The Florida Ethics Commission last Friday dismissed a pair of complaints claiming that Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin and City Council member Ed Danko, the vice mayor, voted on matters in which they had a conflict, and did not disclose it. The commission found the complaints legally insufficient.
All Else
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, April 25, 2024
Drug Court, Beautification committee, the Flagler Beach City Commission meets, understanding the Social Security Trust Fund and its perpetual near-insolvency over the years.
Journalism in Crisis
In journalism school, students learn their craft while engaging with critical questions about their roles and responsibilities. They are often taught by previous or current journalists, whose work experiences prepare them to help students tackle reporting challenges. Crises ask journalism educators, students and practitioners to grapple with sharing stories about what the future could hold. What will journalists’ jobs look like in five years? Or 25 years?
Lawsuit Blames Flagler Schools’ Failure to Address Brendan Depa’s Known Needs and Risks Before Attack on Aide
Brendan Depa, the now-18-year-old former Matanzas High School student captured on surveillance video attacking his teacher’s aide 14 months ago, filed suit today against Flagler County schools, accusing the district of failing to properly address his behavioral end mental disabilities, to properly train the staff in charge, or to provide legally required educational supports. The failures led to a grave but foreseeable, violent incident, the lawsuit states, injuries to the aide, and the prospect for prison for Depa.
Flagler County’s Tourism Revenue Dips 6.4% in Last 6 Months as Covid-Era Surge of Visitors Dissipates
Tourism tax revenue in Flagler County is down 6.4 percent in the first six months of the fiscal year–October through March–as vacation rentals and leisure-room occupancy in local hotels has fallen after what Tourism Director Amy Lukasik describes as the “record-breaking years of Covid, when Florida remained an open destination as other states and countries took safer and saner protections for their residents.
For Palm Coast Council, ‘Utopian’ Goals on Roads, Parks, Arts and Jobs Clash with Fixation on Reducing Tax Rate
The Palm Coast City Council has narrowed its goals for the coming year to 12. It is an ambitious, immediately contradictory list that starts with limiting government revenue by way of a rolled back tax rate as a goal, then goes on to outline costly initiatives the administration has not been able to address in line with demand for lack of money: road repairs, swale repairs, more money for arts and culture, advancing the dredging of saltwater canals, implementing the parks master plan, and so on.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, April 24, 2024
The Atlantic Chapter of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State hosts its open discussion, the navel-gazing at the New York Times, Russell Baker on objectivity.
Antarctica’s Sea Ice Hits Another Low
Even just a decade ago, sea ice reliably rebuilt itself each winter. But something has changed in how the Southern Ocean works and the area covered by sea ice has decreased dramatically.
Looking Past ‘Some Real Losers Over the Years,’ Bunnell Mayor Robinson Delivers a Buoyant State of a City
“I’ve been on this board a long time. And we’ve had some real losers on this board over the years,” Bunnell Mayor Catherine Robinson said with remarkable candor Monday evening, speaking from a dais at the Government Services Building that has known its share of losers, not just from Bunnell government: the County Commission and the School Board also hold their meetings there. She had just delivered a celebratory State of the City address.
For Derrius Bauer, Co-Defendant in Circle K Murder, a Choice Between Risking Life in Prison and a Grim Deal
The guilty verdict and sentencing of Marcus Chamblin last week in the shooting death of Deon Jenkins did not end that case. Derrius Bauer, his co-defendant, is scheduled for trial in September. Bauer previously refused a plea deal or to be a witness for the state, against Chamblin. He is now paying the price of loyalty, having few options, none of them likely to foreclose on a fate similar to Chamblin’s.
Commerce Parkway Construction Images Show Leveling of Thick, Long-Undisturbed Forest
Bunnell government has released images showing the ongoing churning-like clearing through a thick forest of pines, brush and wetlands in the first stage of construction for Commerce Parkway, the two-lane road cutting a swath from State Road 100 to the north, to U.S. 1 to the south, east and south of the city.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, April 23, 2024
The Palm Coast City Council meets in a special budget workshop, the NAACP Flagler Branch’s General Membership meets, the hilarity of Uri Berliner’s critique of NPR and what we may learn from it.
