Acoustic Jam Circle at the Hammock Community Center, the Scenic A1A Pride Committee meets, the anniversary of the Brooklyn Bridge, Simone de Beauvoir’s memory of the bridge.
All Else
How Marijuana and Psilocybin Might Help Millions in Chronic Pain
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency announced in late April 2024 that it plans to ease federal restrictions on cannabis, reclassifying it from a Schedule I drug to the less restricted Schedule III, which includes drugs such as Tylenol with codeine, testosterone and other anabolic steroids. Similarly, the FDA granted a breakthrough therapy designation to psilocybin to expedite drug development. Preliminary studies suggest it may have substantial therapeutic value for treatment-resistant depression and major depressive disorder.
Palm Coast Residents Can Now Use an Improved City Government Customer Service Portal
The City of Palm Coast announced a new initiative aimed at enhancing the quality of interactions between citizens and city staff. In response to feedback from residents, the City is taking significant steps to ensure that every interaction meets the high standards of our mission: “Delivering exceptional service by making citizens our priority.”
Development Is Devouring the Tree Canopy. Palm Coast and Flagler Officials Say They’re Trying to Catch Up With Protection.
There was a bit of a disconnect today in a panel discussion by Flagler County’s five mayors and County Commission chair about how attractive Flagler County is to its residents and those who keep pouring in, and how quickly developments are razing swaths of tree canopy. They spoke of the importance of preserving the region’s quality of life, but also how the torrid growth rate is inevitably bringing congestion, and numerous developments, some of them–as with a 6,000-home plan in Bunnell–colossal.
Palm Coast Planning for YMCA on Central Avenue in Town Center, Raising Questions About Arts’ Place
Palm Coast government is getting ready to build a 30,000 square foot YMCA on a 12-acre city-owned parcel on Central Avenue in Town Center, next to what used to be the Palm Coast Arts Foundation’s stage and a 5-acre parcel that had been dedicated to arts and culture. Plans at the moment do not include a pool. A director of United We Art, the organization overseeing arts development in Town center, fears picking that location for the Y may crowd out the city’s pledge for an arts center there.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, May 23, 2024
The Flagler County Association of Realtors hosts its 16th annual Meet the Mayors, the Flagler Beach City Commission meets, ‘Sense and Sensibility,’ at Daytona Playhouse, the grammar of texting’s kinship with Medieval scriptoriums.
California Will Add 11% Tax Guns and Ammo. That Could Diminish Violence.
Starting in July, California will be the first state to charge an excise tax on guns and ammunition–11% on each sale on top of federal excise taxes of 10% or 11% for firearms and California’s 6% sales tax. The National Rifle Association has characterized California’s Gun Violence Prevention and School Safety Act as an affront to the Constitution. But the reaction from the gun lobby and firearms manufactures may hint at something else: the impact that the measure, which is aimed at reducing gun violence, may have on sales.
Flagler School Board Supportive of Leasing Old Courthouse in Bunnell as Christian School Exits
The Flagler County school district is likely to take over the lease of the old Flagler County courthouse in Bunnell, which since August 2015 has been the home of First Baptist Academy, a Christian school. The school is leaving in August. The county has been looking for a new tenant. The school district has been looking to consolidate a half dozen programs under one roof. It would do so at the courthouse t a cost of at least $212,000 a year, not including the cost of reconstructing the building according to district needs.
St. Augustine/St. Johns County Win Nod for Museum of Black History; Getting It Built Is Next Challenge
A state task force assessing possible sites for a proposed Florida Museum of Black History voted 5-4 Tuesday in favor of St. Johns County, where Martin Luther King once rallied protests against segregation in the city of St. Augustine but where the site would require extensive development, including roadbuilding. The close vote followed intense lobbying by St. Augustine/St. Johns, which branched out to support from surrounding counties, including Flagler County, where Palm Coast and the School Board lent support.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Both Flagler County high schools hold their graduation ceremonies at the Ocean Center, stormwater community workshop for Flagler Beach residents, high-profile court cases, nuclear weapons’ neolithic shadow.
Implications of the Death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi
Concern in Tehran over the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi may extend beyond the potential human tragedy of the crash. The change forced by it will have important implications for an Iranian state that is consumed by domestic chaos, and regional and international confrontation.
Flagler Sheriff’s Deputies Rescue 1-Year-Old Child Locked in Car for 8 to 10 Minutes
On the afternoon of Monday, May 20, Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) deputies rescued a 1-year-old child that was locked inside a vehicle with the engine off and all windows closed.
