The Florida Supreme Court declined to take up a constitutional challenge to Palm Beach County’s decision last year to require people to wear masks during the Covid-19 pandemic.
All Else
David Alfin, Palm Coast Mayor Candidate: The Live Interview
David Alfin is a candidate for Palm Coast Mayor in the July 27 special election. All registered voters in the city may cast a ballot in that non-partisan election regardless of party affiliation or location in Palm Coast.
Flagler Schools Refuse Free Rapid Covid Tests That Could Minimize Quarantines Even as 9 Private Schools Sign Up
Flagler County schools have declined an offer from the Flagler County Health Department to place free rapid-covid-test kits at the district’s nine school campuses. The rapid tests, part of a federal grant, could have been used to drastically minimize the need for students to be quarantined at home for 10 days at a time when merely suspected of having been exposed to the virus.
Yard Debris Collection Cancelled Countywide and Palm Coast Parks Closed Wednesday Due to Tropical Storm Elsa
In preparation for the storm, please secure loose outdoor articles including grills, bicycles, potted plants, lawn furniture or lawn ornaments. During heavy winds, these items could become dangerous projectiles.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, July 6, 2021
The Flagler County school Board will discuss substitute-teachers’ pay, the Palm Coast City Council will vote on the second and final reading on the closure of Slow Way.
Debating Weightlifter Laurel Hubbard, 1st Transgender Woman in Individual Sports at Olympics
When Laurel Hubbard was announced as the first out transgender woman athlete to compete in an individual sport at an Olympic Games, controversy wasn’t far behind. One prominent commentator even called it a “disaster for women’s sport.” The arguments are emotive and polarizing, and often ignore key facts.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, July 5, 2021
Langston Hughes’s great “Let America Be America Again.” All government offices and banks are closed today in observance of Independence day. Palm Coast’s Choral Arts Society Presents “Celebrate America” in a resumption of the society’s live concerts.
Jimmy’s Hang Ten Restaurant Owner Jim Harris Charged With Molesting 14-Year-Old Girl
James “Jimmy” Edwin Harris, the 61-year-old owner of Jimmy’s Hang Ten, the restaurant in Flagler Beach, was arrested on late Friday night on two counts of molesting an under-age girl. He’s being held at the Flagler County jail on no bond.
With Support for Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashad Becomes One of Several Deans to Tweet Themselves Into Trouble
Rashad sent out a controversial Tweet in support of her onetime “TV husband,” Bill Cosby, after a court overturned his sexual assault conviction. “FINALLY!!!!” Rashad wrote in the Tweet. “A terrible wrong is being righted — a miscarriage of justice is corrected!” This prompted critics and Howard students to call for her resignation.
The Independence Day Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, July 4, 2021
Hurricane Elsa was downgraded to a tropical storm. It’ll be crossing Cuba today as it continues to hook north-northwest, heading for the Florida Peninsula’s southwest region by Tuesday morning, and our own region by Wednesday morning.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, July 3, 2021
It’s Freedom Fest all day, for free, at the county airport and the Palm Coast picnic at Central Park in Town Center starting at 5 and culminating at 9 p.m. with fireworks.
Cornelia Downing Manfre, Palm Coast Mayor Candidate: The Live Interview
Cornelia Downing Manfre is a candidate for Palm Coast Mayor in the July 27 special election. All registered voters in the city may cast a ballot in that non-partisan election regardless of party affiliation or location in Palm Coast.
Dealing Florida Legislature 2nd Blow in 2 Days, Federal Judge Blocks Law Limiting Contributions for Ballot Initiatives
The law, passed by the Republican-dominated Legislature this spring and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, would impose a $3,000 limit on contributions to political committees collecting petition signatures to place proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot.
Life in Prison for Leon Wiley for Attempting to ‘Erase’ Step-Daughter Through 6 Years of Depraved Abuse and Sadism
55-year-old Leon Norman Wiley Jr.’s three-hour sentencing hearing today included victim impact statements of shattering details from the step-daughter he’d raped, impregnated and pimped out since she was 12, from her mother, and even from Wiley’s own parents, who had no illusions about the crimes he’d committed, though they asked for some mercy.
Kathy Austrino, Palm Coast Mayor Candidate: The Live Interview
Kathy Austrino is a candidate for Palm Coast Mayor in the July 27 special election. All registered voters in the city may cast a ballot in that non-partisan election regardless of party affiliation or location in Palm Coast.
The Weekend Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, July 2, 2021
Leon Wiley, whom a jury on April 29 found guilty of raping his under-age step-daughter, is sentenced, the Tour goes on its longest romp through the heart of France, Christopher Lasch on our Orwellian politics.
Supreme Court Blunts Voting Rights in Arizona, and Potentially Nationwide, in Consequential Ruling
Arizona may keep two voting laws that Republicans say protect election integrity and Democrats believe will make it harder for some residents to cast ballots. That’s the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, one of the decade’s most important voting rights cases.
