The emergence of those anti-masking voices, while restricted to a very small but shrill handful, points to the sort of ideological talking points the board may have to contend with over the next weeks or months, which would be a distraction from the more pragmatic and busy agenda set out by Mittelstadt and the board.
Backgrounders
Employee Ranks Double at Flagler’s Own Coastal Cloud as Company’s Vaccine and Testing Platforms Go Viral
Hammock-based Coastal Cloud’s testing and vaccine platforms, adopted by the Florida Division of Emergency Management, placed the company at the center of the state’s battle against covid and resulted in a doubling of the company’s ranks to 280, despite the crisis.
Covid Vaccine Eligibility Is a ‘Crazy Quilt’ of State Rules, Unleashing ‘Vaccine Jealousy’
The different vaccine-eligibility rules among states — and sometimes varying rules even within states — has created a mishmash. This has unleashed “vaccine jealousy” as people see friends and family in other states qualify ahead of them even if they are the same age or have the same occupation.
Palm Coast’s Lamar Johnson, 40, Dies After Driving Car Into Canal Off Club House Drive
The body of Lamar M. Johnson, 40, was recovered from the canal between Carol and Cardwell Court, near Club House Drive, late Thursday night after Johnson had driven his car into the water. The cause of the crash is not known.
Rolling the Bones: Jan Jackson Is Flagler County’s Artist of the Year
Jan Jackson is the Gargiulo Art Foundation’s Flagler County Artist of the Year for 2020, is a bit mystified by the methods of her muse, especially when it drives her to conjure art from skulls and bones – a predilection that didn’t manifest in her art until she was in her 60s.
Another Routine Traffic Stop Turns Violent, Leading to Arrest of Armed Fugitive Wanted for Murder
A traffic stop for speeding at Wawa in Palm Coast Wednesday night was the fourth seemingly routine traffic stop or street encounter in the last eight days that turned violent on local roads, this time leading to the arrest of a 21-year-old man wanted for murder in Georgia. He was carrying a loaded gun.
Draft Report on Flagler County Fire Department Finds Low Morale, Lack of Pride and Internal Dysfunctions
The report, underscoring internal dysfunctions and a lack of leadership, has been circulating within the administration for weeks, eliciting questions from administrative and elected officials, and may be ready for the commission in about two months.
How Flagler Was Far More “Staly Country” than Trump’s in 2020, and How Grand Haven Saved Milissa Holland
An analysis of Flagler County’s precinct-by-precinct vote last November reveals a few surprises, among them how Grand Haven powered incumbent Palm Coast Mayor Milissa Holland to her win and how Flagler was not so much “Trump Country” as “Staly Country” as the incumbent sheriff won his second term with 70 percent of the vote, with no discernible weaknesses across precincts.
The Trump Health Care Policies That Deserve to Stick Around
The Trump administration’s attempted market-based interventions shined some light on dark corners of the health market and opened the door to some workarounds. They are not meaningful substitutes for larger and much-needed health reform. But as Americans await the type of more fundamental changes the Democrats have promised, they need every bit of help they can get.
County Takes Extraordinary Legal Step to Demolish Derelict Motel on Old Dixie as Owners Stop Responding
Flagler County government has filed suit to condemn and demolish the long-derelict, yellowed Country Hearth Inn motel that’s vexed law enforcement, residents and county code enforcement officials for years near Dixie Commons along South Old Dixie Highway, not far from the interchange with I-95.