Flagler County has two new hurricane wind rated weather-monitoring stations in Haw Creek and Rima Ridge thanks to coordination between Emergency Management and WeatherSTEM through grants provided by the State of Florida.
All Else
Say It Ain’t So, Jacob: Why Is Flagler’s Former Star Superintendent Drinking the Reactionary Kool-Aid?
Jacob Oliva went from being one of the most progressive, innovative and inclusive superintendents in the history of Flagler County to a shill, as one of two Florida senior chancellors of education, for the single most regressive, reactionary and just plain mean state departments of education in the nation. Something isn’t adding up.
DeSantis Signs Bill Restricting Discussions of Race and Gender in Workplace as Critics Call It Unconstitutional
The culture-war bill HB 7, described as “Individual Freedom,” restricts conversations about race and gender in schools and workplaces. State Sen. Manny Diaz Jr. was a Senate co-sponsor of the bill and voted for it. (He’s now up for the Florida Education Commissioner job.)
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, April 23, 2022
The Hispanic American Club of Palm Coast Hosts its 35th Anniversary Dance, Victoria Machado at the Palm Coast Historical Society, a Dave Bowers Photography Exhibit, Federico Pulina’s Chopin etudes, Orwell deals with the police rounding up his books.
Clarence Thomas and the Supreme Court’s Missing Ethics Rules
In the past, the Supreme Court of the United States has cast aside pleas to adopt an ethics code for the justices. The actions of Justice Clarence Thomas’ wife, Virginia – who pushed the White House to overturn the 2020 presidential election – have once again thrown light onto this long-standing conflict: How accountable should the justices be?
Flagler Youth Orchestra’s 17th-Year Roller Coaster Ride in Season-Ending Concert Monday, and Away from the Stage
The Flagler Youth Orchestra’s 200 performers are on stage at the Flagler Auditorium Monday evening for the 47th all-ensembles concert in the organization’s 17-year history, with surprise solo performances in the season-ending event, and a wide range of musical offerings.
Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down UCF’s ‘Discriminatory Harassment’ Policy as Chilling Free Speech
The 38-page opinion by a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals backed arguments by the group Speech First, which has represented students at universities in various parts of the country. Judge Kevin Newsom wrote that the UCF policy “objectively chills speech because its operation would cause a reasonable student to fear expressing potentially unpopular beliefs.”
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, April 22, 2022
Violectric: Classical Musicians Who Rock, at Palm Coast Arts Foundation’s Big Tent tonight, Community Cats of Palm Coast’s Meowy Hour BBQ, reopening “Fawlty Towers,” the arrogance of adults.
How Russia Does ‘Patriotic Education’
The Russian government has launched a series of patriotic education campaigns aimed at Russia’s youth to encourage them to regard the war in Ukraine as a continuation of the second world war and to feel a personal connection to the Russian soldiers fighting there.
Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried Sues Feds Over Gun Restrictions for Medical Pot Users
Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried on Wednesday filed a lawsuit challenging federal restrictions that can prevent people from buying and possessing guns if they obtain medical marijuana in Florida.
Democratic Black Caucus Formed in Flagler County
On Saturday, April 9, 2022 at 9:00 AM at the African American Cultural Center and Museum history was made. The Democratic Black Caucus of Flagler County (DBCFC) was formed.
Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin’s State of the City Address Focuses Unyieldingly on the Upbeat
Hewing to tradition, Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin’s State of the City Address, his first, highlights the city’s shinier accomplishments, focusing exclusively on the bright and sunny and leaving silent all things politics and all controversies. Here’s the full text and three videos for the event.
Flagler Beach’s ‘Big Blue’ In Business as Glass-Crushed Recyclables Will Decrease Dumping and Increase Uses
Scores turned up Wednesday morning at Flagler Beach’s aromatically breezed sewer plant to see the sanitation department’s new, $200,000 glass-crushing, glass-recycling machine that will turn tons of glass into re-usable sand for public works, drainage or home uses, at $2 a pound.
