Weekend weather: highs in low 90s, lows in low 70s throughout. Details here.
Today’s fire danger is moderate. Flagler County’s Drought Index is at 401.
The weather in Philadelphia: high 85, low 65. Details.
The OED’s Word of the Day: Palio, n..
The Live Community Calendar
Today’s jail bookings.
Today’s Briefing: Quick Links
- In Flagler and Palm Coast
- Local News Recap
- In Court
- In State Government
- Beyond
- PR Releases
- Palm Coast Construction and Development Progress Reports
- Local Road and Interstate Construction
- In the Press
- In Coming Days in Flagler and Palm Coast
- Comment of the Day (From the Comment Section)
- Cultural Coda
Note: all government meetings noticed below are free and open to the public unless otherwise indicated.
It’s all about July 4: There’s a full run-down of activities. Flagler Beach celebrates over two days, with First Friday coinciding with the Independence Day weekend. Palm Coast sets off its fireworks at Town Center Friday night, where it expects upwards of 6,000 people. Saturday starts with Palm Coast’s By Dawn’s Early Light ceremony at Heroes Park, followed by Flagler Beach’s July 4 parade at 10 a.m. and fireworks by the pier at 9:15 p.m.
Miss Flagler County: The pageant has moved from the Flagler Auditorium to Veterans Park in Flagler Beach, with the 16 to 24 year old contestants featured Saturday at 6 p.m. and girls in the younger three categories on Sunday at 6 p.m.
July 4 at Anastasia State Park, St. Augustine: Bring your family and friends to enjoy music from local musicians in a casual and laid-back atmosphere. This jam session is open to the public and welcome to any and all musicians who would like to join in. Come and go as you please any time between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Regular park admission is $8/vehicle with 2-8 occupants, $4/single-occupant vehicle, and $2/walker or runner. This event is weather permitting and subject to cancellation.
Ocean Art Gallery Presents artist Paulo Jimenez, featuring his oil paintings celebrating coastal Florida and Spain’s influence. Paulo’s oil paintings are a reflection of what it is to dwell in Florida, a land of natural abundance and color. Titled “Harmony in the Forgotten Garden”, the show will remain as the featured collection through July. (Ocean Art Gallery, 200 S. Oceanshore Blvd., Flagler Beach.)
Independence Weekend Closing Notes: All local government offices, including Flagler County, Palm Coast, the School Board, Bunnell and Flagler Beach will be closed Friday, July 3, in observance of Independence Day. So will the county courthouse. For your safety the Flagler Beach pier will be closed to the public at 6 p.m. on July 3rd and will reopen at 6 a.m. on July 5th, to accommodate the coast’s fabulous fireworks show. If the fireworks are postponed due to inclement weather the pier will re-open at 6 a.m. on July 6.
Flagler Chamber Seeks Applicants for Leadership Flagler’s 23rd Class. Click for details.
Palm Coast’s “D.J. Chris” and Owner of Kids’ Bounce House Co. Charged With Soliciting Minor for Sex: Tuesday evening, Pintek was arrested when he drove to Orange City after a chat with a teen through his iPhone, allegedly to meet up for sex with a 15-year-old boy. When Pintek arrived at the agreed-upon rendez-vous point, police descended on his pick-up truck.
At Bunnell’s Methodist Church, Rev. Terry Wines Begins Filling Beth Gardner’s Big Void: It’s part of an annual ritual in the sprawling world of the United Methodist Church (which numbers 78 churches in the eastern district of the state alone, with nine such districts in the state), when “elders” typically move from church to church around this time of year. Wines was previously at the First United Methodist Church of Chiefland, where he served for five years. Prior to entering the ministry, Wines worked in the entertainment and hospitality industries. He accepted his calling in 1998 and entered the candidacy process for ordination in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church, receiving his B.A. from Florida State University in 2004 and Masters of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary in 2010.
County Judge Melissa Moore Stens holds probation violation and pre-trial hearings much of the day, Courtroom 404. Circuit Judge Michael Orfinger hears injunction, Courtroom 101. Judge Walsh does not have court sessions today.
The Florida Supreme Court releases opinions at 11 a.m.
Note: Most proceedings below can be followed live on the Florida Channel.