264 Apartments Approved Across Imagine at Town Center, Near 300-Unit Complex, Raising Traffic Concerns
The Palm Coast City Council this morning approved plans for a 264-unit apartment complex on Town Center Boulevard, across from Imagine School at Town Center, and from a 300-unit high-end apartment complex the Planning Board greenlighted last August called The Legacy. The new units are expected to help reduce the shortage of apartments and possibly slow the rise in rental costs, which have been hurting working families and retirees who choose to move away from the burdens of home ownership.
Daytona North/Mondex Residents Have Been Paying a Special Tax Since the 1980s. Is It Fair, ‘Wise’ and Worth It?
Flagler County Commissioner Leann Pennington is hoping county government will rethink the special tax Daytona North–also known as the Mondex–residents have been paying since the 1980s for road maintenance, either to scrap it altogether or to better define its purpose, and lay out specifically what benefits residents get out of it.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, May 21, 2024
The Palm Coast City Council meets, Food Truck Tuesday in Palm Coast’s Central Park, the day Shirley Chisholm shook Congress with a speech on women’s equality.
Arrest Warrants for Israel’s Netanyahu and Hamas’s Sinwar Reflect ‘Crimes Against Humanity’
Karim A.A. Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, often known as the ICC, said in a statement that both the Israeli and Hamas leaders “bear criminal responsibility” for “war crimes and crimes against humanity”–Hamas’s extermination, murder, taking hostages, and committing rape and other acts of sexual violence, and Israel starving Palestinians in Gaza, “intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population,” as well as persecution and “willful killing.”
Flagler Sheriff’s SWAT Snipers in Top 10 at National Competition
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) SWAT sniper team placed ninth out of 45 teams at the annual Snipercraft Challenge. This is the third year in a row that FCSO’s SWAT snipers have placed in the top 10.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, May 20, 2024
Jayden Jackson asks permission to drive, the Flagler County Commission talks roads and bridges in the Mondex, Robert Reich asks if we need billionaires, Louis Brandeis on how the rich encourage socialism.
Why America’s Offshore Wind Power Industry Is Struggling
America’s first large-scale offshore wind farms began sending power to the Northeast in early 2024, but a wave of wind farm project cancellations and rising costs have left many people with doubts about the industry’s future in the U.S. Altogether, projects that had been canceled by the end of 2023 were expected to total more than 12 gigawatts of power, representing more than half of the capacity in the project pipeline. So, what happened, and can the U.S. offshore wind industry recover?
How Dare These College Kids Protest for Humanity Toward Palestinians Instead of Getting Wasted?
Standing around on college lawns, protesting against genocide, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to arms shipments — what are they thinking? These students should be shopping, getting wasted at end-of-semester parties, and engaging in meaningless sex. Instead, they’re going around acting like citizens, engaging in civil disobedience, exercising their right to free speech, telling university administrations to get rid of all investments in Israel, and demanding humanitarian aid for Palestinians.
Democrats Condemn Rep. Matt Gaetz’s Homage to Proud Boys
U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz described himself as “standing back and standing by” while attending former President Donald Trump’s New York City trial. That’s a reference to Trump telling the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” in a 2020 debate with Joe Biden, in a response to a question urging Trump to condemn White supremacy.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, May 19, 2024
Meet the artists at an art show presented by Expressions Art Gallery on Colbert, ‘Sense and Sensibility,’ at Daytona Playhouse, when the Olympics included an arts and literature competition.
Lebanon’s Far-Right ‘Soldiers of God’ Are Stirring Sectarian Tensions
Since the start of the war in Gaza, Israel, Hezbollah and other armed groups in Lebanon have exchanged almost 5,000 attacks across the border. Lebanon is being pulled into a war it cannot afford. But the country’s weak state has little power against the militias that operate within its territory, among them a private militia named Jnoud al-Rab (Soldiers of God). It is a far-right, Christian group made up primarily of young working-class men who see themselves as “guardian angels.”
Florida City Calls for Protection of Civilians in Gaza and Israel. DeSantis Calls It “Fraud.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday blasted a resolution passed by a local government last week in Miami-Dade County — the most populous county in Florida — that calls for supporting peace and security for “all innocent civilians in Israel, Gaza and Occupied Palestinian Territories.” Gov. DeSantis called it a “fraud.”