Between Missing Toes and Blood Spatter, the Play’s the Thing at AdventHealth Palm Coast’s $1 Million Simulation Center
The $1 million simulation center at AdventHealth Palm Coast’s campus on State Road 100 uses high-tech, interactive, realistic mannequins, flesh-and-blood actors, makeup artists whose creations rival anything concocted by Hollywood splatter films, sophisticated computer equipment, and seasoned medical personnel to simulate a variety of health conditions and scenarios. The center provides realistic training for AdventHealth nurses of all skill levels, as well as nursing students from the University of North Florida and Jacksonville University studying in Palm Coast.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, April 21, 2022
The Flagler Beach city administration shows off its new glass-crushing recycler, Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin delivers the State of the City address, Dostoevsky on laughter and character.
The Visceral Trouble with Beer
Drinking beer and spirits is linked to elevated levels of visceral fat – the harmful type of fat that is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, and other health complications – whereas drinking wine shows no such association with levels of this harmful fat and may even be protective against it.
Mistrial in Case Against Kwentel Moultrie, Accused of Raping 16-Year-Old Girl, as Jury Deadlocks
An all-white jury of five women and one man could not agree on a verdict on the charge against Kwentel Moultrie, now 23, of raping a 16-year-old girl when he was 20 in a P-Section house in Palm Coast. The three day trial hinged on whether the sexual encounter was consensual or forced. Moultrie remains in jail on this charge and on unrelated second-degree murder and burglary charges resulting from a December alleged home invasion in the R-Section.
Flagler School Board Will Clarify Student Demonstration Policy to Balance Rights and School Operations
With some of its members still smarting from the “Don’t Say Gay” student walkouts at Matanzas and Flagler Palm Coast High School last month, the Flagler County School Board agreed to clarify a policy addressing boycotts and walkouts, both to preserve the rights of students to free expression and to protect school functions from disruption.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, April 20, 2022
The Tourist Development Council, the Flagler County Technical Review Committee, the Contractor Review Board and the Palm Coast Planning and Land Development Board all meet today, and Kwentel Moultrie’s trial will head for jury deliberations.
Can Jaguars Make It Back to the United States?
There are only two main corridors in the western borderlands that jaguars could use to get into the U.S. Maintaining these corridors is crucial to connect fragmented habitats for jaguars and other mammals, such as black bears, pumas, ocelots and Mexican wolves.
Palm Coast Council Votes Itself 151% Pay Hike Plus Benefits Plus Annual Raises
Council members’ salary will rise from $9,600 a year to $24,097, a 151 percent increase. The mayor’s salary will go up from $11,400 a year to $30,039 a year, a 164 percent increase, substantially less than the more than 300m percent increase Mayor David Alfin originally sought, but still equally costly to taxpayers as the original proposal, since benefits are now part of the compensation package.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, April 19, 2022
The Palm Coast City Council takes up its gargantuan self-raise again, Day Two of Kwentel Moultrie’s trial, Food Truck Tuesday, Thomas Mann’s Dilettante, Bach’s great English Suite.
Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroes and the Darker Side of the 60s
There is a sinister edge to Andy Warhol’s pop art portraits of Marilyn Monroe because many were produced in the months following her unexpected death in 1962. On the surface, the works may look like a tribute to a much-loved icon, but themes of death, decay and even violence lurk within these canvases.
Moultrie’s Trial on Rape Charge Begins After He Rejected a No-Prison Deal, and Got Charged With Murder
Kwentell Moultrie turned down a no-prison deal on a first-degree felony charge of raping a 16-year-old girl, then got charged with second degree murder. His trial on the rape charge began today. He faces up to 30 years in prison if found guilty.