Taylor Swift’s Homage to Clara Bow
One track on Taylor Swift’s new album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” honors a long-celebrated, oft-miscast heroine of American feminism: actress Clara Bow. Bow was a woman way ahead of her time, a star who owned her success and her sexuality. There’s the popular perception that Bow was a victim of her own demons. But her story is anything but a cautionary tale.
Seesawing Gas Prices Tick Up
Gas prices continue to seesaw: after falling to a two-year low in late December, prises rose back up, then began a pattern of declining or rising almost every week within a band of 10 to 20 cents, hitting a 2024 high in mid-March before declining a bit and rising again, as they did last week, mirroring the fluctuations of the price of oil, but with some lag.
Construction Begins on $24 Million, 1.3-Mile Seawall at South End of Flagler Beach, Adding to City’s Clangs
Flagler Beach might as well be known as Construction City for the rest of the year. The second, but nowhere near last, gargantuan project to clang the city began today as the Florida Department of Transportation’s contractors started work on a $24 million, 1.3-mile seawall at the south end of Flagler Beach–what will be the longest sea wall the city has ever known, though it won’t necessarily be visible when completed.
Flagler Beach Will Declare April Sisco Deen Month in Perpetuity as Scholarship Takes Historian’s Name
The Flagler Beach City Commission on Thursday is set to be the first city to declare April “Sisco Deen Month” in perpetuity, in honor of the archivist and long-time member of the Flagler County Historical Society, who died last August at 83. Deen was a Flagler Beach resident.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, April 22, 2024
The Flagler County Beekeepers Association and the Bunnell City Commission meet, Israel makes a desert in Gaza and calls it peace as it somewhat withdraws, though the killing continues.
Supreme Court Will Decide Constitutionality of Laws Like Florida’s Against Homeless
On April 22, 2024, the Supreme Court will hear a case that could radically change how cities respond to the growing problem of homelessness. It also could significantly worsen the nation’s racial justice gap.
St. Johns County Among 3 Finalists for Site of Florida Museum of Black History
A committee on Friday narrowed down options for the site of a Florida Museum of Black History, selecting as finalists St. Johns County, Eatonville in Orange County and Opa-locka in Miami-Dade County.
A Bittersweet Arab American Heritage Month
April is National Arab American Heritage Month. It should be a time to celebrate the contributions of the over 3.5 million Arab Americans who strengthen our proud nation. But right now, it’s impossible to feel celebratory as Palestinian-Americans reel from the immense pain and horror of an unfolding genocide against the 2.3 million Palestinians of Gaza, as Israel’s unrelenting bombardment and mass starvation of civilians continues. Adding insult to injury, Israel is using U.S.-supplied weapons to commit these atrocities.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, April 21, 2024
Palm Coast Farmers’ Market at European Village, Ormond Beach Celtic Festival, Billy Strings at St. Augustine Amphitheater, Policeman ‘Mackerel’ meets Miss Herring on a New York corner.
Loneliness Is Killing Middle-Ages Americans
A study makes clear that middle-aged Americans today are experiencing more loneliness than their peers in European nations. This coincides with existing evidence that mortality rates are rising for working-age adults in the U.S.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, April 20, 2024
Flagler VegFest at Flagler County Fairgrounds, Live From the Waterworks: Gamble Rogers Folk Festival’s Monthly Concert Series, Michelangelo meets AK-47.
Bob Graham Was Among the Rare Dissenters to Dare Resist Bush’s Iraq War Lies and Follies
War fever was rampant in October of 2002 – 9/11 was still raw – and Team Bush was busy smearing anyone who voiced any qualms about kicking butt. Dissent was deemed “unpatriotic.” But Bob Graham had qualms and refused to knuckle under.
Israel’s AI-Aided Massacre of Gazans
The Israeli army used a new artificial intelligence (AI) system to generate lists of tens of thousands of human targets for potential airstrikes in Gaza. One intelligence officer said the system “made it easier” to carry out large numbers of strikes, because “the machine did it coldly”.
