After talking about it for three decades, and 11 years after a committee that had met for two years had recommended it, Flagler Beach is about to issue a request for qualified companies to propose a paid parking system for the city. The request will be issued on June 1. Flagler Beach residents would be exempt. Palm Coast residents, who account for the majority of visitors to the island, would not be. City Commissioners stress that this is still the investigative phase and that there are no done deals.
All Else
Advocates of Huge Taxpayer Subsidies for Private Education Call Voucher Lawsuit ‘Frivolous’
The state education commissioner and “school choice” advocates have clapped back at the Florida Education Association’s lawsuit alleging the state’s school voucher program is unconstitutional. Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas during a Florida Board of Education meeting in Miami Thursday said the union “continues to waste members’ dues and taxpayer dollars on litigation that does nothing to advance student achievement or strengthen our schools.”
Judge Deals All But Fatal Blow to Chelsea Herbert Suit Challenging Bunnell’s 1,259-Acre Industrial Rezoning
Circuit Judge Sandra Upchurch today denied a motion for an extension to amend a petition filed by Bunnell resident Chelsea Herbert seeking to quash the industrial rezoning of 1,259 acres in Bunnell. The judge ruled the initial filing was a bare-bones document intended to circumvent 30-day jurisdictional deadlines. The decision complicates the legal challenge as settlement negotiations continue.
Sheriff Staly Leads Memorial Ceremony to Fallen Officers in Service and Shadow of Thin Blue Line
Numerous Flagler County officials and members of the public gathered Thursday evening for the annual law enforcement memorial honoring fallen deputies and K-9 Kyro at the Sheriff’s Operations Center in Bunnell, where Sheriff Rick Staly spoke of the heavy burden carried by families of the deceased. A thin blue line flag donated by Bunnell City Commissioner John Rogers flew over the ceremony.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, May 15, 2026
A Disaster Preparedness Expo at the Palm Coast Community Center, ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,’ an FPC Production, at the Fitz, Superintendent LaSjakia Moore on Free For All Friday, foreign language learning.
How the Supreme Court Created The Era Of Dark Money
While many blame Citizens United for the massive influx of money in American elections, the true turning point was the 1976 Supreme Court case Buckley v. Valeo. By equating political spending with free speech, the ruling dismantled crucial campaign finance regulations. It paved the way for super PACs, dark money groups, and billionaire self-funders, permanently transforming the landscape of modern United States politics.
A Symbolic 457-Day Jail Sentence, On Top of 9 Life Terms, to End Henriqson’s Stay at Flagler Jail
Kristopher Henriqson, 48, got a symbolic 457-day jail sentence today for marijuana distribution and possession of drug paraphernalia following his conviction a month ago on 11 counts of sexual assault involving his stepdaughter. The sentence ends his court cases in Flagler County and clears his transfer to state prison.
Florida House Committee Issues 1st Reprimand in 20 Years, to Rep. Angie Nixon Over Bullhorn Use
In an exceedingly rare move, a Florida House committee on Thursday reprimanded Rep. Angie Nixon for repeatedly blaring a bullhorn during a contentious fight over congressional redistricting. But the Jacksonville Democrat told reporters she’s unfazed — despite receiving the Florida Legislature’s first official reprimand in more than 20 years.
Pontieri: Unleashing the Private Sector Is the Conservative Solution to the Palm Coast Housing Squeeze
Flagler County and Palm Coast face a housing squeeze making it difficult for lower-income, elderly and other groups to overcome rental or mortgage burdens. But government interventions are not the way, argues Palm Coast City Council member Theresa Pontieri, as they distort market incentives and unfairly shift infrastructure costs onto existing taxpayers. True affordability requires cutting regulatory red tape and fostering economic growth to raise local wages.
Diagnosing Alarming Deficit in Road Repair Bill, City Director Tells Palm Coast Council: You Did This
In a remarkably gutsy moment at the end of his presentation on the city’s deteriorating road system, Carl Cote, the city’s director of stormwater and engineering, reminded the council of how it has been reducing the tax rate for successive years since 2021. “In lieu of the rollbacks that council had done since then, if that was dedicated to resurfacing, that would be an additional $8.5 million we’d have in that program today,” Cote said. The program, in other words, would have been fully funded instead of facing a gaping deficit.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, May 14, 2026
Palm Coast’s Loop Road Groundbreaking on Matanzas Woods Parkway, ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,’ an FPC Production at the Fitz, The Flagler Beach City Commission meets, a Maupassant story anticipates Trump’s bloodlust at a UFC fight.
