Last July’s controversy over what families could and could not say to memorialize children they’ve lost yielded to a calmer compromise as Palm Coast will oversee the Children’s Memorial Garden’s messages near Waterfront Park.
All Else
Perth Amboy’s Van Eckert Accepts Flagler’s Offer To Be Economic Development CEO
Helga Van Eckert has accepted Flagler County’s government’s offer to become its latest economic development CEO. She will start in late February with a salary of close to $110,000 a year. The future of Greg Rawls, the previous CEO still serving through the transition, is unclear.
House Close to Approving Redistricting Maps as Coalition Charges “One-Party State”
The maps the House panels approved would change Flagler’s place in the congressional district, which would no longer include portions of Orange County, where John Mica is based. If Flagler loses Mica, it would mean losing Mica’s seniority and the benefits of his chairmanship of the powerful House Transportation Committee.
The Live Profile:
Who The Hell Is Saul Alinsky?
Saul Alinsky: a profile of the author of “Rules for Radicals,” dead since 1972, whom Newt Gingrich names as the reason to oppose Barack Obama. But the Saul Alinsky Gingrich creates never existed. The invention is more revealing of Gingrich than it is of Alinsky. A corrective to both.
Florida’s Disgraceful New Limits on Voting
The upcoming election is about to be stolen – or, at the very least, rigged – and thousands of your neighbors and, in some cases, your children, are about to be disenfranchised, argues Martin Merzer.
Gingrich Momentum in Florida Has Vanished, Romney Win Expected
4:36 p.m….Flip-flop again: the Gingrich lead in Florida was short-lived and, as it turns out, not so sweet. Romney is back ahead, comfortably, and expecting a solid win on Tuesday. In a rare victory for the 4th Amendment, the US Supreme Court rules unanimously against police “intrusion” by way of GPS tracking, when it’s physically tacked onto private property, including vehicles on public roads.
Bloodied Candidates Stumble Toward Florida Finish as Gingrich Wilts and Romney Adjusts
Newt Gingrich was under fire from all sides at the 19th GOP primary debate in Jacksonville Thursday, looking weaker and less sure-footed than he had in South Carolina, and ceding the advantage to Mitt Romney ahead of Tuesday’s vote in Florida.
Debt, Divorce, Downsizing and Death: The Thriving State of Estate Sales in Palm Coast
Estate Sales have been the lifeblood of Diana Minotti’s business in Palm Coast in the last four years, underscoring the extent–and occasional upside–of a recession as people retrench and sell off luxuries from fine art to historic furniture.
Live-Blogging the GOP Jacksonville Debate, Reluctantly
Rather than on the GOP debate, everything suggests the television should be tuned to something more grabbing, whether its Nadal-Federer at the Australian Open or Your Home With Jill on QVC. But civic penance may have its virtues. So let’s give this a shot.
Alzheimer’s Disease Research:
Florida’s Inexcusable Indifference to Funding
Florida, the state with the largest per-capita population over age 65, invests zero dollars in Alzheimer’s research, though one in 40 Floridian has the disease–and half do over age 85. Nancy Smith argues the indifference is short-sighted on many levels.
Gingrich Surge Wipes Out Romney Advantage in Florida While Improving Obama’s Numbers
The latest Quinnipiac polls have Gingrich tied with Romney ion Florida, but losing badly to Obama in a head-to-head race, while Romney’s slight advantage over Obama two weeks ago has also vanished.
Flip-Flops OK, Tuck-In Not Required: District’s Uniform Policy Will Be Relatively Permissive
The Flagler school board met this morning to iron out the wording of its new “uniform dress code” policy, which merely tightens existing standards rather than imposes a rigid uniform standard.
Full Text of Proposed Uniform Policy for Flagler County Schools
The full text of the proposed “uniform dress code” policy the Flagler County School board agreed to on Jan. 25, and is scheduled to vote on adopting, at its Jan. 31 meeting.
Flagler Beach Rotary Hosting Wing-Themed 5K Race on Feb. 11
The Flagler Beach Rotary’s 5K Race at the Flagler County Airport will include helicopters, flyovers, resident planes on display as well as a peek at innovative projects currently underway at the airport.
Mitt Romney’s Tax Returns: A Guide
As one of the richest men ever to run for President, Romney’s filings are enormously complex, and the subject of close scrutiny. News organizations are making their way through the returns. Here’s a guide to where to look to make sense of the numbers, including the original returns for 2010 and 2011.
Flagler 911: Graffiti Slurs in the R Section, Men Attacking Cops and Bar Brawls
A violent few days as angry men are arrested for aggravated battery, including violence on (and biting) cops, a noise complaint leads to two arrests over an underage drinking party on Brooklyn Lane, and a rash of car windows are smashed around town, their contents stolen.
