Cole Brothers Circus owner John Pugh pleaded guilty in February to violating the Endangered Species Act and the circus was fined $150,000, and both face a long list of animal abuse and neglect charges from the USDA.
All Else
Flagler County Public Library Creates Crime Watch Program
The Flagler library’s crime watch program will be introduced in a public presentation Oct. 29, from 10 a.m. to noon at the library, with a representative from the Sheriff’s Office.
Existing Home Sales Just Under 5 Million, 11.3% Better Than Last September
Existing-home sales were down in September on the heels of a strong gain in August, but remain well above a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Attention Weather Spotters: Free SkyWarn Classes Offered in Flagler on Nov. 7; Registration Required
Free seats are still available for Basic and Advanced SKYWARN classes to be conducted in Flagler County by the National Weather Service on Nov. 7 from 6 to 9 p.m.
Class-Action Lawsuit Calls Florida’s In-State College Tuition Restrictions Unconstitutional
American citizens who’ve lived in Florida for years and have all the documents to prove it are denied in-state tuition rights the moment they can’t prove that their parents are lawful Florida residents–an unconstitutional form of discrimination against citizens, the Southern Poverty Law Center charges in the lawsuit.
A Florida Bank’s Rise and Fall Spotlights Fast-and-Loose Culture Plaguing the Economy
The rise and fall of U.S. Century, whose leaders used it as their own corporate ATM, exemplifies the failure to regulate banking during the boom years and the slipshod approach to the bailout. Losers are taxpayers and Florida residents grappling with ill effects of sprawl.
Jane Martin’s “Talking With…,” at Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre Oct. 28-Nov. 5
Jane Martin–a pen-name–pulls off a clever series of monologues by 11 women in “Talking With,” directed by John Sbordone at Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre.
School Uniforms as Contrived Regulation: 10 Answers to the Flagler School Board
School uniform FAQ: Nancy Nally, a local parent and writer, lays out 10 reasons why the Flagler County School Board should not adopt school uniforms. The board is discussing the matter later this afternoon.
Get Ready for a Thunderous Afternoon and Evening, with Possible “Isolated Tornadoes”
Get those weather radios, flashlights and emergency kits checked. Heavy, drenching, noisy storms with tropical postmarks are on their way to Flagler, with heaviest downpours between 3 and 11 p.m.
Mike Taschler, Palm Coast Data VP and COO, Is Out as Revenue Continues to Fall
Taschler’s departure follows less than three months after the resignation of Palm Coast Data CEO John Meneough, and three weeks after the company posted another steep revenue decline.
Pink Armies Invade Flagler In Varieties Of Breast Cancer Awareness Campaigns
The Flagler County fire department, Palm Coast government, Florida Hospital Flagler, schools and organizations are all in on raising awareness to battle breast cancer in October.
Annual French Market in Daytona Beach Oct. 29, Nov. 19 and Dec. 3
Daytona Beach’s “French Market has been so successful for the Downtown merchants and restaurants, we are looking to make it a permanent community event in the Fall each year,” Director Stacey Lipton says.
Palm Coast Tennis Center Hosting Junior Futures Tournament Nov. 5
Palm Coast, partnering with the Friends of Tennis, will host a United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) Junior Futures event on Saturday, Nov. 5 at the Palm Coast Tennis Center.
This Week in Flagler and Tallahassee: School Uniforms Again and Andrew Young
The African American Cultural Society’s 20th anniversary celebration culminates with a talk by former UN Ambassador and civil rights leader Andrew Young on Oct. 23 at 2 p.m. at Matanzas High’s Pirate Theater.
What About Paul? The Blackballing of a Candidate.
Just as Howard Dean and Dennis Kucinich were blackballed by media early in their Democratic runs, Ron Paul, a libertarian running as a Republican, is being blacked out even as he’s climbed to fourth in the presidential field, William Collins argues.
Flag-Pin Fanaticism in St. Augustine, Huxley’s LSD, Occupying Anger: The Live Wire
A graph-by-graph illustration of what the Occupy Wall Street crowds are angry about, Clint Eastwood’s Thelonius Monk, U.S. flag pins get banned in a St. Augustine hotel, and more.
Room for Debate: Should Your Child Be on Facebook?
Facebook privacy for adults is hard enough to keep up with. For children and teens, keeping things private on Facebook is a seemingly intentional maze–and a marketer and advertiser’s dream.
