If it weren’t for the restraint of Flagler County Sheriff’s deputy Jennifer Prevatt, Manuel Almeida, 72, who may have been suffering from delusions, might have been shot as he was approaching her on a street in Daytona North Thursday, moments after he’d already fired a round from a .22 rifle.
All Else
Flagler Beach’s Next City Manager Salary May Go Up to $165,000 as Commission Pitches for Candidates
The next Flagler Beach city manager will have a salary of between $125,000 to $165,000, an upper range that would have been unthinkable only a few years ago for the small city of 5,000 people. The city commission in an often-snippy special meeting Thursday also rewrote the profile that accompanies the job announcement for a new manager, which will be issued this weekend.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, May 5, 2023
Arthur Miller’s ‘All My Sons’ at City Repertory Theatre, First Friday in Flagler Beach, Flagler Memorial Gardens, Israel, at 75, a shtetl with nukes, ‘Barnum,’ at Flagler Playhouse, the Palm Coast Songwriters Festival.
Firings of Carlson and Lemon Are Not the End of Trash TV
Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon had become potential threats to the networks’ audience shares and advertising revenue. And rather than a victory for women or truth, these firings are an effort to sustain and grow corporate profits for CNN and Fox.
Andrew Gillum Acquitted on Lying Charge, Mistrial Declared on Conspiracy and Fraud Charges
After five days of rocky deliberations, jurors on Thursday acquitted former Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum on charges of lying to federal investigators but were unable to reach a verdict on conspiracy and fraud charges.
Advertising in Schools
Flagler County School Policy 904
Flagler County School District policy on advertising in schools, policy 904: full text.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, May 4, 2023
May the 4th Storytime with Flagler Beach Police Captain Lance Blanchette, Evenings at Whitney Lecture Series, Market Street Palm Coast Senior Living Job Fair, more book-banning tactics.
America’s White Power Movements Have Often Relied on Veterans
For decades, the white power movement has gained steady momentum in the U.S. The movement has long included men, women and children; felons and religious leaders; high school dropouts and holders of advanced degrees; civilians and veterans and active-duty military personnel.
Women United Flagler Chapter Raises $30,790 at Power of the Purse
The Women United Flagler Chapter is pleased to announce the group’s Flagler Power of the Purse event held at Hammock Dunes Club on Monday, April 24th has raised $30,790.
Council Set to Approve 76% Stormwater Fee Increase Over 5 Years, With Annual Review to Possibly Lessen Impact
At the tail end of a five-year stretch doubled stormwater fees for Palm Coast residents, the City Council is set to yet again increase monthly fees by another 76 percent over the next five years. Council members pledge to review the stormwater budget annually and see if there’s room to lessen the impact of coming increases. But October’s 27 percent increase is all but certain.
YMCA, 3 Fire Stations, Road Projects: Palm Coast and Flagler Stand to Gain Nearly $100 Million From State
Flagler, Palm Coast, Flagler Beach and Bunnell may be at the receiving end of the largest appropriations of state dollars for local special projects, by far, in the county’s history–nearly $100 million for roads, fire stations, pier reconstruction, water projects, a substance abuse facility and other, smaller projects, according to the $116 billion budget the Florida House and Senate published Tuesday.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, May 3, 2023
The Flagler County Association of Realtors hosts its 15th annual Meet the Mayors, Weekly Chess Club for Teens at the public library, video of a main street in San Francisco before the 1906 earthquake, Danny Laferiere.
The Thinking error Behind Climate Change Deniers
Cold spells often bring climate change deniers out in force. From a scientific standpoint, these claims of disproof are absurd. Fluctuations in the weather don’t refute clear long-term trends in the climate. Yet many people believe these claims, and the political result has been reduced willingness to take action to mitigate climate change.
33 Graduate Palm Coast’s 53rd Citizens Academy
The City of Palm Coast hosted the 53rd session of the Palm Coast Citizens Academy, which began on March 20 and ended on May 1. Thirty-three citizens academy participants graduated on Tuesday evening at the Palm Coast City Council business meeting.