AdventHealth Palm Coast Earns Top Quality Rating from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
AdventHealth Daytona Beach, AdventHealth Fish Memorial and AdventHealth Palm Coast each earned five stars, placing them among the top-performing hospitals in the country, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Opioid Overdose Deaths Drop 42% in First Half of 2025, Fentanyl Deaths Down 46%
Opioid-caused deaths fell by 42 percent from January 2025 to June 2025, and fentanyl-caused deaths fell 46 percent, according to the interim 2025 Drugs in Deceased Persons Report released by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission. Drug harm reduction advocates and researchers say shifts in the drug supply and changes in drug use are the major contributors to the decrease in deaths.
Mandatory One Day Per Week Watering Restrictions Ordered as Drought Worsens
The St. Johns River Water Management District today issued a Phase III Extreme Water Shortage declaration in response to ongoing exceptional drought conditions, declining groundwater levels and reduced surface water flows across northeast and central Florida. The district includes 18 counties from Nassau to the north to Indian River to the south, including Flagler.
Council Rejects Affordable Housing Recommendations, Saying It Doesn’t Want to Alter Palm Coast’s ‘Character’
The Palm Coast City Council reviewed a sobering housing assessment identifying significant affordability gaps for working residents but rejected several strategies and narrowed the focus toward senior housing, exposing a deep divide between itself and its Affordable Housing Committee, if not its own administration. Advocates criticized the limited approach for ignoring the needs of teachers and first responders. Future expansion plans suggest a continued reliance on single-family homes, deepening a lack of diversity.
Palm Coast Council Will Join State Program Focused on Protecting Historical and Cultural Assets Citywide
Palm Coast City Council members agreed to draft an ordinance seeking inclusion in Florida’s Certified Local Government Program, which creates a partnership between federal, state, and local governments to evaluate and protect historic properties. The designation allows the city to access grant funding for preservation efforts citywide. Though 88 Florida cities and counties are part of the program, not a single Flagler County entity is. The efoort was spurred by concerns over Palm Coast’s westward expansion.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, May 13, 2026
Conversations in Democracy at Pine Lakes Golf Club, Jonathan Brown on the cognitive test Trump failed, on being part of something bigger than oneself, David Foster Wallace on Charlie Rose.
The Nightmare Holocaust Survivors Came Home To
Holocaust survivors returning to Paris after the Nazi occupation discovered their homes were looted and occupied by strangers. Restitution laws meant to help victims often created bureaucratic hurdles that favored non-Jewish tenants instead. Many families spent decades fighting for financial compensation for stolen furniture and personal belongings. The exclusion of foreign-born Jews highlights the lasting economic and emotional scars left by the Holocaust.
Jury Finds Gary Durso Not Guilty as Defense Attorney James Smith Dismantles Case Over a Single CSAM Image
A Flagler County jury acquitted 63-year-old Gary Durso of Palm Coast’s E Section of possessing a single image of child sexual abuse material after 45 minutes of deliberation. Defense attorney James Smith successfully argued that the prosecution failed to prove Durso knew the subject of a 2016 photograph he’d kept for nine years and disseminated on Flickr was a minor. The jury, unaware of Durso’s status as a sex offender who’d previously solicited a minor, found reasonable doubt regarding his intent and knowledge of image.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Day two of Gary Durso’s trial, the Palm Coast City Council meets in workshop, the Community Traffic Safety Team meet as does the school board, for a workshop, catching up with Robert Caro at 90, as he continues his biography of LBJ.
Atlantic Red Snapper Season Expanded to 39 Days, from 2 Last Year
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday revealed there will be a 39-day red snapper fishing season in the Atlantic coast this year, an expansion from the two days allowed last year. The longer fishing season was due to a switch from federal management of the waters off Florida’s east coast for red snapper to state management.
AI Integrated License Plate Readers Are Quietly Transforming American Cities Into Massive Surveillance Networks
Automatic license plate readers occupy thousands of American intersections, integrating with advanced artificial intelligence and creating searchable databases facilitating mass surveillance of marginalized communities. Private companies provide the equipment frequently bypassing local oversight laws. Significant costs exist. Little evidence supports claims regarding violent crime reduction. Activists are now organizing to resist this rapidly expanding government data dragnet nationwide across the United States today.
Flagler Beach Fire Chief Stephen Cox Fired Following Staff Resignations and No-Confidence Letter
Flagler Beach City Manager Dale Martin fired Fire Chief Stephen Cox this morning following the resignation of five firefighters and a no-confidence letter signed by seven staff members, including two who’d resigned. The document cited a hostile work environment and a lack of transparent communication. Martin concluded Cox could no longer lead effectively.
