Against commission direction, County administrator Craig Coffee placed his contract renegotiation on a portion of the agenda that doesn’t usually get discussed.
Backgrounders
Emerson: The American Scholar
Emerson’s “American Scholar,” a graduation speech to Harvard’s Phi Beta Kappa, redefined the way Americans saw themselves–as intellectual individuals on their own terms. Take a second look in this season of commencements.
Crime Reports, May 17-23
A good samaritan holds a teen vandal at gunpoint until deputies arrive, domestic disturbance turns up backyard pot plant, a caller demands phone sex, and more.
Obama, Biden, Kagan: Where Their Pocket Money Comes From
Where does Obama’s, Biden’s and Elena Kagan’s money come from? Look for yourself: complete financial disclosure forms.
Smetana’s Fatherland: “The Moldau”
For your Sunday fix: “The Moldau” evokes the power of nature and nationalism as if flows through Smetana’s Czech fatherland.
Palm Coast Resolution of Support for Amtrak/Florida East Coast Railroad Project (2010)
Text of the Palm Coast City Council resolution supporting an Amtrak train station in Bunnell or Flagler County.
Gov. George W. Bush’s Jesus Day Proclamation in Texas
In 2000, while thick in his first campaign for the presidency, then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush issued a proclamation declaring June 10 “Jesus Day.” Here’s the full text and an image of the proclamation.
Thomas Jefferson’s “Separation Between Church and State” Letter
Original text of Thomas Jefferson’s separation of church and state letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist association, 1802.
Harry Truman’s National Day of Prayer Proclamation, 1952
Harry Truman was the first American president to declare a National Day of Prayer, in 1952–on July 4 that year.
Barack Obama’s Presidential Proclamation
National Day of Prayer
On April 30, 2010, in contravention to a federal judge’s ruling in Wisconsin, President Obama issued a proclamation designating May 6 a National Day of Prayer.
Florida Law on How New Manatee Protection Rules May Be Adopted
Complete language of Florida Statute § 379.2431(2)(f) which sets out the steps the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission and county governments must follow when adopting rules regulating “speed and operation of motorboats for purposes of manatee protection.”
How Old Kings Road Was Re-Routed for Wal Mart
An aerial view of the old Old Kings Road and its new route nearer I-95, in preparation for Wal Mart construction.
When God and Politics
Take Over Public School Buildings
The Flagler School Board revisits its policy on community uses of school buildings in light of a growing controversy over Tea Party activists using Flagler Palm Coast High School.
Full Text of Flagler County School Board Policy on Community Uses of School Facilities
Community Use of School Board Facilities: The Flagler County School Board’s Policy 320.
Rental Fees/Costs for Use of Flagler County School Board Facilities
Chart of current rental fees and fee structure for public uses of Flagler County School Board buildings, including schools, cafeterias, playgrounds and other facilities.
Cash for Clunkers:
The Mica-Beaven Money Race
Complete charts, graphs and analysis of campaign finance for incumbent John Mica and challenger Heather Beaven in their 7th Congressional District race.
Diagram of Bus 2857 Showing Where Rosa Parks Was Seated, Montgomery, 1955
See the very spot from which Rosa Parks wouldn’t moved, in a court diagram preserved at the National Archives.
The Rosa Parks Arrest Report, 1955
Image copy of the Rosa Parks arrest report, Montgomery police, Alabama, December 1, 1955.
Briefing: Florida’s Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund Program
Explanation of Florida’s $3,000-per-job tax rebate for companies creating new jobs in certain industries. The program is used by Flagler County and Palm Coast.
Best of the Rest Disclaimer & FAQ
Discralimer and frequently asked questions on how Best of the Rest is put together, its aims, and so on.
Why Is Flagler Being Mealy-Mouthed Over KKK Fliers?
How easy to pick at an obvious target like the KKK, and easier still to do it in language that commits to nothing more than fortune-cookie bromides. How meaningless too.
Flagler County Commission Statement on KKK and Diversity
The Flagler County Commission’s April 15, 2010 statement denouncing the KKK–without mentioning it by name.
Lawrence: Flagler Tea Party’s Four Values–and Aims
Tom Lawrence, chairman of Palm Coast’s Tea Party movement, sums up the 4 values of the movement as it conceives itself locally, and its aims in the next six months.
James Baldwin: A Talk to Teachers
James Baldwin’s “A Talk to Teachers” from 1963 is an apt counterpoint to Florida lawmakers’ attempt, in 2010, to demolish public school teachers and replace the profession with Darwinian hostility.
Teacher pay
Barack Obama: State of the Union Address, January 28, 2010
“We don’t quit. I don’t quit. Let’s seize this moment — to start anew, to carry the dream forward, and to strengthen our union once more,” Obama concluded in his first State of the Union speech.
Haiti Earthquake Photo Gallery
A 30-image photo gallery of the devastation following the 7.0 earthquake that demolished Haiti’s Port au Prince the afternoon of Jan. 12.
Prohibition’s Binge of Sanctimony
On the history and stupidity of Prohibition, the 13-year binge of sanctimony that a minority of eugenics fans and anti-German racists imposed on the majority.
Truck Weigh Station Image Gallery
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New Fees at Belle Terre Swim Club
The school-board owned and managed club in Palm Coast is lowering some fees and offering a new, six-month deal to appeal to snowbirds.
Why It’s Taking So Long to Close Guantanamo
By Dafna Linzer As we have reported throughout the year, the Obama administration has been serially hampered in its efforts to shutter the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It underestimated [2] the time needed to close the facility and was unprepared for Congressional opposition. Finding countries to adopt detainees has proven difficult, and only this […]
Nimby, Nimbyism and Nimbyists
Nimbyism is a particularly American reflection of the material value ascribed to real estate. The materialism is expressed through the more high-minded lens of property rights or the idealistic, if often opportunistic, lens of environmental stewardship.
Obama’s Nobel Lecture: “Bend History”
In his Nobel peace prize lecture, Barack Obama evoked the notions of just wars to counter the irony of being “the Commander-in-Chief of the military of a nation in the midst of two wars.”
Initial Unemployment Claims Up 17,000
Weekly unemployment claims are up 17,000 from the previous week’s unrevised figure of 457,000. The 4-week moving average was 473,750, a decrease of 7,750 from the previous week.