Written Out of Public Eye, Profile Framing Flagler Beach Search for Next City Manager Falters on Some Facts
A nine-page brochure framing Flagler Beach’s search for its next city manager does not appear to have been fact-checked or written with much depth beyond Trip-Advisor-type web scans and perhaps outdated news articles. It was written without public input. The city commission discusses the brochure on Wednesday, and will adopt it on Thursday.
How the Belle Terre Walkway Project Near Buddy Taylor Middle Doubled in Cost and Tripled in Completion Time
The reconstruction of the Belle Terre Parkway pathway near Buddy Taylor Middle School, and the rehabilitation of culverts beneath, was to have been a $1.89 million project, completed by last November. It is now a $3.4 million project and may not be completed until the end of summer.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, May 2, 2023
The school board meets, the Palm Coast City Council considers raising stormwater fees considerably, the difference between conspiracy theories and academic freedom. a video memo to DeSantis from Disney’s marvels.
The Demise of Buzzfeed News
A decline in traffic to the site seems to have been caused by a drop in referrals from feeder sites such as Facebook. This was itself caused by a switch to its users watching and sharing more video on sites like TikTok.
Appeal Court Upholds 13-Year Prison Sentence of Matthew Nesbitt, Who’d Threatened Flagler Deputies With Knife
Matthew Nesbitt, 49, sentenced five years ago to 13 years in prison for threatening deputies with a knife and attempting to run one over, has lost an appeal to overturn his conviction and is now making a motion to reduce or vacate his sentence on claims that his attorney made errors. He is not likely to prevail.
Army Corps Project in Flagler Beach Doubles to $33 Million as Dune Repair Costs Pile Up Faster Than Sand
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s project to rebuild 2.6 miles of dunes along the south shore of Flagler Beach was to cost $17 million when it was first approved by Congress in 2017. It is now a $33 million project, with Flagler County responsible for $11.3 million of that. The project is set to start, while the county is on an ambitious plan to cover the remaining miles of shoreline either with emergency sand dunes or with more durable dunes the size of the Corps’.
From Gun Truck to Healthcare: Ret. Gen. Mark Hertling, Former Commander of 90,000, Talks Leadership in Workplace
These days Mark Hertling lives in Palm Coast, teaches physicians and healthcare administrators how to lead, and talks geopolitics on CNN. When he has a moment, he appears before civic groups for a talk, as he did on a Saturday last month when he addressed the University Women of Flagler at the Hilton Garden Inn, as he will again on May 17 as the keynote speaker at Flagler Tiger Bay’s monthly lunch.
Gun Deaths Drive Biggest Spike in Child Mortality in 50 Years
After decades of steady improvement, the death rate of America’s children and teens shot up between 2019 and 2021 — and Covid-19 wasn’t the reason. Gun-related deaths represented the largest share of the increase — by far.
Palm Coast Songwriters Festival Set for May 4-7
Local organizers of the Palm Coast Songwriters Festival are pleased to announce the celebration of their 5-year anniversary with nearly 40 HIT Songwriters with over 125 #1 HITS and hundreds of additional charted songs to their credit performing May 4-7, 2023. Single-day tickets are $50.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, May 1, 2023
Flagler Beach Flood Outreach meeting, a dog-shooter pleads out, the Flagler County Commission and Beverly Beach Commission meet, as does the Astronomy Club of Palm Coast, Amtrack at 52.
Historic Flooding in Fort Lauderdale Is a Warning of What’s Ahead
When a powerful storm flooded neighborhoods in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in April with what preliminary reports show was 25 inches of rain in 24 hours, few people were prepared. Even hurricanes rarely drop that much rain in one area that fast. Residents could do little to stop the floodwater as it spread over their yards and into their homes.
Flagler-St. Johns Scenic A1A Organization Wins National Byway Award
The National Scenic Byway Foundation congratulates the A1A Scenic & Historic Coastal Byway as the winner of our 2023 Byway Organization Award for Partnership. This is one of the Foundation’s eight national awards presented annually.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, April 30, 2023
Arthur Miller’s ‘All My Sons’ at City Repertory Theatre, Spanky and Our Gang’s “Give a Damn,” when Muhammad Ali lost his heavyweight title, ‘Barnum,’ at Flagler Playhouse.