The 99% Answer the 53%
In what has turned into one of the most virally circulated pieces of the year, Max Udargo explains the Occupy Wall Street movement to a conservative critic who calls himself part of the 53 percent.
Coming To: A Woman Re-Imagined
And the Making of a First Novel
Caren Umbarger, the artistic director of the Flagler Youth Orchestra, describes how she came to write Coming To, her first novel, which would resonate with “anyone who has struggled out of oppression to make a better life for themselves.”
From Harvest Hoedown to Smashing Illiteracy
At the Palm Coast Tennis Center, it was all about raising dollars for Flagler’s Dolly Parton Imagination library, and at Bunnell Elementary, it was the annual Harvest Hoe Down: a sum-up and an image gallery of both.
CLASS Act No More: Obama Ends Long-Term Care Program in Defeat for Health Reform
The Obama administration determined the CLASS Act program could not simultaneously meet three important criteria: be self-sustaining, financially sound for 75 years and affordable to consumers.
Herman Cain, Calling Himself “Häagen-Dazs Black Walnut,” Gets Front-Runner Flavor
Between the collapse of fellow-Republican candidates, his folksiness and the appealing simplicity of his 9-9-9 plan, Herman Cain is now leading Rick Perry and Mitt Romney among Republican voters.
Palm Coast’s African-American Cultural Society
20th Anniversary Celebration
Call (386) 447-7030 for Tickets
African American Cultural Society of Palm Coast’s 20th Anniversary Celebration, Including a Gala Evening and a Talk by Ambassador Andrew Young.
“Neptune’s Children,” the Art of Elizabeth Brody-Hastings, Opening at Ocean Publishing
Elizabeth Brody-Hastings’s work, inspired by the Roman god of the sea, evokes Van Gogh, Manet, Matisse, and Picasso, among others. It’ll be on exhibit at Flagler Beach’s Ocean Publishing through the month.
Quiet Woodlands Evening Shaken by an Armed Robbery; Sheriff Looking for Leads
A 32-year-old resident of Palm Coast’s Woodlands was robbed of his cash and cigarettes at gunpoint at Oak Trails Boulevard and Blare Drive, just off of Old Kings Road, just before sunset Tuesday evening.
Universities Defend Against Rick Scott’s Primitive War on Anthropologists
Not wanting tax dollars spent educating anthropologists, Rick Scott appeared unaware that the science is among the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and math) he himself is emphasizing to add jobs in Florida.
Bunnell Manager Wants His Gun Back–as a Reserve Officer for Sheriff or Flagler Beach
Even though it’s a personal matter to the manager, the Bunnell City Commission agreed to use its city attorney, at $145 an hour, to seek out a state Attorney General’s opinion on whether Manager Armando Martinez may serve as a reserve cop elsewhere.
Bleak and Bleaker: State Revenue to Fall Another $2.5 Billion Over the Next 2 Years
The Legislature’s revenue estimating economists today announced a shortfall of about $1 billion for the coming year and $1.5 billion the following year. Rick Scott continues to rule out tax increases.
Flirting With the Bizarre and the Unconstitutional, Bunnell Retains 4 Lawyers
A Bunnell city commissioner opened Monday’s commission meeting with a hard-core Christian prayer as seven lawyers, including the city attorney, looked on–and took the fifth on the matter, as most were angling for a contract with the city.
Penny Wise, Light Foolish: Palm Coast in the Dark In Reclamation of Ralph Carter Park
League organizers and parents are calling Palm Coast’s plan to charge youth leagues for field and light use at city parks short-sighted and counter-productive, given the leagues’ stabilizing effect on once-troubled parks such as Ralph Carter Park.
Rubio’s Rig: Florida’s Answer to Obama Health Law Leaving Small Businesses Cold
Florida’s Marco Rubio-created insurance exchanges aren’t open to individuals, provide no subsidies or tax credits, and no essential health benefits, as federal plans do. The exchanges have not been popular.
Major Power Outages in Flagler Restored, But Many Smaller Ones Remain
Winds of up to 60 miles per hour have downed power lines and trees, cutting power for 6,000 customers in Flagler County as of 10:30 p.m. See how you can track your outages and find out reconnection times.
Tasers and the Flagler County School Board: Feeble Surrender to an Instrument of Torture
The re-introduction of Tasers on campus is disturbing on many levels, not least because the Flagler school board had no evidence they were needed. Nor did it consider the barbaric implications of Tasers in school settings.
