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Ukraine’s Minerals Explained

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Ukraine is often recognised for its vast agricultural lands and industrial heritage, but beneath its surface lies one of the world’s most remarkable geological formations, the “Ukrainian Shield”. These geological processes created favourable geological conditions for forming several mineral deposits including lithium, graphite, manganese, titanium and rare earth elements. All these are now critical for modern industries and the global green energy transition.

Our Silent Genocide of Transgender People

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The United States in general and Florida in particular are enacting laws that literally erase the existence of an entire class of human beings. Trump signed an order declaring that transgender people don’t exist. Florida is about to adopt a law that would let government employees dehumanize their transgender colleagues by refusing to refer to them by their preferred pronouns. It is a new kind of genocide: bloodless, to be sure, but no less obliterating.

Palm Coast Launches Quarterly Tours of Water and Wastewater Plants

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Following the success of the inaugural tour on March 12, 2025, the City of Palm Coast has decided to offer residents quarterly tours of its water and wastewater treatment facilities. Residents who attended the initial tour praised the event, expressing how informative and insightful it was. They noted they gained a deeper understanding of the treatment processes.

Bezos’s Washington Post About Face

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Journalists report news to inform the public, while editors and opinion writers analyze and explain news, putting facts into a larger context to aid understanding. Jeff Bezos is throwing that model of journalism out. Opinion and analysis in the Post will limit itself to one particular apparently libertarian viewpoint: what Bezos calls personal liberties and free markets.

Is Mike Waltz Out of His Depth? Ex-Flagler Congressman May Have Violated Espionage Act with Leak

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Mike Waltz, the former congressman representing Flagler County and the 6th Congressional District, whom Donald Trump tapped as his national security adviser, is at the center of the gravest scandal facing an administration embroiled in controversies since its first day, 64 days ago. Waltz may have violated provisions of the Espionage Act that control national defense information.

What You Should Know About What TikTok Calls News

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Here are three crucial things to know about news you get on TikTok: What videos count as news, how they got to you, and what you should do when you see them. These are three of what media researchers know as the “5 C’s” of news literacy: content, circulation and consumption. While they can be applied to any kind of news use, they are especially important for TikTok, where anyone can create content, and the algorithm decides what we see.

Flagler Sheriff Staly Exploring Deployment of Drones as First Responders: A ‘Much Cheaper Helicopter’

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The parking lot of the Flagler County Sheriff’s Operations Center last week was transformed into a showplace for Axon, the Arizona-based technology company whose tasers, body cams, car cameras, simulators, interview rooms and real-time crime center equipment and software redefined policing in the past years. It continues to do so with new products–among them, the drone as first responder, which Sheriff Rick Staly is studying for possible deployment in Flagler County.

Americans Still Believe They Live in a Compassionate Country

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A new study on the state of compassion in America by the Muhammad Ali Center, which the late boxer co-founded 20 years ago in Louisville, Kentucky, to advance social justice, found that the desire to help others still animates many Americans despite the nation’s current polarization and divisive politics. Cities with high compassion scores have more community engagement and civic participation than those with low scores.

Can Democrats Get Their Act Together Before Its Too Late?

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For more than a century, Democrats were the party of slavery, states’ rights, and Jim Crow, but, gradually and imperfectly, became the party of civil rights, voting rights, and workers’ rights, switching places with Republicans, who once had a strong streak of social progressivism. For 30 years, Florida elected New South governors such as Reubin Askew, Bob Graham, and Lawton Chiles, leaders who believed in education, open government, protecting the environment — crazy stuff like that. Where are they now?

The Hidden Epidemic of Violence Against Nurses

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An alarming 8 in 10 nurses face violence at work. As a result, health care workers are more than four times as likely to be injured by workplace violence than workers in all other industries combined. Despite these staggering numbers, the full extent of this epidemic may not be fully understood because nurses and other health care workers chronically underreport violent encounters.

Clinton Huggins, 1971-2025

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Clinton Huggins, loving husband and dad, passed away on March 18, 2025 at the age of 54, but his larger-than-life persona and ability to spot fish in tannin-stained water will never be forgotten. Commissioner Leann Pennington and her son, Clint, sincerely thank the many friends, family and residents who have reached out to express their condolences and offered support during this devastating time.

A Moratorium Won’t Help the Crappy Utility ITT Left Palm Coast. Painful Rates Might.

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There’s no question that water and sewer rates in Palm Coast are among the most expensive in the state. That was true even before the City Council this week approved the sharpest and fastest rate increase in the city’s 25-year history. But neither a building moratorium nor blaming the City Council is a solution for a problem seeded by ITT, the original owner of the utility.

