While the number of dairy farms has fallen, the average herd size – the number of cows per farm – has been rising. Today, more than 60% of all milk production occurs on farms with more than 2,500 cows. This massive consolidation in dairy farming has an impact on rural communities. It also makes it more difficult for consumers to know where their food comes from and how it’s produced.
All Else
Renner, on His Last Day, and Staly on His 2,497th, Break Ground on Florida Guard’s Training Facility in Bunnell
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly, who all but birthed the concept, and Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, joined with state and local officials this afternoon to break ground on the future $10 million Florida State Guard multi agency, regional training facility in Bunnell. The facility will serve the State Guard, which Gov. Ron DeSantis revived four years ago, but also all local police and fire agencies, and some regional law enforcement agencies as well in a more advanced training complex than they’ve known to date.
Palm Coast Debt Referendum Will Be Counted as Judge Rules Ballot Language Unambiguous
Circuit Judge Chris France this morning issued an order denying a motion to nullify the Palm Coast City Council’s referendum that, if approved, would remove limits on the city’s borrowing and leasing authority. The decision is a victory for the City Council, sharply divided though it is about it and pyrrhic though the victory may end up being, if the referendum fails and sours voters on a subsequent attempt to pass one with less controversy and more clarity.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, November 4, 2025
The Flagler County Commission meets, the Beverly Beach Town Commission meets, the sense of curfew before Election Day, an excerpt from Robert Graves’s Goodbye To All That.
Why Ancient Mesopotamians Would Have Used A Sheep’s Liver to Predict Donald Trump’s Election Odds
According to 4,000-year-old Babylonian instructions that have survived to this day, every crease on the liver has a meaning, and cuneiform tablets discovered in modern-day Iraq explain how to interpret them. Armed with this knowledge, it’s supposedly possible to calculate the answer to any question, so long as it is yes or no, by adding up the number of positive or negative signs and seeing which comes out on top.
Daytona State College Graduates from School of Nursing Achieved Near-100% Pass Rate
The results from the most recent NCLEX (the National Council Licensure Examination) have been published, and Daytona State College graduates from the Bob & Carol Allen School of Nursing have achieved an outstanding 99.24% pass rate.
Behind the Desperate Attempt to Defeat Abortion-Rights Amendment: GOP’s Contempt for Women’s Autonomy
DeSantis knows the majority of Floridians — like the majority of Americans — support a woman’s right to choose whether to have a baby, and he’s so scared Amendment 4 will pass he’s resorting to using every dirty trick in the patriarchal book to stop it. Like Donald Trump, he despises women, for whose right to determine what happens with their own bodies is nothing short of obsessive.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, November 3, 2024
Jake’s Women, By Neil Simon, at City Rep Theatre, Maze Days at Cowart Ranch, Palm Coast Farmers’ Market at European Village, when an obscure Beirut paper broke the Iran-Contra affair.
Threatening ‘The Enemy Within’ with Force: The Danger to Americans
Former President Donald Trump has declared that there is “the outside enemy, and then we have the enemy from within, and the enemy from within, in my opinion, is more dangerous,” with past actions suggesting he would use the military to suppress opposition at home. For that reason, in a time of increasing political polarization, military educational institutions are focusing even more explicitly on the oath military members take to the Constitution, rather than to a person or an office.
Majority of Muslim Voters Favor Stein Over Harris, Punishing Democrats for Gaza Genocide
According to polling conducted the last two days of October by the Council on American Islamic Relations of “1,449 verified Muslim voters,” Green Party candidate Jill Stein is marginally ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris with America’s 2.5 million voters of the Islamic faith.
Trump Says He’ll Fight for Working-Class Americans. His First Presidency Suggests He Won’t.
From cutting children’s disability benefits to allowing employers to pocket workers’ tips, Trump tried to slash protections for the working poor in ways that have been forgotten by many.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, November 2, 2024
Last day for early voting, the Flagler Beach All Stars hold their monthly beach clean-up, Coffee With Commissioner Scott Spradley, Jake’s Women at City Rep Theatre, Charlie Hebdo’s latest cover and Jacques Derrida’s hospitality.
Is America Ready for a Woman President?
Stereotypes have long hindered female candidates, casting them as emotional, weak and sensitive. But research shows that voters in the U.S. increasingly see women leaders as synonymous with political leadership – and as more effective than men politicians. This transformation reflects a broader change in what voters expect in political leaders. They are now more likely to see a woman candidate as a better “fit” for public office.