Gas Prices Drop 25 Cents in Two Weeks
Florida gas prices dropped another 7 cents last week. The state average has now declined nearly 25 cents per gallon over the course of a little more than two weeks.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, April 18, 2022
Kwentel Moultrie goes on trial on a first degree felony charge of sexual battery, the Flagler County Commission considers a noise ordinance and a $6.2 million hangar project at the airport, Dostoevsky’s Raw Youth, and it is also World Heritage Day.
‘Every Day Feels Unsettled’: Educators Decry Staffing Shortage
A shortage of teaching staff affects every student. One principal explained that learning stalls when “students in classes with revolving subs may spend the hour playing video games with no structure or learning happening.” Administrators describe waking up with dread knowing they’ll have to scramble to find coverage for absent staff.
School Appeals Pre-Game Prayer Ruling
A Tampa Christian school is appealing a federal judge’s ruling that backed a decision by the Florida High School Athletic Association to prevent a prayer over a stadium loudspeaker before a 2015 state championship football game.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, April 17, 2022
An Easter Egg Hunt at St Thomas Episcopal, Easter Sunday services at Santa Maria del Mar and Mother Seton, the fall of Phnom Penh to the Khmers, John McWhorter on the “Elect.”
How Misreading the Christian Gospels fuels Anti-Semitism
The pernicious belief that Christianity replaced or supplanted Judaism is known as Christian supersessionism. Christian supersessionism has not only fed into negative perceptions of Jews and Judaism since antiquity, but has also incited violence against Jews.
With Median Rent Now at $1,760 a Month, Tenants Across Florida Are Struggling to Afford Housing Costs
Florida’s rental market has become problematic for many families and workers battling to afford surging rent prices over the past two years, with median rent prices jumping from $1,340 in February 2020 (right before the pandemic) to just over $1,760 in February 2022, a 31.4 percent increase over two years, according to a new report by Florida TaxWatch.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, April 16, 2022
Egg hunts for adults and children in Bunnell and Palm Coast, easter services at the local Catholic churches, the Invictus Games for recovering servicemen and women begin today at The Hague in the Netherlands, today begins National Park Week, remembering Henry Mancini and a few words from Barry Lopez.
Jackie Robinson Was a Radical. Don’t Fall for the Sanitized Version of History.
Though Robinson was a fierce competitor, an outstanding athlete and a deeply religious man, the aspect of his legacy that often gets glossed over is that he was also a radical. Celebrations of his career risk downplaying his activism during and after his playing career.
Sheriff’s Office Is Flush With New Deputies, a New Operations Center and a New Mobile Command Center Ahead
The sheriff’s annual address gave him a chance to boast of a crime index 53 percent lower than when he took office in 2017, to summarize the past year in policing, explain current initiatives and project some of what’s ahead, including the big-ticket items–a new mobile command center and the opening of the Sheriff’s Operations Center later this year–and another big ask from the County Commission.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, April 15, 2022
Good Friday has courts, schools (for students, not teachers, who have a workday), county, city and law enforcement offices closed. Time to use the day to make good on your Carver Center auction bids.
Elon Musk Claims Twitter’s Better Off Going private. Corporate Governance Experts Disagree.
A big problem with private companies is they lack the safeguards of public corporations – like outside ownership and independent oversight. As such, they escape the scrutiny of these public overseers. The CEO of a public company is subject to an array of constraints and a varying but always substantial degree of oversight. Not so the CEO of a privately held company.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, April 14, 2022
Sheriff Rick Staly holds the fifth annual public Addressing Crime Together meeting this evening, the Flagler Beach City Commission meets, remembering Steinbeck’s “Grapes of Wrath” and Eugene Debs’s famous speech on justice.
When Are Book Bans Unconstitutional? A 1st Amendment Scholar Explains
Government actions that some may deem censorship – especially as related to schools – are not always neatly classified as constitutional or unconstitutional, because “censorship” is a colloquial term, not a legal term. Some principles can illuminate whether and when book banning is unconstitutional.