President’s Defiance of Court Order Fuels a Constitutional Crisis

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The president is flouting U.S. District Court Judge James Bloasberg’s order that planes carrying deportees must return to the United States. The subsequent legal back-and-forth, which is still going on, intensified so quickly and dramatically that many legal scholars say the U.S. is past the point of a constitutional crisis, as the Trump administration appears to be defying a federal court order, for which Boasberg may hold the government in contempt.

County Attorney Al Hadeed, Stalwart of Environmental Stewardship and Local History, Is Retiring in August

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County Attorney Al Hadeed announced his retirement come August. He had been the county attorney for nearly a decade until the commission in a dubious move ended his contract in 1998. A different commission re-hired him in 2007. His retirement will remove the single-most important store of institutional memory from county government, though his signature achievements would fill volumes.

No Outright Indications of Mechanical Failures in Plane Crash That Claimed Pilot’s Life in West Flagler

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A preliminary investigation of the Feb. 14 plane crash that took the life of pilot 75-year-old Thomas Harvey in western Flagler County reveals that the plane had followed a normal flight path until it suddenly began to drop rapidly, at more than 200 feet per second before impact. There was no evidence of a fire on board and “no indications of a flight control anomaly were discovered,” according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report, suggesting that Harvey may have suffered a medical episode.

City Repertory Theatre Takes Trip to Matters of Faith and Race with ‘Violet’ Musical

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In “Violet,” a musical that opens Friday at Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre, it’s 1964, and Violet is about to travel by bus from her North Carolina home to Tulsa, Okla. The play’s themes are reflected in music that spans gospel, Memphis blues, bluegrass and jazz, with the cast singing to recorded backing tracks. Christian faith is an ongoing theme, as is race, judgment and life’s scars, visible and invisible.

Israeli Politics Kill Gaza Ceasefire

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While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sought to blame Hamas for the resumption of fighting that killed more than 400 Palestinians on March 18 – “only the beginning,” Netanyahu warned – the truth is the seeds of the renewed violence are to be found in Israeli domestic politics.

Flu Deaths Near 7-Year High As Anti-Vaccine Disinformation Spreads

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Flu-related deaths hit a seven-year high in January and February, the two months that usually account for the height of flu season, according to a Stateline analysis of preliminary federal statistics. There were about 9,800 deaths across the country, up from 5,000 in the same period last year and the most since 2018, when there were about 10,800.

13 Applicants, Including Several Familiar Names, Apply to Fill Palm Coast Council Seat Vacated by Stevens

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Thirteen candidates have filed for the District 3 seat on the Palm Coast City Council that Ray Stevens resigned at the end of February. The list includes several familiar names, among them Dave Ferguson, a former appointee to the council, Dave Sullivan, who just ended two terms on the County Commission, Cornelia Manfre, who has had three unsuccessful runs for a council seat or the mayorship, Mark Stancel, who lost a primary vote to Stevens by two votes, and Andrew Werner, who lost to Stevens.

Florida Senate Proposal Would Raise Speed Limits to 75 on Interstates

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Highway speeds could increase under a bill that has started moving forward in the state Senate. The Republican-controlled Senate Transportation Committee on Wednesday approved a wide-ranging measure (SB 462), filed by Sen. Nick DiCeglie, R-Indian Rocks Beach, that includes boosting the maximum speed on interstates and Florida’s Turnpike from 70 mph to 75 mph.

10 Years on, Palm Coast Finally Breaks Ground on Nerve-Center Maintenance Facility’s $12 Million 1st Phase

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Palm Coast hosted a groundbreaking for what will eventually be a nearly 100-acre maintenance facility gathering public works, stormwater and utility departments in one location off U.S. 1, to the northwest of the city. The $12 million phase is the first of three. The City Council in 2016 set the project in motion, but funding has been a challenge, as has the criticism of the project.

Anti-DEI Rules Are Gutting Educators’ Free Speech Rights

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The Trump administration’s attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion have continued in the form of a “Dear Colleague” letter from the Department of Education to educational institutions – from preschools through colleges and universities.. The directive the letter infringes on free speech, misunderstands the law and undermines education.

Florida Attorney General Threatens Removal of City Council Members Who Blocked Cooperation with ICE

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Attorney General James Uthmeier is threatening three Fort Myers city council members with removal from office after they refused Monday to deputize police officers to participate in immigration enforcement. Uthmeier, who became the attorney general a month ago, warned the council that Gov. Ron DeSantis could remove them from office if they didn’t allow the city police to question people about their immigration status and detain those subject to deportation.

Palm Coast Adopts 31% Water and Sewer Rate Increase Over 3 Years, Scaling Back Spending to $512 Million

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The Palm Coast City Council today in a 3-1 vote approved a 31 percent water and sewer rate increase to be phased in five increments through October 2028, and to finance a half-billion-dollar spending plan to improve the city’s utility infrastructure, some of which is overcapacity and outdated. The plan scales back an earlier proposal that would have increased rates 36 percent. The new plan calls for one bond issue of $292 million.