Why Trump Beat Harris By 312 Electoral Votes
Monday-morning-quarterbacking Democrats’ mistakes is a dead end. It wouldn’t have mattered what Harris did or who the Democrats ran. The result would have been the same. Trump didn’t make this moment. It was made for him, in no small part by liberalism’s abdication. The more liberalism projected self-loathing without a hint of pride in country or redemptive hope for it, the more it ceded the ground to “a bottom-up populist revolt” let by a strongman who reflects their belief: America’s democratic moment is over.
Flagler Cares Seeks Donors to ‘Keep the Holiday Lights On’ Program
Flagler Cares, a one-stop health and social care organization, is launching a fundraising campaign in celebration of its 10-year anniversary called “Keep the Holiday Lights On.” Flagler Cares is seeking donors to sponsor 100 homes at $100 per home to cover the cost of December’s electric bill for struggling families. While $100 sponsors a single home, supporters can contribute any amount to participate and make a difference.
Chick-Fil-A Will Open Second Palm Coast Restaurant in BJ’s Wholesale Shopping Center
Chick-fil-A, the popular restaurant chain that drew a small tent city of eager customers before it opened its first franchise in Palm Coast eight years ago, will be opening its second restaurant in the city in the BJ’s Wholesale shopping center, according to construction plans recently submitted to the city. City Manager Lauren Johnston dropped a hint about the restaurant in a presentation at a local chamber event earlier this week.
Daisy Henry Street Now Glides Through the Heart of Bunnell, Along Carver Gym Late Pastor Championed and Saved
This morning, a stretch of four blocks of East Drain Street, along the gym’s ballfields on one side and family homes on the other, became Daisy Henry Street, so renamed for the former city commissioner and pastor by a city that wanted to “honor a legacy,” in the words of City Manager Alvin Jackson, and bolden Henry’s already distinguished mark on Bunnell’s history.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, November 1, 2024
Jake’s Women, By Neil Simon, at City Rep Theatre, the Flagler County Sheriff’s National Night Out at FPC, the lawsuit over Palm Coast’s debt referendum is in court, Daisy Henry Street Renaming, Google’s concerns.
Trump and Harris Featured in New Ad Touting Recreational Pot Legalization Amendment in Florida
Smart & Safe Florida, the group behind the effort to pass the adult use of marijuana initiative next week, is counterprogramming Gov. Ron DeSantis’s anti-amendment blitz by touting the active support of fellow Republican Donald Trump in a new ad.
Almost 60 Percent of Flagler County’s Registered Voters Have Cast a Ballot, 6th Highest Turnout in Florida
Turnout in the general election in Flagler County was approaching 60 percent Thursday, with two more days of early voting and Election Day next Tuesday, ahead of the pace of the 2020 election, which resulted in a turnout of 78.6 percent among registered voters. The supervisor of elections and local Democratic and Republican party leaders are describing a nearly issues-free election of historic proportion.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, October 31, 2024
The Halloween Hall of Terror is back at Palm Coast Fire Station 21, Model Yacht Club Races at the Pond in Palm Coast’s Central Park, Wendell Berry and critical race theory before its day.
Why Does Donald Trump Tell Such Blatant Lies?
Politicians who lie can gain a strategic advantage. If you can successfully embellish the truth or construct a new reality, this often tends to be more interesting and engaging than the complicated truth. The truth may be a bit dull and uninspiring; the lie can be whatever you want it to be. You know what your audience wants to hear. When it comes to lying in politics, Donald Trump is in a class of his own. According to the Washington Post, he made 30,573 false or misleading claims in his four years as president.
Inaccuracy of Terms: ‘Arab-Israeli Conflict’
Is “Arab-Israeli conflict” an accurate reflection, given that the active participants are no longer just Arabs and Israelis? Should we retire that term for good now that the conflict has widened, drawing in the United States and Iran – and potentially Turkey and others in the coming years?
At Chamber’s Future of Flagler Forum, Rousing Cheer for Years Ahead from City, County and School Leaders
The Palm Coast-Flagler Regional Chamber of Commerce gave a crowd of over 100 people the chance to hear the state of Flagler County’s cities, county and school board in less than 60 minutes, presented in rapid, compelling, and at times rousing succession by men and women more knowledgeable, less vapid and generally more intelligent than the elected officials who hire them: city and county managers and the school superintendent.
