Grace Community Food Pantry. PEN America released a report on educational gag orders in which Florida figures more prominently than any other state.
All Else
The Fun Side of Pessimism
Happiness has evolved into an industry. That’s created the social expectation that we should all aspire to happiness. But this can be an obstacle to happiness. This is why if we actually want to live better lives, pessimism is the philosophical system that can help us achieve it.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, August 20, 2022
Today is the last day of early voting, the Saturday Flagler Beach Farmers Market, Is Our Ethos of the American Independent Spirit Hurting Us? On the fragility of Salman Rushdie.
College Students Are Increasingly Identifying Beyond ‘She’ and ‘He’
More than 3% of incoming college students use a different set of pronouns than “he” or “she.” It is indicative of a growing number of young people who identify outside of a gender binary – that is, they do not identify as female or male.
The Passion of The Woolbright
Enraptured in the language of white Christian nationalists, Jill Woolbright, the Flagler County School Board member, has turned her campaign for re-election into a crusade against her own, to eradicate “evil spirits” and clean house at the district of people who don’t look or pray like her, or share her pathological sexual obsessions. Academics can wait.
ThemToo: ‘Men Painting Women’ Treads Political Minefield at Art League of Daytona Beach
The curator of the exhibit, opening at the Art League of Daytona Beach Saturday with works from Palm Coast artist Weldon Ryan and four others, is aware that “Men Painting Women” may be seen by some as politically incorrect these days. But the exhibition stems from both sublime art history and simple serendipity among his circle of friends.
Metronet’s Bill Gilliam Will Head Palm Coast and Florida Markets
Metronet, the nation’s largest independently owned, 100 percent fiber optic provider, announced that Bill Gilliam will serve as the first Vice President and General Manager of Metronet’s Florida Market.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, August 19, 2022
Next-to-last day of early voting for the Aug. 23 primary, Boutique at Emmanuel’s Closet Sidewalk Fundraiser, Celebrate National Senior Citizens Day at the Library, Willie Nelson ’till the day I die.
Federal Judge Blocks Parts of DeSantis Anti-‘Woke’ Law Muzzling Race-Sensitivity Training at Work
The employment-related part of the law lists eight race-related concepts and says that a required training program or other activity that “espouses, promotes, advances, inculcates, or compels such individual (an employee) to believe any of the following concepts constitutes discrimination based on race, color, sex, or national origin.”
The Joyous Revelations of Gay Rodeos in Rural America
Queer people have always belonged in rural places and have always participated in rural traditions. The unashamed presentation of queer, rural rodeoers refutes the lazy dichotomy of the urban queer progressive versus the rural homophobic conservative.
Applications are Open for the Palm Coast Cultural Arts Grant
As funding is expected to become available for Fiscal Year 2023 for events or programs taking place between October 1, 2023, and September 30, 2023, the City is looking for grantees.
DeSantis Touts Arrests of 0.000001% of Voters for Fraud in 2020
The general election drew 11.145 million voters, the primary drew 3.896 million, for a combined total of 15.041 million votes cast. The 17 arrests means that Florida had an astoundingly low rate of fraud of precisely 0.000001%.
Do Some Flagler Churches Lack Faith?
Over the weekend pastors at at least two Flagler County churches, New Way Church and Parkview Church, explicitly endorsed three candidates for the Flagler County School Board. Rabbi Merrill Shapiro questions why they have broken their contract with the federal government.
Flagler Beach Commission Gives City Manager William Whitson A Mediocre Evaluation, and a Few Pointers
As an evaluation for the chief executive of a local government, that of City Manager William Whitson, his first since his arrival here in May 2021, is not a triumph. It evokes words like middling, mediocre, passable, decent, tolerable. In the exact words of the evaluations themselves, they average out to the low end of “Meets the Job Standards.”
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, August 18, 2022
More theorizing about Joe Mulins’s amazing technicolor drug bust on Drug Court day before Circuit Judge Perkins, a few words from Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses.
Easy Access to Guns Contributes to America’s Youth Suicide Problem
Between 2011 and 2020, the most recent decade for which data is available, 14,763 children ages 5-17 died by suicide in the U.S. – a rate of approximately four deaths every day. Over 40% of these suicides involved a firearm. The great majority of guns involved in youth suicides come from the victim’s home or the home of a relative.
DSC Holds Groundbreaking Ceremony for New Classroom/Lab Building on Deltona Campus
The facility, scheduled to open in Spring 2024, will be home to the college’s nursing, sonography and high-tech CNC Machining programs, supporting up to 120 nursing students, up to 40 CNC training students and up to 100 students in a new sonography program.
Flagler Beach Rotary Will Host Wellness Retreat to Benefit Project Share
The Rotary Club of Flagler Beach is pleased to announce that the club will host a Good Health for Life Wellness Retreat to benefit Project Share on Saturday, October 15, 2022, from 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Rotary’s Project Share, now in its 24th year, provides Christmas toys for more than 1000 children annually.