In Another Move To Charters, Florida Would Give Parents More Say Over Failing Schools
Parents of children in chronically failing schools would get greater power to force the schools to change, including the possibility they could make the school into a charter school or contract its management out, under a Jeb Bush-inspired bill that advanced Tuesday in the Florida House.
In Flagler Beach City Election, More Reruns Of Faces and Ideas Than Stark Choices
Two of the four candidates in the Flagler Beach municipal election on Jan. 31 have served on the commission before, a third has run for office many times, leaving just one rookie in the mix. Fresh ideas, too, were wanting in a recent forum where the candidates laid out their positions.
JoAnne King, Who Oversaw Florida Hospital Flagler’s Hospice Expansion, Is Elevated to VP
As administrative director JoAnne King oversaw Florida Hospital Flagler’s expansion into hospice care across county lines last year, a first for a Florida Hospital. She was promoted to vice president for ancillary services, overseeing a half dozen departments, including hospice.
The Live Poll:
Gingrich, Paul, Romney, Santorum?
We believe in open primaries, so cast your vote, whatever your party affiliation, for the four contenders in the GOP presidential primary.
Don’t Ban Internet Cafés. Regulate Them.
Internet cafés may be a pest, and their proponents make laughable arguments when they claim they’re not about gambling. But it’s not government’s business to ban them while swinging from the lottery’s levers. Regulation is the key.
Co-Pay Interruptus: Catholic Bishops Will Sue Feds Over Contraception and Insurance Rules
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is promising a legal challenge to federal rules requiring health insurers to provide women with a range of preventive health services, including birth control, without charging a co-payment, co-insurance or deductible.
Florida Redistricting: More Transparent Than Fair
Floridians truly have a meaningful voice in the actions taken by the Florida Senate? Paula Dockery, in her last term as a Republican Senator, thinks not, particularly when it comes to redistricting.
Jacques Brel, Alive and Well and Living At Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre
Starting Friday, the City Repertory Theatre will stage six performances of “Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris,” the Eric Blau and Mort Schuman revue of the great Belgian troubadour, under the direction of John Sbordone.
News-Journal Re-Opening Flagler Bureau, in St. Joe’s Center, as Newspaper War Intensifies
The News-Journal’s 2,400-square-foot office in the St. Joe’s Business Park is less than a quarter the size of its old bureau on SR100, closed three years ago, and a concession that it can no longer address its Flagler competition–including a weekly newspaper and three radio stations–long distance.
Flagler’s Unemployment Falls to 13.9%, But Labor Force Is Down 3.6% Over the Past Year
Flagler’s rate is the lowest in three years, suggesting sustained, if slow, improvement, but the workforce has shrunk by 1,200, raising concerns that the county is losing population or attraction as a place to work.
When Profit-Raking Disney and the Daytona Speedway Beg Florida for Corporate Welfare
Disney is asking the state for an array of tax breaks that could cost Floridians as much as $100 million over 20 years. International Speedway Corp., owner of Daytona International Speedway, is in on the deal.
Live Wire: Newt Gingrich, Open Marriage Man
Newt Gingrich’s second ex-wife says he lacks the moral character to be president and describes how he wanted a wife and a mistress. Scott opposes Internet cafes; Wikipedia and other big websites go dark to protest the invasive Stop Online Piracy Act, states look to online gambling to plug their deficits, Diego Rivera ignites the Museum of Modern Art, a short history of atheism, and more.
“Hire a Hero” Program Designed to Spur Hiring of Veterans in Palm Coast and Flagler County
The Palm Coast Business Assistance Center and the Flagler County Chamber of Commerce are partnering to implement a new “Hire a Hero‟ program to encourage local businesses to employ local veterans and to guide new applicants through the intricate hiring process.
Florida Hospital Flagler Gets Silver Plus Award for Heart and Stroke Care
Florida Hospital Flagler has received the Silver Plus Performance Achievement Award from The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines program.
Flagler Beach Election: Candidate Forum 6 p.m. Tonight at Disabled American Veterans Hall
Tonight’s forum starts at 5 p.m. with a meet-and-greet and at 6 with actual questions at the DAV Hall on 6th Street. Flagler Beach elections are usually held in March. This election was moved up to coincide with the presidential primary election on Jan. 31, and to save the city money.
Washington Oaks Gardens Events: Garden Walk in January, Citrus Festival in February
Washington Oaks Gardens State Park is offering a guided garden walk on Saturday, Jan. 28, and welcoming volunteers interested in beautifying the citrus groves at the park on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012.
Photography of Ancient Parthenon at EGAD! Art Lab
The work of Josh Garrick, writer, photographer, and fine art curator can be viewed at EGAD! Art Lab from January 20 through February 12, 2012. The opening reception is Friday, January 20. The reception is free and open to the public.