Judge Extends Prohibition on DeSantis Administration From Prosecuting TV Stations Over Abortion Ads
Just a week before Election Day, a federal judge on Tuesday said he would extend a restraining order blocking state officials from taking action against TV stations running a controversial ad urging voters to support a ballot measure aimed at enshrining abortion rights in the Florida Constitution.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Future of Flagler Forum 2024, The Halloween Hall of Terror is back at Palm Coast Fire Station 21, early voting, blind soccer and DEI, and the divine and felonious nature of the human being.
The 14th Amendment’s Backstop Against Subversive Legislatures
Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election not only failed, but some of them also rested on a misreading of the U.S. Constitution. Trump claimed that the Constitution allowed state legislatures to directly choose a slate of electors without a popular vote. He was wrong. There was a safeguard already in place – and it remains today, defending against this approach being used to subvert the 2024 presidential election. It’s the 14th Amendment.
Gambling Compact Dispute Ends with Settlement
The Seminoles, West Flagler Associates, and the Bonita Fort Myers Corp. reached a deal that puts an end to the legal wrangling and creates a partnership that allows Jai Alai waging on the tribe’s Hard Rock Bet app.
Texts Show Ed Danko Seeking to Recruit Resident to File Lawsuit Against His Own Council’s Debt Referendum
Dozens of texts Palm Coast Councilman Danko exchanged with a Palm Coast resident who was willing to be the plaintiff in a lawsuit show to what extent Danko was strategizing against the a referendum that would facilitate city debt. Texts show Danko predicating at least one council vote’s outcome on a lawsuit, discussed lawyers, sought information from his potential recruit and spoke of “our lawsuit.” A friend, Alan Lowe, eventually filed the lawsuit. Council member Theresa Pontieri says Danko’s involvement is a “blatant” conflict.
Flagler Government’s Former HR Manager Sues the County, Describing Hostile and Indifferent Environment
Samatha Whitfield, the former human resources manager for Flagler County government, is suing the county in a whistleblower action, claiming she was terminated last summer in retaliation for reporting violations of rules and misconduct by one of her colleagues, to which the county administration responded with indifference.
Bunnell, Palm Coast and County Will Host Joint Veterans Day Ceremony and Parade Nov. 11
The parade will travel east on Moody Boulevard and conclude at the Government Services Building where the traditional ceremony will begin. Retired U.S. Naval Captain James Randall “Randy” Stapleford – a career naval aviator who served from 1972 to 2003 – will be the grand marshal of the parade and will share a few words at the ceremony.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Early voting continues at five sites in Palm Coast and Flagler County, Random Acts of Insanity Standup Comedy at Cinematique Theater in Daytona, a wise and benevolent maxim.
Don’t Stereotype Voters Without Children
Politicians and others often use the word “childless” as an umbrella term for people who do not have children. This doesn’t capture some important nuances. Large-scale demographic data show that there are many types of nonparents – and each has its own set of political priorities.
An Invitation to Mobility Week Nov. 1 at Lehigh Trailhead
The City of Palm Coast, in partnership with Flagler County Government, the River to Sea Transportation Planning Organization (TPO), and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), invites residents to join us for a Mobility Week Trail Walk, with staff, elected officials, and local partners to promote active transportation and community connectivity.
Internet Groups File Constitutional Challenge to Renner-Led Social Media Law Restricting Access
In a long-anticipated move, two internet-industry groups Monday filed a constitutional challenge to a new Florida law aimed at keeping children off social-media platforms. The Computer & Communications Industry Association and NetChoice, whose members include tech giants such as Google and Meta Platforms, said in a federal lawsuit that the law violates First Amendment rights and that parents should make decisions about children’s social-media use.
Two Flagler Beach Residents Prevail Over Veranda Bay’s Parent Company, Ending 5-Year-Old Defamation Suit
Sunbelt Land Management, the company affiliated with the Veranda Bay development on John Anderson Highway, has lost a defamation suit the company filed in 2020 against Sallee Aernoff and Ken Bryan, two Flagler Beach residents who spoke up about its land-clearing practices. Circuit Judge Chris France, in a strong opinion in defense of expression on public issues free of intimidation, granted the two residents’ motion for summary judgment last week.
Palm Coast Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary with Quilts, Cake and a ‘Living Time Capsule’
In contrast with the rain-soaked 10th anniversary celebration, the skies were cloudless Saturday and the sun blazing as Palm Coast marked its 25th anniversary with speeches, a blue and yellow cake, quilts and a “living time capsule” that looks back at the past quarter century.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, October 28, 2024
Early voting enters its second week, the Bunnell City Commission meets, the Washington Post’s decision not to endorse, and whether newspapers should ne endorsing to start with.
Free School Meals Are On the Rise. Trump Would Change That.