School Board’s Massaro and Conklin Denounce Woolbright ‘s ‘Disgusting and Despicable’ Zealotry
At the end of Tuesday’s Flagler County School Board meeting, Cheryl Massaro and Colleen Conklin, without naming her, sharply denounced fellow-Board member Jill Woolbright characterizing them and district staffers as “evil” in one of three campaign speeches she delivered at churches last weekend.
Arming School Staffers on Flagler’s Campuses Raises Questions of Cost, Training and Numbers
The Flagler County School Board is considering whether to add armed civilians, possibly school staffers, on school campuses, but a workshop on the issue raised almost as many questions as it answered, with numerous issues still undecided–if the board were to go that way. That, too, is uncertain for now.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, August 17, 2022
Goodwill opens its newest retail store, the Palm Coast Planning Board takes on three self-storage facilities, Flagler Undercover, a few words about hands, and of course Django Reinhardt.
The GOP’s Embrace of Violent Message-Laundering
Just as money laundering enabled mobsters to disguise their ill-gotten gain as the profits of a legitimate business, message laundering presents dishonest and dangerous speech as credible, innocuous or persuasive.
School Board’s Jill Woolbright Says She’s in ‘Satanic Warfare’ Against ‘Evil Spirits’ at School District
Flagler County School Board incumbent Jill Woolbright, who is in a non-partisan race against Sally Hunt to be decided in the Aug. 23 election, says God placed her on the school board, that she is involved in “satanic warfare,” and that, in a reference to others on the school board and at the district office, she has “felt the evil spirits around me.”
Sheriff and County Administrator Duel Over Policing Budget Before Commissioners Nod Staly’s Way
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly and County Administrator Heidi Petito dueled in front of a standing-room-only meeting room Monday night over the sheriff’s claim that the county was underfunding him, and the county’s counter that it has increased the sheriff’s budget by 48 percent since 2018, not including spending on facilities like the new Sheriff’s Operations center. But in the end, Petito’s bosses showed readiness to go Staly’s way.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, August 16, 2022
The Palm Coast City Council considers Ryan’s Landing, the Flagler County School Board holds a pair of meetings, Food Truck Tuesday, the last day of Elvis Presley.
Why It’s Important to Be Honest About It: Monkey Pox Affects Mainly Gay and Bisexual Men
It’s important that people know that sexual and gender minority men are the primary victims of this monkeypox outbreak. This knowledge will help us end the outbreak before it bridges into other communities.
Exorbitant Costs to Save Beaches, and Doing Nothing is Not an Option, Flagler Commissioners Are Told
The county commission this morning heard the results of the $250,000 beach management study it commissioned last year, and was left with two certainties: doing nothing is not an option. Starting to do something is unaffordable for now, even with six options presented by Olsen Associates, the Tampa-based consultants the county hired for the study.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, August 15, 2022
The County Commission talks beach calamities and repairs, the sheriff asks for a raise for his troops, a candidate forum at Cattleman’s Hall, the coming California Megastorm, how Bassam al-Sheikh Hussain became a rare Lebanese hero.
How Seized Documents Show Trump May Have Violated Espionage Act
The FBI recovered confidential and top-secret items from Mar-a-Lago during its Aug. 8, 2022, search of the estate – pointing to former President Donald Trump’s potential violation of several federal laws. The unsealed documents seem to indicate that the U.S. Department of Justice believes Trump may have violated the Espionage Act, as well as other criminal laws relating to the handling of public records.
Mothers Behind Book-Banning Campaign Claim Their First Amendment Rights Are Being Violated
The self-dubbed Mama Bears filed a federal lawsuit alleging that by not being allowed to read sexually explicit material aloud at school board meetings, they themselves are being censored.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, August 14, 2022
Flagler’s LGBTQ youths rally for school board candidates, Grace Community Food Pantry, reflections on the stabbing of Salman Rushdie and the shock of the crime’s increasing ordinariness.
Behind Salman Rushdie’s ‘The Satanic Verses’
The book, “Satanic Verses,” goes to the heart of Muslim religious beliefs when Rushdie, in dream sequences, challenges and sometimes seems to mock some of its most sensitive tenets.
1st Early Voting Day Begins With Harmony and a Cross-Party Prayer. Then Joe Mullins Shows Up.
Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies were called to the public library early voting site this morning after Commissioner Joe Mullins got into a heated verbal altercation with Linda Hansen, wife of Commissioner Greg Hansen, who has himself been the target of Mullins’s insults. It was the latest burst from a mass of dark clouds that have increasingly cloaked Mullins week after week as he attempts to win re-election.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, August 13, 2022
11th Annual Surfers for Autism in Flagler Beach, Sensory Storytime at the public library, the Gamble Jam, Kurt Vonnegut on banned books.