DUI Probationer Sent Back to Jail for Refusing to Profess Faith in God in Christian Treatment Program
A Flagler County judge returned 29-year-old Joshua King to jail for a probation violation after the 29-year-old Wiccan refused to profess Christian faith in God at Faith Farm Ministries as part of his court-ordered rehab therapy. He claimed the facility mandated religious conversion for program completion. The judge ruled that King failed to comply with the terms of the specific program he himself selected. He is to be resasigned to a different facility not of his choice.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, May 11, 2026
The Bunnell City Commission meets, Flagler County’s Land Acquisition Committee, Francis Fukuyama on the future of democracy, a few words from the Philippines.
Netanyahu’s Baseless Pledge to ‘Finish” Hezbollah
When it comes to Hezbollah, Israel’s military simply cannot completely defeat a resistance movement that is so embedded in the social, political and cultural fabric of Lebanon. This would require not just a military victory, but the subjugation of its supporters and the delegitimisation of its ideology.
Time to ‘Move On’ From Alligator Alcatraz, Ashley Moody Says
Sen. Ashley Moody says that the migrant concentration camp in the Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz” has done its job and that its mission has been fulfilled, after it was opened to handle detainees the federal government couldn’t handle.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, May 10, 2026
‘The Curious Savage” at Daytona Playhouse, the maimed run in Gaza, Shell’s obscene war profiteering, Palm Coast Farmers’ Market at European Village, when corporations were survivalists.
Why Do Some People Treat the Magic Kingdom and Disney Adults Like Cultural Abominations?
Critics frequently dismiss Disney World as a manufactured environment lacking true substance. This “authenticity objection” suggests the parks provide only mindless distraction. Philosophical analysis reveals Disney never purports to be anything other than a themed amusement park. Devoted fans also maintain their own unique identities outside this fantasy. The Magic Kingdom offers valuable spaces for diverse families to create lasting and collective memories together.
Paul Renner’s 2% Delusion
Paul Renner is at 2% in one from Fabrizio, Lee & Associates, which puts him 52 points behind U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds. He is also at 2% in a poll posted by The Floridian, the content of which appears to align with an internal survey referred to recently by Lt. Gov. Jay Collins. Yet he sees a path for victory in August’s Primary for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.
Call Israel’s War Crimes and Genocide By Name
Israel’s massacres, systematic destruction of villages and towns and historical fabrications to annex Palestinian and Lebanese lands amount to war crimes and genocide according to the definition of the Geneva Conventions, and are enabled by American military support and media complicity.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, May 9, 2026
Palm Coast Spring Arts Festival in Central Park, the Saturday Flagler Beach Farmers Market, AAUW Monthly Meeting, Second Saturday Plant Sale at Washington Oaks Gardens State Park, William Maxwell’s “A Final Report.”
How Ted Turner Changed the Way We See Our World
Ted Turner will be remembered mostly for the creation and development of the Cable News Network – CNN – which launched in 1980 and made our knowledge of distant events instantaneous and our world more comprehensible. In this sense, Turner’s legacy extends beyond television. He changed our conception not only of journalism but also of our world.
Southern Poverty Law Center Pleads Not Guilty To Federal Fraud Charges and Questions Motives
The Southern Poverty Law Center pleaded not guilty to federal charges of fraud and money laundering. The Department of Justice alleges that a discontinued informant program defrauded donors by enriching extremist groups. Defense attorneys labeled the prosecution a political attack.
Palm Coast City Manager McGlothlin Postpones Raydient Development Review as It Needs ‘More Work’
Two weeks before the proposed Raydient order to develop 22,000 homes west of U.S. 1 was to go before the city’s Planning Board, Palm Coast City Manager Mike McGlothlin said today that the whole process is being postponed to allow for better vetting. He did not provide a new timeline though one may be issued next week. The development’s new proposal includes industrial set-asides for animal feed lots and livestock operations, the deep well injection of waste products, dog, hog and poultry farms, and incinerator plants.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, May 8, 2026
Coffee and Conversation with Palm Coast City Manager Michael McGlothlin at the Jacked-up Bean, ‘The Curious Savage” at Daytona Playhouse, more sappy reflections on “As Time Goes By.”
Intermittent Fasting Limits and Benefits
Intermittent fasting has become a buzzword in nutrition circles, with many people looking to it as a way to lose weight or improve their health. But new research from the Cochrane Collaboration shows intermittent fasting is no more effective for weight loss than receiving traditional dietary advice or even doing nothing at all.
‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ Too Expensive to Run, May Close
The New York Times reported Thursday morning that “Florida is in talks with the Trump administration” to shut down the facility dubbed by DeSantis’ administration as “Alligator Alcatraz,” adding that the talks are “preliminary but that “officials at the Department of Homeland Security have concluded that it is too expensive to keep operating the center.”