The Dis-Education of Brendan Depa
Brendan Depa, the now 18-year-old former Matanzas High School student to be sentenced on May 1 on a first-degree felony count of assaulting a teacher’s aide, is alone being punished for what in fact amounts to a systematic and catastrophic failure, on the part of Matanzas High School and district officials, to follow Depa’s Individualized Education Program, which set out guidelines and requirements on how to contend with his mental health issues.
Flagler Unemployment Holds at 4.1% as Local Home Sales Near 4-Year Low and Time to Contract Hits 8-Year High
Flagler County’s March unemployment rate held at 4.1 percent for the third straight month, remaining above 4 percent for six of the last eight months even as county residents netted 134 new jobs and the number of the unemployed remained flat. The slowing pace of new workforce residents is reflected in the slowing pace of home sales, which are near a four-year low. That is one of several local economic indicators that, should they persist, may be of concern to those in the housing industry.
Biden Traveling to Tampa On Tuesday as Poll Numbers Show Florida Out of Play
President Joe Biden will be traveling to Tampa next week, the White House announced Thursday. Biden will appear in Tampa on Tuesday, but details of the visit were not released. Biden’s trip to Florida comes as polls show the president continues to trail presumptive Republican challenger, former President Donald Trump, in the runup to the 2024 election.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, April 19, 2024
Flagler and Florida’s unemployment numbers for March are released, the Supervisor of Elections holds a voter registration drive at Matanzas and FPC, Town Hall Meeting with Palm Coast Council Member Cathy Heighter, the 10th hottest month in a row, ever.
Iran’s Strategic Failure Against Israel
Iran’s unprecedented multi-front attack on Israel constitutes a de facto declaration of war and marks the first direct assault against Israel from Iranian soil. However, despite the scale of the operation, it appears to be a tactical failure.
Why Is Palm Coast Backroom-Dealing Tax Incentives with a Private Company?
Palm Coast is in the middle of a secret deal with an Atlanta-based company called DC Blox, which bought 34 acres in Town Center for $3.3 million last fall. It plans to build a data center there to land several undersea internet-data cables, by way of Flagler Beach. The city and the county are cooking up some kind of tax incentive with the company. We don’t know how much. We don’t know for how long. Presumably, we’ll find out only when the deal is sealed.
Trail Days Celebration at Waterfront Park on April 27
The City of Palm Coast, in partnership with the Flagler County Tourist Development Council, invites residents and visitors to Celebrate Trails Day on April 27, 2024, from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Waterfront Park. Celebrate Trails Day offers the community a chance to engage with nature and each other by exploring over 130 miles of scenic trails in Palm Coast and Flagler County.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, April 18, 2024
Drug court, a new Caglecast: Flushing Fox News, Clarence Darrow’s anniversary, story time for preschoolers, William Manchester’s disillusion with himself.
Israel Damaged or Destroyed 70% of Gaza’s Homes
Over a decade ago, a United Nations report described the Gaza Strip as virtually unlivable, adding that it would require “Herculean efforts” to change that. Today, after six months of bombardment, mass displacement and siege by Israel, the task of rebuilding Gaza seems practically unimaginable.
Palm Coast Honors Curtis Gray’s Memory and Proclaims Rise Above the Violence Day
The Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday issued a proclamation remembering Curtis Gray, the 18-year-old Flagler Palm Coast High School student gunned down in a dispute at a local strip mall on April 13, 2019, and proclaimed the date Rise Above the Violence Day.
Former Governor and Senator Bob Graham, Among Most Popular Floridians of Last 50 Years, Dies at 87
Bob Graham, a two-term Florida governor who went on to serve in the U.S. Senate and was known for his work days across the state, died Tuesday at age 87, his family announced. Graham was one of the most-popular figures in Florida politics over the past half-century. After representing part of Miami-Dade County in the state Senate, Graham was elected governor in 1978, winning a Democratic runoff and then easily defeating Republican Jack Eckerd in the general election.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, April 17, 2024
Trial notes: a few thoughts about jury selection, Separation Chat, the open discussion, the Technical Review Committee and the county’s Tourist Council meet, Weekly Chess Club for Teens at the public library.