Donald Trump’s administration made multiple attempts to weaken the nutritional quality of school meals despite evidence supporting their benefits for students. For example, they rolled back expectations that kids would be served more whole grains and stalled efforts to decrease sodium levels. Project 2025, a package of policy proposals authored by people closely tied to Trump’s 2024 presidential bid – but that the campaign has sought to disavow – calls for cuts in federal spending that helps fund universal free school meal programs.
Florida Politicians Owned by Polluters: A Database Helps Show How
Vote Water recently rolled out what it calls its “Dirty Money Project.” It’s a searchable database to track donations to Florida politicians from polluting industries such as Big Sugar and the rest of the agricultural industry, the phosphate miners, the major utilities, the developers and even the sneaky “polluter PACs” — committees that function as cash machines and get significant funding from these industries.
Rubio Claims ‘Anti-Trump’ Generals Are Lying to Get Paid
Florida’s Senior Senator (and potential Secretary of State if Donald Trump is elected) is disputing claims by Generals Mark Milley and John Kelly that the GOP candidate is a “fascist” and that Adolf Hitler did “some good things” by questioning their motivations.
Portions of East Drain Street in Bunnell Will Be Renamed in Honor of Former Commissioner Daisy Henry
Following a vote by the Bunnell City Commission in July, Bunnell government will rename a portion of East Drain Street in the south part of the city after Daisy Henry, the long-time city commissioner and a local icon who was all but synonymous with life around and beyond Drain Street. The street will be called Daisy Henry Street. That ceremony is scheduled for Nov. 1 at 8:30 a.m. at the intersection of East Drain Street and South Pine St. in Bunnell, with ample parking near Carver Gym.
The Affordable Care Act Is Back in the Bull’s Eye in Final Days of the Campaign
Health care is suddenly front and center in the final sprint to the presidential election, and the outcome will shape the Affordable Care Act and the coverage it gives to more than 40 million people. Besides reproductive rights, health care for most of the campaign has been an in-the-shadows issue. However, recent comments from former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, about possible changes to the ACA have opened Republicans up to heavier scrutiny.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, October 27, 2024
The St. Augustine Orchestra is in Concert at Flagler Auditorium, how unaffordable homes have become, Peter Viereck’s review of William Buckley’s God and Man at Yale.
What Kent State Teaches About Deploying Troops to Crush Legal Protests
The prospect of dispatching troops in the way that Trump proposes chillingly echoes actions that led up to the Kent State shootings. Some active-duty units, as well as National Guard troops, are trained today to respond to riots and violent protests – but their primary mission is still to fight, kill, and win wars. It is not policing.
Trump Doubles His Support Among Florida’s Cuban-Americans
The Cuba Poll asked 1,001 Cuban Americans in South Florida about a variety of issues between Sept. 25 and Oct. 9, including preference atop the ticket in November. The survey finds Donald Trump is riding high with the traditionally right-of-center cohort, leading Kamala Harris 68% to 23%.
A ‘Firehose’ of Disinformation as Trump and Musk Spread Lies About Voter Fraud in Campaign’s Final Days
Fanned by former President Donald Trump and notable allies such as tech tycoon Elon Musk, election disinformation is warping voters’ faith in the integrity of the democratic process, polls show, and setting the stage once again for potential public unrest if the Republican nominee fails to win the presidency. Their lies about noncitizens voting, the vulnerability of mail-in ballots and the security of voting machines are spreading widely over social media.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, October 26, 2024
Peps Art Walk, noon to 5 p.m. next to JT’s Seafood Shack, Coffee With Commissioner Scott Spradley, Maze Days at Cowart Ranch, an enraged elephant hits a woman at the zoo.
Trump’s Attack on Overseas Voters: Factually Wrong, Politically Dangerous.
Donald Trump’s Truth Social post about overseas voters in late September and Republican efforts to undermine those voters are factually wrong and politically dangerous. There are lawsuits in several states designed to disenfranchise American citizens abroad. These are citizens who may have gone to enormous lengths to carry out their duties by asking for and sending in election ballots, often at substantial personal expense and faced with substantial barriers.
Speech Codes at Flagler School Board and Palm Coast Council Are Now Illegal, Thanks to Moms for Liberty
A decision by the federal 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, controlling law in Flagler County, invalidates local governments’ speech codes that prohibit public speakers from addressing individual members of elected boards, or citing employees by name, or quoting from school library books, no matter how racy, or speaking offensively, which is considered a point of view. But rules against disruption and obscenity remain. The question is: will local governments correct their rules accordingly?