Arctic Is Warming Nearly 4 Times Faster Than Rest of the Planet
The Arctic is on average around 3℃ warmer than it was in 1980. This is alarming, because the Arctic contains sensitive and delicately balanced climate components that, if pushed too hard, will respond with global consequences.
Florida Tax Collection Is $3.85 Billion Higher Than Forecast for Year
With inflation pushing up prices of taxable items, Florida’s general revenue substantially topped expectations in June and in the recently completed state fiscal year. General-revenue collections in June were $978.7 million, or 27.6 percent, higher than projected.
Sheriff Staly Is American Legion Post 115’s Law Officer of the Year
Sheriff Rick Staly, along with other First Responders who have exceeded the duty requirements expected of their position and demonstrated a distinct pattern of community service coupled with professional achievement, received awards.
Study: Flagler’s Beaches Are Eroding Critically, and Will Cost County Alone $5 to $13 Million a Year to Slow
The most comprehensive study to date about Flagler County’s beaches paints a stark picture of the consequences of climate change and sea level rise, accelerating erosion, potentially crushing costs to local taxpayers to slow down the erosion with beach renourishment, and few sources of funding to do so.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday August 12, 2022
Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin and Commissioner Dave Sullivan on Free For All, defunding the federal police appears to be OK with conservatives, Ricky Gervais and Moby-Dick.
The US Military Faces a Rise in Extremism in Its Ranks
Pentagon officials are shaken by service members’ prominent role in the events of Jan. 6. Of the 884 criminal defendants charged to date with taking part in the insurrection, more than 80 were veterans. That’s almost 10% of those charged.
Northeast Florida Fall Boat Show Set for Oct. 15-16 in Jacksonville
The North Florida Marine Association announces the Northeast Florida Fall Boat Show, Saturday and Sunday, October 15 and 16, at the J-Tech Institute campus in Jacksonville’s Southside.
Fried Criticizes DeSantis Attack on Law Enforcement Following FBI Search of Trump’s Home
“It also pains me that Ron DeSantis — who still has not condemned Nazis, even after multiple requests to stand united with me,” Fried said. “He won’t condemn January 6, but he has no problem attacking the FBI, an FBI that is run by a director that was appointed by Donald Trump.”
Titanic Erosion in Flagler Beach Uncovers an Anchor from Another Century, and Mottle of Secrets
The anchor was discovered just north of the Flagler Beach pier, site of drastic erosion over the past few weeks. A team from the St. Augustine Lighthouse Archeological Maritime Program was alerted and has been analyzing the find for its historical value and age since.
Schools Scramble to Fill Vacant Slots, Including 108 in Flagler District, as Enrollment Appears Up
Flagler County has 108 job postings as of today, according to its openings advertised online, including 32 instructional positions, among them six teaching openings at Buddy Taylor Middle School, six at Matanzas High School, and four at Flagler Palm Coast High School.
Denise Calderwood, Flagler County Commission Candidate: The Live Interview
Denise Calderwood is a Republican candidate for Flagler County Commission, District 2, facing incumbent Greg Hansen and Janet McDonald in the Aug. 23 primary. It is an open primary: all Flagler County voters are eligible to vote regardless of party affiliation.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, August 11, 2022
The NAACP Flagler Branch hosts a forum for candidates for the Palm Coast City Council and the Flagler County Commission, remembering the Iowa State Fair, Bill Burr, Orwell.
Social Media? No. Blame Cable News for Idiocy Politics.
Roughly 17% of Americans are politically polarized – 8.7% to the left and 8.4% to the right – based on their TV news consumption. That’s three to four times higher than the average percentage of Americans polarized by online or social media sources.
Palm Coast Fire Department’s Jeremy Barton Gets American legion’s 1st Responder Award
Palm Coast Fire Driver Engineer Jeremy Barton has been awarded the 2022 Law & Order and First Responder Award by the Flagler American Legion Post #115 for his outstanding contribution to the fire service for his leadership of the Driver Engineer Field Training program for the Palm Coast Fire Department.
‘Disturbing’ Beach Erosion Near Pier Meets Split and Muddled Response from Flagler Beach Commission
A 90-minute emergency meeting of the Flagler Beach City Commission this morning resulted in more confusion, disagreement and speculation than direction on how to address what City Manager William Whitson described as “disturbing” and relatively sudden erosion of a massive portion of beach at the pier and just north of it. Others–including surfers and a city commissioner–said the sand has merely migrated, and will return of its own.
Sims Jones, Palm Coast City Council Candidate: The Live Interview
Sims Jones is a candidate for Palm Coast City Council, District 2, running against Theresa Carli Pontieri, Shauna Kanter and Alan Lowe. All registered voters in the city may cast a ballot in that non-partisan election regardless of party affiliation or location in Palm Coast.