community Center, Bunnell’s State of the City, First Friday Garden Walks at Washington Oaks Gardens State Park, Rex Stout on getting up in the morning.
How Probation Fuels Mass Incarceration
On any given day, 1.9 million people are incarcerated in more than 6,000 federal, state and local facilities. Another 3.7 million remain under what scholars call “correctional control” through probation or parole supervision. That means one out of every 60 Americans is entangled in the system — one of the highest rates globally. Yet despite its vast reach, the criminal justice system often fails at its most basic goal: preventing people from being rearrested, reconvicted or reincarcerated.
Need To Be Background-Checked? Flagler Sheriff Offers Service for $60 to $105
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office is now offering comprehensive, nationwide background check services to Flagler County residents through ACCESS Background Check Services.
Mike Waltz Out as National Security Adviser, In as UN Ambassador
Mike Waltz, a former Florida congressman [who represented Flagler County] and became known for sharing U.S. plans to strike Yemen on a Signal group chat, was out as White House national security adviser on Thursday. President Donald Trump announced he will instead nominate Waltz to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, a position that requires U.S. Senate confirmation.
Mayor Norris and Partisans Turn Council Meeting on His Charter Violations and Improprieties Into One More Sideshow
The Palm Coast City Council’s special meeting today heard and discussed an attorney’s independent investigation sustaining allegations that Mayor Mike Norris violated the charter by unilaterally seeking the ouster of top staffers, behaving unprofessionally at City Hall and repeatedly demeaning staff. But the report was almost a sideshow as the meeting devolved into often baseless screeds from the floor and self-pity from Norris.
Recruiter’s Advice to Palm Coast Council in City Manager Hire: Pause, ‘Settle Down’ and Gel Before Restarting Search
The consultant who coordinated Palm Coast’s search for a new city manager is recommending that the council pause its search for now, that it regroup, go through a facilitated process for its members to better understand each other and “gel” before moving on to another search. Only one candidate remains, Rich Hough. The council had asked for a white paper on budgeting from him earlier this week. That will not happen, for now.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, May 1, 2025
The Palm Coast City Council holds a special meeting to review the findings of the investigation of Mayor Mike Norris that found him to have violated the city charter, Eugène Pottier and his Internationale, the true Labor Day.
Politically Motivated Deportations from the Chinese Exclusion Act to Pro-Palestinian Activists
The recent deportation orders targeting foreign students in the U.S. have prompted a heated debate about the legality of these actions, especially as many individuals were facing removal because of their pro-Palestinian advocacy. The current removal orders targeting student activists echo America’s long and lamentable past of jailing and expelling immigrants because of their race or what they say or believe – or all three.
Hammock Dunes Charity Donates $100,000 to Flagler Free Clinic
The Flagler Free Clinic received a $100,000 donation from Hammock Dunes Cares, matching last year’s contribution. (The charity is not connected to Flagler Cares, the countywide social service agency and nonprofit.) The funds were raised during Hammock Dunes Cares’ Rally Auction, a two-week event in late February featuring activities such as tennis, croquet, bocce, a creek porch party, live music, and pickleball. The check presentation occurred on Tuesday, March 18, at Hammock Dunes.
Attorney General Flouts Federal Judge’s Order Suspending Florida Immigration Law, and May Face Sanctions
Attorney General James Uthmeier could face contempt sanctions over a letter he sent to Florida law enforcement agencies labeling as illegitimate a court order suspending a state immigration law that led to the arrest of a U.S. citizen. In an order issued late Tuesday night, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams wrote that Uthmeier will have to prove that he shouldn’t face legal consequences over his greenlighting of arrests under the law, which she had temporarily blocked as likely unconstitutional.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, April 30, 2025
The US Supreme Court justices hear arguments in a Catholic charter school case that could open the gates for public funding to go directly to religious schools, Separation Chat, Open Discussion, weaponry bazaars.