Kurt Vonnegut’s Advice to College Graduates
A strain of sorrow and pessimism underlies all of Kurt Vonnegut’s fiction, as well as his graduation speeches. He witnessed the worst that human beings could do to one another, and he made no secret about his fears for the future of a planet suffering from environmental degradation and a widening divide between the rich and the poor.
How ‘Decorum’ Masks Discrimination
Republicans from Tennessee to Tallahassee to Tacoma struggle manfully to stop those rule-breakers who would keep disrupting white men’s God-ordained exercise of unchecked power. You know the kind: gays; transgender types; students; immigrants; women; Blacks. They’re getting uppity. They’re breaking the rules.
World Press Freedom Day Events Webcast from the UN on May 2
On May 2 and 3, the international community marks the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day by the United Nations General Assembly. It will serve as an occasion to take stock of the global gains for press freedom secured by UNESCO and its partners in the past decades, as well as underline the new risks faced in the digital age.
My Date With Jerry Springer
In November 1998 I was traveling the country on a year-long assignment and at that point working on a piece on American discourse. I’d chosen Illinois as a prism: the various grounds of the Lincoln Douglas debates at one end and the Chicago-based Jerry Springer Show at the other. Springer agreed to let me hang out with him half a day, interview him and attend his show, thankfully not as a guest.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, April 29, 2023
Friends of the Library Book sale, Arthur Miller’s ‘All My Sons’ at City Repertory Theatre, ‘Barnum,’ at Flagler Playhouse, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s thoughts on alleged failure, David Shipler’s thoughts on abrogating liberties in the name of safety.
Food Stamps Work Requirements Don’t Work
SNAP eligibility is often contingent on beneficiaries working. But the policy doesn’t make people more likely to find a job or make more money, but it does make Americans who could use help buying groceries less likely to get it.
Georgia Store Clerk Shoots Suspect 8 Times After Palm Coast Robbery
Qwinntavus Kwame Jordan was shot eight times by a store clerk in Georgia and is in critical condition, hours after he allegedly robbed a gas station on Palm Coast’s State Road 100.
Flagler Beach, With Unusually Limited Transparency, Is on a Schedule to Hire Next City Manager By Mid-July
The Flagler Beach City Commission is on course to hire its next city manager by mid-July, but through an accelerated timeline that involves the least public input or transparency of any recent executive searches for local governments. That’s unusual in Flagler Beach, whose commission over the past decade and a half–regardless of make-up–has prized transparency and deliberation, at times to painful extremes. It’s also about to change, the commission chairman says.
Top of the World: FPC’s Per Berg Takes IB Students to Uruguay and Argentina in Pre-Exam Immersion
The IB is highly prized by college admission panels. It is also the most rigorous, demanding program of study in high school. Going on what looks like a vacation right before the exam might seem counterintuitive. But it is right in line with the IB’s philosophy–and it prepares the students for their exams better than sitting behind a desk, as Spanish teacher and coach Per Berg’s experience through a dozen trips with FPC students has shown.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, April 28, 2023
Arthur Miller’s ‘All My Sons’ at City Repertory Theatre, ‘Barnum,’ at Flagler Playhouse, National day of Mourning for workers in Canada, a dinosaur at the Flagler Youth Orchestra concert, Harper Lee’s birthday.
National Day of Mourning For Workers Lost on the Job
Each year on April 28, Canadians remember and honor those who have been killed or suffered injuries or illness at work. This day, known as the National Day of Mourning, was established by the Canadian Labour Congress in 1984 and made official in 1991. The United States has no such equivalent, though Workers Memorial Day is now worldwide.
Beach Front Grill Owner Buying High Jackers Restaurant at County Airport Just As He Tees Off at Palm Harbor
Jamie Bourdeau, owner of Beach Front Grille in Flagler Beach and Loopers at Palm Harbor Golf Club in Palm Coast, is buying High Jackers Restaurant at the Flagler County airport from Gail Holt for $700,000 and assuming the lease at the county-owned property for the next eight years, with an option to renew for another 10. He is partnering with Joseph Wright, owner of Quantum Electrical Contractors and Anthony’s Pizza.