Palm Coast’s 21st Arbor Day Draws Thousands
The City of Palm Coast is celebrating another successful Arbor Day following its 21st annual event held on Saturday, May 2, 2026, at Central Park in Town Center. This year’s celebration drew nearly 2,000 attendees who took part in eco‑friendly activities, educational opportunities, and family fun.
Flagler Beach Planning Board Member Had Explicitly Asked Pastor if He Had Shopping Center’s Permission for Church
When the church was seeking a special zoning exception from the city, a brief exchange between a Flagler Beach Planning Board member and Roderick Palmer, the pastor of Coastal Family Church, all but anticipated the lawsuit Palmer has been battling since January. The board member had asked Palmer explicitly, twice, if he had permission from the shopping center’s property association to run a church at Flagler Square. The answer was non-committal.
City Council Backs Mayor’s Effort to Identify Hidden History Across Land Slated For Raydient’s 22,000 Homes
Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris secured council support to negotiate unfettered land access for historical societies within a 22,000-acre development site west of U.S. 1, known as the western expansion. Raydient plans to build 22,000 homes over three decades but preservationists want to survey roughly 25 historic sites, among them the iconic Old Brick Road.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, May 7, 2026
Disingenuously bemoaning the days when Liszt and Brahms were celebrities, Philippe Lancon on Bach, Model Yacht Club races at the Pond in Palm Coast’s Central Park, Story Time with Miss Kim at Flagler Beach Public Library.
Texas Kills James Broadnax as Legal Experts Question Using Rap Lyrics as Criminal Evidence
Texas killed James G. Broadnax on April 30, 2026, for a 2008 double murder after prosecutors used 40 pages of Broadnax’s rap lyrics during the sentencing phase to argue a criminal mentality. Legal scholars identify a pattern of treating fictional lyrics as literal confessions, a practice that reflects historical racial stereotypes. Using art to justify executions extends the discriminatory legacy of Jim Crow laws into today’s courtrooms.
The Increasingly Mythical American Dream
At its best, the U.S. is seen as allowing individuals the freedom to live the life they want. Liberty and rugged individualism have been hallmarks of America since its beginnings, so it should come as no surprise that they are also central to the American Dream. Given this, has the American Dream become more or less difficult to achieve over time? Unfortunately, for a growing number of Americans, it appears to be more difficult.
With Democrat David Jolly’s Exception, Most Gubernatorial Candidates Oppose Legalizing Recreational Pot
The GOP’s Paul Renner, Byron Donalds and James Fishback all oppose legalizing recreational marijuana. Democrat David Jolly is one exception. He says the fact that a majority of Floridians voted to legalize cannabis in 2024 is why he supports making it legal.
The Force Is Strong In Flagler As Jedi Clerk Tom Bexley Hosts Star Wars-Themed Mass Wedding
The Kim C. Hammond Justice Center–Tatooine for short–transformed into a celebration from a galaxy not so far away on May 4 as Flagler County Clerk of Court Tom Bexley hosted the office’s first-ever Star Wars–themed wedding ceremony in honor of May the Fourth.
New Baseball League Coming to Palm Coast, But Council Delays Signing Off Over Sports Complex Concerns
The Palm Coast City Council tabled a contract for the newly formed Orange State League to use the Indian Trails Sports Complex this summer as concerns emerged about field availability and potential conflicts with the Palm Coast Little League regarding concession rights and maintenance responsibilities. The administration will clarify legal language and ensure local youth organizations support the new collegiate-level Big Buoys baseball team.
20 Residents are 59th Graduating Class of Palm Coast Citizens Academy
Graduates of this session include Anjanette Stuart, Ashley Katz, Cat Neis, Cathy Moon, Chris Hansen, Christine Carter, Diana Tsai, Dylana Galery, Esther Rita Page, Frank Pfeiffer, George Carofine, Greg Zarobsky, Jadzia Waloch, Jeannette Mendoza, Julia Walthall, Kathryn Summerlot, Lisa Frye Hansen, Milotka Vogt, Mimose Allen, Ron Kovac, Sheldon Keller, Stephanie Giumenta, and Victoria Pfeiffer.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, May 6, 2026
The Flagler Beach Library Book Club and the Flagler County Republican Club meet, but quite separately, Bingo Night at Palm Coast Elks Lodge, a church declares the end of hell, and a few thoughts about eternity.
Florida Redistricting Draws Second Lawsuit
The new congressional map signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday has attracted its second legal challenge in as many days. Equal Ground Education Fund, a voting rights group, and 18 Florida voters filed suit against the new map within hours of it becoming law.