Ballot Proposal to Adjust Homestead Exempting to Inflation Would Hurt Renters, Businesses and Local Governments
Florida voters will get to decide in the November election whether to shield more of the value of their homes from property taxes under a proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution, but the measure might mean higher taxes for renters, landlords, and other commercial property owners.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, May 18, 2024
Free housing fair and financial wellness clinic, Coffee with Flagler Beach Commission Chair Scott Spradley, Live From the Waterworks, Mortimer Adler’s “Six Great Ideas” with Bill Moyers.
Electric Vehicles Are Safer for Their Occupants. Everyone Else? Not So Much.
EV safety is that crash test results, field injury data and injury claims from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety all reveal that EVs are superior to their internal combustion counterparts in protecting their occupants. While the inherent weightiness of EVs offers a natural advantage in protecting occupants, it also means that other vehicles bear the burden of absorbing more crash energy in collisions with heavier EVs. This dilemma is central to the concept of “crash compatibility,” a well-established field of safety research.
1st Three Months of 2024 Drew Record Number of Tourists to Florida
An estimated 40.6 million people traveled to Florida during the first three months of the year, a 1.2 percent increase from the same period in 2023. The state also issued revisions that increased totals for all of 2023.
Affordable Housing in Palm Coast-Flagler: Plenty of Ideas, Not Enough Political Follow-Through
The Palm Coast Community Center was not the place to be this afternoon if you wanted to hear cheery answers and simple solutions to increasing the dismal stock of affordable housing in the city and the county. But it was the only place and one of the rare times in recent years where local governments–the county and Palm Coast–devoted a serious forum to explore difficult questions and realistic possibilities to bring more affordable housing to the region.
Florida’s High School Athletes Could Soon Get Paid Through Endorsement Deals
The Florida High School Athletic Association held a discussion Tuesday about a potential change to the organization’s bylaws that would allow student-athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness under what is commonly known as an NIL policy. The 13-member board, which includes eight members appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in August, is slated to vote on the proposal during a June 4 meeting.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, May 17, 2024
From Blueprint to Action: Local Strategies for Housing Policy Advancement, Flagler and Florida unemployment numbers released today, ‘Sense and Sensibility,’ at Daytona Playhouse, how colleges and universities are destroying equity.
DeSantis Signs Bills Adding Judges and Revising “Live Local Act”
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed 11 bills, including a measure that will increase the number of circuit-court and county judges and a bill that will revise a major housing law, known as the “Live Local Act,” that passed in 2023.
Should You Be at a Standing Desk All Day? Not Necessarily.
Mounting evidence now suggests how you spend your day can have meaningful ramifications for your health. In addition to moderate-to vigorous-intensity physical activity, this means the time you spend sitting, standing, doing light physical activity (such as walking around your house or office) and sleeping.
Emergency Order Will Criminalize Walking on Dunes in Flagler County; Flagler Beach’s Experience: Education Works
The Flagler County Commission on Monday is expected to approve an emergency order that criminalizes walking on dunes anywhere along the county’s 18 miles of shoreline. The penalty may be a $500 fine and 60 days in jail. The order reflects several pulses of urgency as dunes are being rebuilt with fragile vegetation taking root, and as erosion continues its relentless work. Flagler Beach criminalized walking on dunes years ago, but has never arrested anyone for it: education is key, its police chief says.
Baffled and Rattled, Flagler Community, Schools and Cops Grapple with Response to Bogus ‘Swatting’ Disruptions
There are no arrests, no serious leads, no understandable motives behind the spate of “swatting” calls that have disrupted classes and activities at several schools in Flagler County over the last three days, caused immeasurable anxiety among students, faculty and parents, and caused law enforcement and other responders to expend untold work-hours and other resources.
Lawyers for Judge Rose Marie Preddy File for Final Judgment Against Scott DuPont’s Qualification to Run
Lawyers for Circuit Judge Rose Marie Preddy, who sits in Putnam County, have filed a motion for a final judgment against Scott DuPont’s qualification to run again for judgeship as he is attempting to do against Preddy in this year’s election. DuPont was booted off the bench in 2018 and suspended from practicing law in 2019 after he was found to have acted with egregious misconduct during his 2016 re-election run and on several occasions in court, as a sitting judge in Flagler County or Putnam Counties.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, May 16, 2024
Joint Meeting of Flagler County Commission and Ormond Beach City Commission over a disputed land use matter in the Hunter’s Ridge area, the killing of journalists.
How to Tell If a Conspiracy Theory Is Probably False
The extreme consequences of unfounded conspiratorial beliefs could be seen on the staircases of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and in the self-immolation of a protestor outside the courthouse holding the latest Trump trial. But if hidden forces really are at work in the world, how is someone to know what’s really going on?