Palm Coast’s Belle Terre Park and Frieda Zamba Pool Need ‘Total Rebuild,’ But Council Is Wary of Another Expansion
Palm Coast with Belle Terre Park and its Frieda Zamba Pool is in the same boat as the school district with its nearby Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club: both facilities are on their last legs and need millions in repairs or construction, but the two agencies have yet to discuss cooperation. On Tuesday, Palm Coast council members were taken aback by the extent of the needs at Belle Terre Park.
Seven Years On, a Judge Signs Off on Legality of Florida’s 24-Hour Waiting Period for Abortion
After nearly seven years of legal battling, Judge Angela Dempsey issued a ruling Friday that upheld the constitutionality of a 2015 law that called for women to wait 24 hours after initial visits with physicians before having abortions.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, April 13, 2022
The quarterly Public Safety Coordinating Council is today, the annual George Washington Carver Foundation Auction, pre-trials in circuit court, Eudora Welty on Dick Cavett.
Half a Century of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’
“Jesus Christ Superstar” set off controversy from the start. Composer Lloyd Webber has recounted how London producers initially regarded the 1971 project as “the worst idea in history.” Many religious audiences viewed the play with deep suspicion for what they considered an irreverent approach, questionable theology and its rock ‘n’ roll-influenced score.
Splash Pad Boondoggle at Holland Park: Council Considers Suing Builders and Scrapping $5.1 Million Amenity
Palm Coast’s much-vaunted $5.1 million splash pad at Holland Park It opened for barely a few weeks before failing twice, closing the second time in July and soon closing for good. The failure is causing the city to threaten a lawsuit against the contractor and designer of the splash pad and consider scraping off the whole thing and replacing it with more traditional, less breakdown-prone amenities.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, April 12, 2022
The Palm Coast City Council talks unsplashing splash pad, the Flagler County Planning Board has a long agenda, voter turnout in other countries, John McWhorter’s “Woke Racism.”
Understanding the Reactionary Realignment Behind the French Election
The French political landscape continues to shift rightward. Testament to this is the emergence of Éric Zemmour’s identity-based platform and Emmanuel Macron’s renewed political offer. While Jean-Luc Mélenchon made gains, they were not enough to compensate for the Socialist Party’s precipitous decline.
DeSantis Signs Bill, Passed Unanimously in House and Senate, Addressing ‘Fatherhood Crisis’
A significant portion of the money earmarked for the program, about $32.6 million, will go toward funding grants aimed at assisting fathers. The grants will be targeted at issues such as helping fathers find employment, manage child support obligations and transition from a period of incarceration.
Parents Asked to Pick-Up Their Children as Power Outage at Belle Terre Elementary Causes Early Dismissal
An extended power outage at Belle Terre Elementary led the school district to end the school day early there and request that car-rider pick-up their children starting at 12:30 p.m. All children who cannot be picked up will be supervised until dismissal time, or through the period usually reserved for extended day, which has also been cancelled.
Palm Coast’s Opelka Wins Fourth ATP Tour Title, Besting Isner in Houston Ahead of European Circuit
Reilly Opelka, 24, captured his fourth career ATP Tour title on Sunday in Houston, besting longtime friend and rival John Isner, 6-3, 7-6 (7) in the championship match of the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court championship.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, April 11, 2022
Circuit Judge Terence Perkins hears a plea from Aaron Thayer, who faces an attempted first degree murder charge, the Bunnell City Commission meets, why some Americans have always fiercely resisted the truth.
Why Lowering the Voting Age to 16 Is a Good Idea
Thirteen countries, ranging from Brazil to Nicaragua, Ecuador, Austria, Estonia and Malta, already have voting ages under 18. The Council of Europe has urged its member countries to follow suit. In Canada, the federal NDP and Green Party publicly support a younger voting age. The federal Conservative, NDP and Liberal parties already allow members as young as 14 to vote in leadership contests.