‘I’m Not black, I’m O.J.’: O.J. Simpson and the Race Trap
Simpson was charged in two murders and during the trial became the epitome of Black, male toxicity. Though acquitted – in large part because of the Los Angeles Police Department’s racist history of police brutality – his trial exposed the racial divisions within America and the deep-seated resentment that many Black people had for the U.S. criminal justice system.
County Government Cedes 13,000 Square Feet of Land to Hamock Dunes CDD for Road Improvements
The Flagler County Commission approved ceding 13,000 square feet of land in two strips along Hammock Dunes Parkway and Camino Del Mar Parkway, at the foot of the Hammock Dunes Bridge, to the Hammock Dunes Community Development District for $50,000 in impact fee credits.
No July 4 Fireworks in Flagler Beach Until 2027, But City Intends to Reconquer the Day, and the Skies, That Year
Flagler Beach hasn’t had July 4 fireworks since 2019. It will not have them again until 2027, by which time the pier, the boardwalk and the beach will have been rebuilt, assuming hurricanes, which have a malicious mind of their own, don’t interfere. But the city is intent on staking its place as the home of July 4 fireworks in that future when it is able to host the blasts again, restoring that old tradition.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, April 16, 2024
The Palm Coast City Council holds a morning meeting, the Flagler Beach Library Writers’ Club meets, Erwin Rommel’s end, the unfortunate immortalizing of assassins’ names.
Trump on Trial: What the Images Might Show
Three things will be worth looking for in the visual coverage of Trump’s appearance: surprises, body language and symbolic juxtapositions. But even in the most camera-friendly jurisdictions, such as New York and Florida, photojournalists are subject to strict rules about placement and procedure.
Civilian Oversight Boards Are Now Prohibited from Investigating Police Misconduct in Florida
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed two bills last week that would prohibit civilian oversight boards from investigating police misconduct and stop people from getting too close to first responders doing their jobs.
Buddy Taylor Middle School Robotics Champs Earn Berth at International Competition
Buddy Taylor Middle School (BTMS) students Nathan Cabrera and Sophia Costa have earned bids to compete at the International SeaPerch Competition at the University of Maryland at the end of May.
The Marcus Chamblin Trial in Pictures
A pictorial documentation of the six-day trial of Marcus Chamblin on a first-degree murder charge in the death of Deon Jenkins, featuring all the main participants and some of the evidence, traces the trial’s development from jury selection to its conclusion today (April 15), when Jenkins was found guilty and sentenced to prison.
Marcus Chamblin Found Guilty in Murder of Deon Jenkins; He Is Immediately Sentenced to Life in Prison
After deliberating for just 48 minutes, a stunningly short amount that betrayed the inevitability of the case, a jury of 12 today–eight women, four men, three of the jurors black– found Marcus Avery Chamblin guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Deon O’Neal Jenkins the morning of Oct. 12, 2019 at the Circle K off Palm Coast Parkway. He was sentenced to life in prison.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, April 15, 2024
Closing arguments in Marcus Chamblin trial, tax-filing deadline, the Flagler County Commission meets, America’s disturbing taste for bad beer, a history of the drink of the gods, and John Updike’s bar.
Dunes
The Dune films remind us of just how beautiful, mysterious, expansive and changeable sand dunes can be. For centuries these wonderful landforms have filled humans with awe – and in some cases fear and foreboding – because of the apparent remoteness and risks associated with the deserts they are synonymous with.
Rest Easy: Florida Law Erases and Bans All References to Climate Change
You probably think Ron DeSantis and the yahoos, grifters, simps, dolts, and dunderheads who populate the Florida Legislature are collectively incapable of solving even one of the bazillion issues facing this state. But the Legislature has figured out how to fix climate change. Your bought-and-paid-for Legislature has delivered a bill that amends Florida statutes to delete all references to climate change. Thanks to them, climate change is gone. Erased. Kaputt. Ya no es. C’est fini.
Evading Usual Bill-Signing Spectacle, DeSantis Kills Local Efforts to Protect Workers from Florida’s Brutal Heat
Gov. Ron DeSantis has quietly signed into law a measure barring local governments from requiring employers to provide workers with basic protections like shade, accessible water, and breaks from the Florida’s scorching heat and humidity.