Free Kids’ Day at Palm Coast’s USTA Pro Circuit Men’s Futures Tournament Jan. 28
As part of the city’s 10-day celebration of the USTA Pro Circuit Men’s Futures Tournament in Palm Coast, the city is hosting a free Kids Day on Saturday, Jan. 28 with activities from 2 to 6 p.m.
In Washington State, a Proposed Mandate for Abortion Coverage, Whoever the Insurer
Democratic members of the Democratic-controlled Washington State legislature introduced a bill that would require private and public insurers that provide maternity coverage to cover abortion services as well.
Turner Talk Begins at Flagler’s Tourist Development Council; Several Grants Awarded
Georgia Turner, Flagler’s new tourism chief, had her debut before the Tourist Development Council Wednesday as the council approved grants totaling $170,000, including underwriting for two popular and growing local conferences that attract numerous out-of-towners.
Don’t Let It Happen
The the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act give the federal government unprecedented powers to censor or block access to websites judged to be carrying pirated music or videos, a power usually associated with authoritarian regimes.
The Live Poll: 53% Against Uniforms
Should the Flagler school board adopt a uniform policy? Out of more than 700 responses, the verdict is 53 percent against as the school board prepares to vote on the issue Tuesday evening.
As School Board Votes on Uniform Policy, a Reality Check From the Trenches
Drawing on arresting experiences, Jo Ann Nahirny, a veteran teacher at Matanzas High School, disputes assumptions on school uniforms in a letter to Flagler County School Board members.
Miranda Vows: Commissioner Milissa Holland and Undersheriff O’Brien Will Marry April 21
WNZF’s David Ayers exerted the confession about the upcoming wedding from David O’Brien, the undersheriff, who had done his best to keep the news of his wedding to Milissa Holland an open secret.
Flouting the First:
Florida’s Slouch Back To Religious Favoritism
Florida’s proposed “Religious Freedom” amendment and a bill that would enable prayer at public school events project the false impression that religious expression in the public sphere is under siege, when the reverse is closer to the mark–as a bias particularly favoring Christianity.
Southeast Musuem of Photography
January Events and Exhibitions
2012 January Exhibitions, Films and Photography Workshops for the Southeast Museum of Photography.
Hollingsworth Gallery Lets Its Members Rip in New Show; Art League Does The Open
Hollingsworth Gallery in Palm Coast opens its annual members show Saturday evening with new works that range from the overtly provocative to the contemplative. The Flagler County Art League opens with a humbler mix.
Why Tim Tebow Is Not God’s Jerry Rice
A pastor’s suggestion that God is favoring Tim Tebow is wrong, argues Aaron Rushing, because it turns the former Gator and Denver Broncos quarterback into a good luck charm. God is using Tebow in other ways, writes Rusher.
Palm Coast Observer Taking On News-Tribune As It Aims for Twice A Week By April
The Palm Coast Observer’s move would be a frontal assault on the Daytona Beach News-Journal’s diminishing hold on the Flagler market, where the paper has also been contending with competition from three new radio stations and online media.
Live Wire: Florida Budget Shortfall Remains at $2 Billion; US Marines Urinate on Taliban Corpses
The latest numbers from the State Revenue Estimating Conference leave Florida’s 2012 revenue stuck with a $2 billion deficit the Legislature must plug. The Pentagon is scrambling to contain damage from a video showing four US Marines apparently urinating on three dead Taliban fighters, a violation of the Geneva Convention.
As Inmate Population Continues to Fall, Florida Will Close 7 Prisons and 4 Work Camps
Declining prison admissions created a surplus of prison beds, allowing the state prison system to cut its budget deficit by closing our older facilities, says Corrections Secretary Ken Tucker.
Crediting FPC, 2 Manfres Develop Energy-Saving Product With Broad Applications
FPC graduate Alec Manfre is the COO of Bractlet, a start-up company that received $40,000 from the Chilean government to develop an energy-saving device he and colleagues invented at Georgia Tech. Manfre’s sister Catherine, also an FPC graduate, heads the company’s marketing.
Road Fatalities Rise Again in Flagler in 2011, to 24, As Pedestrian Kill Rate Exceeds Orlando’s
The more than 4 deaths per 100,000 population in Flagler means that the Palm Coast-Flagler County area was more dangerous for pedestrians than Orlando-Kissimmee, the most dangerous metropolitan region in the country.
School Uniforms at Osceola Public Schools? You Be the Judge: An Image Gallery
The Osceola policy is actually a dress code, and a rather lenient one at that: the photos lay bare the Osceola school district’s uniform policy as the Flagler school board prepares to decide whether to implement such a policy locally on Jan. 17.