Sacrifice for the American Dream: Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre Stages Arthur Miller’s ‘All My Sons’
“All My Sons,” opening for a two-weekend run at Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre Friday, embodies Miller’s critique of the “American dream,” that credo which asserts that every U.S. citizen, regardless of their station or societal factors, can bootstrap him/herself to success and prosperity through initiative, hard work and determination.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, April 27, 2023
The Palm Coast Beautification and Environmental Advisory Committee considers renaming the Community Center in Jon Netts’s honor, Open Auditions for Spotlight on Flagler Youth Talent Show, the meaning of conservatism is liberalism.
What Socrates’ ‘Know Nothing’ Wisdom Can Teach a Polarized America
Our apparent national impasse points to a lack of “epistemic humility,” or intellectual humility – that is, an inability to acknowledge, empathize with and ultimately compromise with opinions and perspectives different from one’s own. In other words, Americans have stopped listening.
David Alfin Files Formal Request to Re-Name Community Center After Late Mayor Jon Netts
The Palm Coast Beautification Committee Thursday evening is expected to recommend renaming the Palm Coast Community Center after the late Jon Netts, a city founder and its longest-serving council member and mayor. The nomination was filed by Mayor David Alfin.
County Plan to Move Whispering Meadows Equine Therapy Ranch to Fairgrounds Collapses as State Says No
The state has rejected Flagler County government’s plan to move the Whispering Meadows Ranch–the equine therapy non-profit–to the county fairgrounds, saying it would privatize public land. The rejection is the latest setback in the ranch’s two-year effort to leave its John Anderson Highway property, where it has operated for 16 years, until neighbors started objecting to its presence.
Dreaded Franchise Fee and Public Service Tax Back on Table as Palm Coast Faces $52 Million Street Fix
Facing a $52 million backlog to resurface a deteriorating road system, the Palm Coast City Council is discussing adopting utility franchise fees and public service taxes that have previously drawn angry opposition from residents, as well as exploring raising a local sales surtax through the county.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, April 26, 2023
The Flagler Youth Orchestra performs its third and final concert of the 2022-23 season at the Flagler Auditorium, open auditions for Spotlight on Flagler Youth Talent Show, Flagler Tiger Bay After Dark, Vinyl’s comeback, Sullivan’s moment of silence.
With Travis Hutson Cheering, Bill Upending Flagler’s Vacation-Rental Controls Clears Last Hurdle Before Vote
The success of the vacation-rental bill sharply scaling back local regulation this year is a blow to Flagler County government, which was a leader in pushing for the 2014 regulations providing for local control, and has pushed back against attempts to weaken them since. The Flagler County Commission made preserving the 2014 law a legislative priority every year since.
Willie Nelson at 90: Still On the Road
Assessing Willie Nelson’s legacy is challenging because there are so many Willies to assess. There is historical Willie Nelson, child of the Depression. There is iconic Willie Nelson, near embodiment of Texas myth. There is outlaw Willie Nelson, revolutionizing the country music industry. There is activist Willie Nelson, Farm Aid’s co-founder and biofuel pioneer. There is Willie Nelson the songwriter of rare and poignant gifts, and more Willie Nelsons yet to be named.
Flagler Beach Re-Launching Limited Plastic Recycling Starting May 15
Beginning on May 15, Flagler Beach residents and businesses may recycle plastic bags and plastic film into several receptacles that will be placed around Flagler Beach. It’s not curbside recycling just yet. But it is City Sanitation Director Rob Smith’s latest effort gradually to bring back recycling of most materials the city had suspended in 2021.
Disney Monorail Is Next on DeSantis Hit List
The Republican-controlled Senate Fiscal Policy Committee, chaired by Travis Hutson, who represents Flagler County, on Tuesday amended a transportation bill (SB 1250) to apply Department of Transportation safety standards to monorail lines that connect Walt Disney World resorts and parks.