Alan Lowe, Palm Coast Mayor Candidate: The Live Interview
Alan Lowe is a candidate for Palm Coast Mayor in the July 27 special election. All registered voters in the city may cast a ballot in that non-partisan election regardless of party affiliation or location in Palm Coast.
Despite Covid, Property Values Jump by 10% in Palm Coast, 9% Countywide, With Revenue Windfall from New Construction
New construction alone means an additional $1.2 million in revenue for Palm Coast, despite the Year of Covid. That will be compounded by millions of new dollars in government coffers drawn from the federal government’s stimulus. The two combined means that tax increases are very unlikely, and tax decreases possible.
Joe Mullins’s Defamatory Attack on Eric Cooley
Ostensibly proposing a discussion about sexual predators and domestic violence abusers, Joe Mullins in a Facebook posting about his radio infomercial features a screenshot of Bill Cosby over one article, and the image of Flagler Beach City Commissioner Eric Cooley over another, implying an equivalence.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, July 1, 2021
A man who lured a 10-year-old girl into his apartment and was subsequently charged with child abuse is petitioning the court for conditional release pending his trial. Bill Barr is trying to rehabilitate his image. “History as a weapon is an abuse of history,” says Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
13-Year-Old Soccer Player Files Suit Against Florida’s Just-Enacted Ban on Transgender Girl Athletes
A 13-year-old Broward County soccer player and her parents are challenging a a new state law that bans transgender female athletes from participating on girls’ and women’s sports teams, arguing that it is unconstitutional and “ignores basic medical science” about trans students.
Palm Coast Splits 49-49 On Allowing Commercial Trucks in Driveways, But Survey’s Flaws Are Mosaic of Caveats
By one measure, 70 percent of respondents are opposed to relaxing the commercial-vehicle rule in Palm Coast, but that’s before accounting for massive manipulation of the survey. Once weighed for such manipulations, the split is nearly dead even. Either way, the administration has no plans to submit the numbers to the council.
You May No Longer Legally Lodge Anonymous Code Enforcement Complaints, But Mandate Is Easily Evaded
The new law does not address enforcement of the identification provision, it does not set out any requirements for verification, it does not signal any penalties for people who invent names, and it imposes no requirements either on local governments in general or on code enforcement officers to do more than note whether a complainant has been identified or not.
Travis Lee, Who Sued the District Last Year, Takes Helm at Rymfire; Ryan Andrews Is New Indian Trails Principal
The three new principals’ appointments dovetail two other, less visible but influential postings at the district office and reflect the superintendent’s pronounced nod to diversity, a year after Lee sued the district, charging discrimination.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, June 30, 2021
A special meeting of the school board to close out financial books, a Luau at the African American Cultural Society, the continuing farewell tour of Flagler County’s Rocket Man.
Doug Courtney, Palm Coast Mayor Candidate: The Live Interview
Doug Courtney is a candidate for Palm Coast Mayor in the July 27 special election. All registered voters in the city may cast a ballot in that non-partisan election regardless of party affiliation or location in Palm Coast.
Flagler Beach Will Borrow Up to $15 Million to Finance Reconstruction of Its Ramshackle Sewer Plant
The Flagler Beach City Commission is embarking on an ambitious and expensive plan to rebuild its derelict sewer plant and position the city to stop dumping treated water in the Intracoastal by the beginning of the next decade.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, June 29, 2021
A quiet day in government except in court, and a Supreme Court decision not to take up a transgender case that means a similar St. Johns County case decided in favor of a student’s choice as to which bathroom to use in school is still the law in Flagler County.
Federal Judge Doesn’t Hide Distaste for Florida Law Forbidding Social Media from Banning Users
Arguing that the law would violate social-media companies’ First Amendment rights and harm their efforts to moderate content, the industry groups have asked U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle to block the law from going into effect Thursday as scheduled.
Leon Wiley Admits He Raped His Minor Step-Daughter for Years But Says Jury Was Wrong to Convict Him
Leon Norman Wiley Jr., 54, was found guilty by a jury of raping his stepdaughter since she was 12, but he argued today that he was owed a new trial because none of the abuse took place in Flagler County. The judge rejected the argument. Wiley is to be sentenced Friday to what may amount to life in prison.
Flagler Beach’s First Friday Returns in September, But Commissioners Want It Refocused on Local Businesses
First Friday will return at Veterans Park in Flagler Beach on Sept. 3, for the first time in a year and a half, but under the new sponsorship of Vern Shank, known as DJ Vern, and Surf Radio, a switch from Flagler Broadcasting’s Beach 92.7, which had sponsored the event for the past nine years.
86-Year-Old Woman Refuses to Sign Over Deed to Her House, so Granddaughter Abandons Her in Palm Coast
Amber Lynn Dodd, a 26-year-old Deltona woman who abandoned her 86-year-old grandmother at a Palm Coast gas station late Saturday night and drove on, is now facing a felony elderly neglect charge, though she has not been arrested.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, June 28, 2021
The Bunnell City Commission meets for a light agenda, Flagler County government’s Heidi Petito reports to work as county administrator, Jean-Jacques Rousseau turns 309.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, June 27, 2021
How Democratic Socialist India B. Walton managed to become the first woman–not to mention the first socialist–elected mayor of Buffalo; Flagler’s diminished drought index, Pablu Neruda’s distasteful personality.