This Week in Flagler and Tallahassee: Local Legislators’ Annual Drive-By Natter
Sid Nowell’s job is on the line in Bunnell, Bruce Campbell’s job may finally become more permanent in Flagler Beach, the African American Cultural Society’s 20th anniversary celebrations all week, dire state revenue estimates, and more.
In Praise of Steve Jobs
Lionel Rolfe, the writer and journalist, chronicles Steve Jobs’s influence on capitalism, cybernetics, typography, Rolfe’s own work and, to some extent, his life.
Occupy Jacksonville: Video and Reports of Saturday’s Occupy Wall Street-Inspired Protest
Occupy Jacksonville at hemming Plaza Saturday drew between 200 and 300 people, including participants from Palm Coast and Flagler County. Video of the protest, updates and pictures.
Dares From the Familiar From 7 Photographers at Hollingsworth Gallery’s Latest Show
Hollingsworth Gallery’s first all-photography exhibits features provocative, unsettling and arresting work by Steven Benson, Daniel Biferie, Jennifer Kaczmarek, A.J. Neste, Mark Townsend, Mercedes McCartney and Nik Clements.
Buddy Walk in Town Center Canceled, Creekside Festival Goes On
Buddy Walk in Town Center canceled, Great bed Race in Flagler Beach postponed, Creekside Festival goes on: the rains are playing havoc with weekend events in Flagler County.
Elect Dennis Cross
Palm Coast City Council District 3
Dennis Cross for Palm Coast City Council District 3: his experience, platform and qualifications for Palm Coast City Council.
Re-Elect Holsey Moorman
Palm Coast City Council District 1
Holsey Moorman for Palm Coast City Council District 1: his experience, game plan and qualifications for Palm Coast City Elections. Re-elect Holsey Moorman.
Saturday’s Great Bed Race in Flagler Beach Postponed Until Dec. 3
Weather is causing the postponement of the third annual Great Bed Race, which means that there’s two more months to enter the contest, which has already drawn a record 17 beds.
Palm Coast’s First Business-to-Business Expo: How-To For Recession-Defying Entrepreneurs
Some 60 businesses and agencies turned up for the day-long business-to-business expo organized by Palm Coast’s Business Assistance Center to focus on local, small and emerging businesses.
A Shade Less Than Dire, Unemployment Holds Again at 9.1% as 103,000 Jobs Are Added
July and August figures were revised upward for a net addition of 287,000 jobs over the last three month, still far short of what the economy needs to be healthy, or to bring the unemployment rate down.
Obama’s Job Creation Record: Millions Created or Saved, Still Too Few to Overcome Crisis
While the $825 billion stimulus raised employment from at least 1 million to 3.3 million people and significantly softened the recession, subsequent cutbacks at all level of governments reversed the gains and prevented a sustained recovery.
Blessing of the Animals: At St. Thomas Episcopal, a Fall Ritual for Creatures’ Sake
The annual Feast of St. Francis is an occasion, at Palm Coast’s St. Thomas Episcopal, to celebrate the bond and love between people and their pets as each animal is blessed in a moving and modest ceremony.
Occupy Wall Street Protests Spreading to Florida–Jacksonville, Gainesville and Ocala
Occupy Wall Street, the tea party’s growing flip-side movement, is organizing a series of protests across the nation and in a half dozen cities in Florida, from Jacksonville to Miami to Tampa.
Bogus Students, Fake Curriculums, Ghost Schools: Florida’s Voucher Fraud Is Probed
Florida House members grilled a Department of Education official Tuesday over reports of rampant fraud and lax oversight of private schools that receive state funds through a voucher program for students with disabilities.
All-Business Snub: Flagler County Can’t Fill Its Own Economic Development Council Seats
Only four people have applied for the county commission’s eight-member economic development council, an embarrassing result for the government that dissolved Enterprise Flagler, claiming it could do the job better.
“My Boyfriend Shot Him”: Sheriff’s Office Releases 911 Call on Brunswick Lane Invasion
The Flagler Sheriff’s Office released an edited version of the 911 call from the Brunswick Lane home three men invaded Monday, resulting in the shooting of one of them and the arrest of all three after a manhunt.
Report Shows How Far Florida and Other States Are Scuttling Voting Rights and Turnout
Reductions in early voting days, ending voting-day address changes for registered voters, clamping down on registration drives and other new rules could make it harder for 5 million people to vote in 2012, which may be just what GOP-led legislatures passing those laws aimed for.