Flagler Pride Fest Cancelled Amid Turmoil as Organization’s Founder Resigns, Board Frays and Wagons Circle
To the dismay of a following that had grown substantially over the years, what was to be the fifth annual Flagler Pride Fest at Palm Coast’s Central Park in a month was abruptly cancelled last week through a cryptic, short-lived Facebook post that was scarcely cleared up when what remained of the organization’s officials posted a not-entirely accurate statement attempting to explain the decision on Tuesday, and betraying infighting.
Two Tornado Warnings Overnight in Flagler, No Touchdowns
Tornado warnings woke up Flagler County residents in two locations Wednesday morning, at 2:45 a.m. and shortly afterward, but “there was no sign of touchdown anywhere in Flagler County reported to us,” Flagler County Emergency Management Director Jonathan Lord said. The county remains under a tornado watch until early afternoon.
Buddy Taylor Middle School Targeted by Suspicious Call for 2nd Day in a Row as Students and Buses Are Turned Away
For the second day in a row, Buddy Taylor Middle School is the target of a suspicious called-in threat that’s resulted in a lockdown before school started this morning and the turning away of students arriving for class.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Flagler Tiger Bay Club Guest Speaker is County Attorney Al Hadeed, the Flagler County’s Technical Review Committee Meeting, the death, life and stories of Alice Munro.
154 Million Lives Saved in 50 Years: The Global Success of Vaccines in 5 Charts
A child aged under ten has about a 40% greater chance of living until their next birthday, compared to if we didn’t have vaccines. And these positive effects can be seen well into adult life. A 50-year-old has a 16% greater chance of celebrating their next birthday thanks to vaccines.
‘Housing Policy Forum’ on May 17 and ‘Housing Fair’ on May 18
Housing officials from Flagler County and the City of Palm Coast are hosting two separate events on consecutive days – Friday, May 17, and Saturday, May 18 – to address different needs of the community.
Bunnell Approves Plan That Would Add 6,000 Homes, a Town Center, and Increase City’s Population Fivefold
The Reserve at Haw Creek would be Bunnell’s largest development yet, and one of the largest in the county’s history. It would sprawl over nearly 3,000 acres west and south of the city. It would add nearly 6,000 homes, mostly single family and some apartments, plus commercial and industrial acreage. It would result in a potential population increase of 15,000 in a city with a current population of 3,500. Bunnell would be unrecognizable.
Bacardi Jackson , New Florida ACLU Leader, Points to ‘Urgency of Now’ at ‘Deeply Disturbing’ Juncture
Bacardi Jackson, a veteran litigator seeped in civil-rights advocacy, took the leadership of of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida on Monday amid a growing number of challenges to laws passed by the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Jackson views her new position as an opening to spur action at a critical juncture in the history of the state and the nation.
Tornado Watch In Effect for All of Flagler County Until Afternoon as Rounds of Severe Weather Continue
The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction center in Norma, Okla., issued a tornado watch for Flagler, St. Johns and 17 other northeast Florida counties–but not Volusia–until 1 p.m.. today. The watch is the result of a continuing series of severe weather outbreaks that have left a trail of power outages and a few deaths from Texas going eastward, and that may stretch at least to Wednesday, causing heavy rainfall, localized flooding, damaging winds and isolated tornadoes.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, May 14, 2024
The Palm Coast City Council’s busy workshop, including the latest on the search for a permanent city manager, the Community Traffic Safety Team meets, the Flagler County Planning Board meets, how to cope with a second Trump term, Biden’s no-win situation in Rafah.
Trump Wants To Deport All Undocumented Immigrants. He’ll Fail.
Trump says that he can replicate the 1950s’ failed Operation Wetback on a much grander scale by setting up temporary immigration detention centers and relying on local, state and federal authorities, including National Guard troops, to remove the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants now living in the U.S. Trump’s proposal is disturbing and misleading.
Beyond Memorial Day: A Family’s Journey to Educate and Remember Fallen Heroes
Tim Stanford’s only son, Sgt. Luke Stanford, made the ultimate sacrifice while serving in the Army. He had served a year-long tour in Iraq during the height of the war there, re-enlisted at the end of the tour and was serving as a member of a technical rescue company when he died. He was 28. The loss endures. For most families, it’s not the sort of loss that gets better with time. Amidst the struggle, the Stanfords have found some solace in their mission to educate the nation about the true meaning of Memorial Day.