The Insurrection: New Details Suggest Senior Trump Aides Knew Jan. 6 Rally Could Get Chaotic
Senior Trump aides had been warned the Jan. 6 events could turn chaotic, with tens of thousands of people potentially overwhelming ill-prepared law enforcement officials. Rather than trying to halt the march, Trump and his allies accommodated its leaders, according to text messages and interviews with Republican operatives and officials.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, June 26, 2021
A Yacht Rock Experience at the Flagler Auditorium, an odd statement from Alan Lowe about his (non) campaign manager, an interesting piece on African-American satire in the 21st century, and the Euro 2020 round of 16.
Utility Department to Perform Smoke Testing in Palm Coast’s Woodlands
This smoke testing will be done Monday through Thursday, June 28 through July 1. This test, which involves forcing smoke into the sanitary sewer lines, will check for leaks, breaks and defects in the system.
Derek Chauvin Sentenced to 22 1/2 Years in Prison for Murder of George Floyd
The sentencing marks a significant milestone in the effort to get justice for Floyd, who died begging for his life under Chauvin’s knee for more than 9 minutes on Memorial Day 2020. Three other officers present also face charges in Floyd’s death, with trials scheduled for next year.
How Flagler County’s Drunken-Sailor, All-Republican Commissioners Tried to Con You Into a Higher Tax
The Flagler County Commission’s attempt unilaterally to impose an increase in the sales tax is the latest example of a lazy, bumbling commission addicted to spending, deceptive in its methods and indifferent to the long-term public interest.
Palm Coast Councilman Ed Danko Investigated By City Over Harassment of Employees and Interference With Duties
Palm Coast City Council member Ed Danko, elected last November, has been the subject of an internal inquiry triggered by allegations he harassed and bullied employees and was rude to them, records show. The investigation, which remains open, concluded in a draft report that Danko had “inappropriately attempted to influence staff’s administrative duties.” Interference would be a violation of the city charter. Danko disputes the finding.
At Flagler Airport, Freedom Fest Soars Again on Wings of Pride and Memory
A variety of historic and modern aircraft, flying and static, is coming to the Flagler County airport as part of Freedom Fest on Independence Day weekend, with bands, vendors and free admission.
The Weekend Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, June 24, 2021
At the Auditorium Saturday, “Summer Breeze: a Yacht Rock Experience,” described as “all the smooth, sleek mellow pop-rock songs of the ’70s and ’80s.” The round of 16 starts Saturday at Euro 2020.
Search Continues Amid Elusive Answers to Building Collapse in Surfside
The building in Miami-Dade County is estimated to have been at least 80 percent occupied. One fatality had been reported by midday, and at least 35 people were reportedly pulled from the site Thursday morning.
Imagination Vacation: In-Person Children’s Art Day Camps, Starting With Frida Kahlo
Imagination Vacation awaits children ages 7-11 this summer at Ormond Memorial Art Museum’s art and adventure day camps. This series of three-hour camps let children explore their creativity, style, and curiosity while having fun becoming a famous artist, mermaid, pirate, or honey bee.
County Administrator May Have to Pay Sheriff’s Lunch Back as Operations Center Is Again Delayed, Almost a Year
The opening of the 51,000-square-foot facility is now seen no earlier than the end of 2022, instead of next November. By then, the sheriff will have been exiled from the former Sheriff’s Operations Center on State Road 100 for almost four and a half years–longer than a full term in office.
Veni Vidi Vinci: Flagler Beach Detective Is Named Officer of the Year by Florida Police Chiefs Association
Flagler Beach Police detective Rosanna Vinci, on the job at the city for seven years, is the Florida Police Chiefs Association winner of the Lee McGehee Award for small Law Enforcement agencies statewide. The Flagler Beach City Commission will recognize Vinci at its meeting this evening, at 5:30 p.m., the association will do so next week.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, June 24, 2021
Flagler Beach Police Detective Rosanna Vinci will be recognized for receiving the Small Agency, Officer of the Year award from the Florida Police Chiefs Association. New rumbles in Palm Coast.
Florida Prisons Want to Ban Most ‘Routine’ Mail, Replacing It with Communal Email. Families Are Outraged.
Florida prison officials’ plan to replace prisoners’ “routine” mail with digitized versions viewed on tablet computers or communal kiosks has sparked an outcry among inmates’ families and advocates, who argue that preserving bonds with loved ones while prisoners are locked up dramatically increases later chances of success on the outside.
Flagler 3rd Graders’ Reading Scores Fall 9 Points Amid Pandemic Disruptions, But Remote Students Held Their Own
Just 59 percent of third graders in Flagler County scored a satisfactory level 3 or better on the Florida Standards Assessment in reading last schoolyear, a nine-point drop from the last time the tests were administered, but statewide students learning remote did slightly better than those learning at school.