All government offices and politicians are taking the weekend off.
The U.S. Labor Department releases unemployment numbers for June at 8:30 a.m.
Women’s World Cup: Japan, after beating England 2-1, will meet the United States (who beat Germany 2-0) in Sunday’s final. (7 p.m. FoxSports1). Since the quadrennial tournament started in 1991, the United States have won twice, as have Germany. Japan are the defending champions. The United States last won in 1999 and was the runner-up in a 2-2 tie to Japan in 2011, in a match finally decided by penalty kicks, with Japan winning 3-1.
Safe Fourth equals happy holiday: Flagler County officials want to remind residents that a safe holiday is a happy holiday. “The Fourth of July is a time for celebration,” County Administrator Craig Coffey said. “We don’t want anything to interfere with the good time we are having with family and friends.” Back-to-back fireworks are a tradition in Flagler County with the City of Palm Coast hosting a fireworks celebration at 9 p.m. July 3 in Town Center called “Fireworks in the Park.” The City of Flagler Beach hosts its fireworks celebration at 9:15 p.m. July 4 at The Pier. Public safety is the main concern. Users of social media like Facebook and Twitter will be able to search #FlaglerBeach4th for any official posts about safety concerns, including weather. “Should we experience bad weather, I recommend that residents shelter in their cars until the storm passes,” said Kevin Guthrie, Flagler County Public Safety Emergency Manager. Also remember to stay hydrated and use sunscreen. The Flagler Beach Police Department recommends that visitors attending the event park in relation to where they need to travel after the fireworks have concluded. Traffic on State Road A1A and State Road 100 will be restricted afterwards and police will be assigned to the intersection. Traffic southbound on State Road A1A will be forced west onto State Road 100 and will be required to travel west over bridge. Traffic heading northbound on State Road A1A will have the option to continue north in the east traffic lane, while those wishing to travel west on State Road 100 may turn left from the left-turn lane. Those traveling eastbound on State Road 100 will experience delays after the fireworks to accommodate event traffic.
Flagler Sheriff’s Deputies Patrolling Roadways and Waterways During the July 4th Holiday: Sheriff James L. Manfre announced that county-wide patrols will be conducted on the roadways and waterways during the July 4th holiday. “We are committed to providing patrol assistance throughout the county including Flagler Beach. Independence Day is a wonderful celebration and we want everyone to enjoy it and stay safe,” said Sheriff James L. Manfre. Deputies will conduct DUI patrol on the roadways Friday, July 3rd and Saturday, July 4th from 8:00 p.m. until 4:00 a.m. The Marine Unit will be patrolling the Intracoastal waterway on Saturday, July 4th from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. and will focus on BUI enforcement, no wake zones and manatee zones. Deputies will be on the lookout for citizens of all ages setting off fireworks. Although fireworks are not illegal to purchase or possess, they are illegal to ignite and set off without a permit. Anyone who is located setting off fireworks other than sparklers, may have the items seized and could receive a $500.00 fine.
Nicholas Winton, Rescuer of 669 Children From Holocaust, Dies at 106: “Nicholas Winton, a Briton who said nothing for a half-century about his role in organizing the escape of 669 mostly Jewish children from Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War II, a righteous deed like those of Oskar Schindler and Raoul Wallenberg, died on Wednesday in Maidenhead, England. He was 106. The Rotary Club of Maidenhead, of which Mr. Winton was a former president, announced his death on its website. He lived in Maidenhead, west of London. It was only after Mr. Winton’s wife found a scrapbook in the attic of their home in 1988 — a dusty record of names, pictures and documents detailing a story of redemption from the Holocaust — that he spoke of his all-but-forgotten work in the deliverance of children who, like the parents who gave them up to save their lives, were destined for Nazi concentration camps and extermination. Nicholas Winton held flowers while sitting on a stage after the premiere of the movie Nicholas Winton’s ‘Most Emotional Moment’JULY 1, 2015 For all his ensuing honors and accolades in books and films, Mr. Winton was a reluctant hero, often compared to Schindler, the ethnic German who saved 1,200 Jews by employing them in his enamelware and munitions factories in Poland and Czechoslovakia, and to Wallenberg, the Swedish businessman and diplomat who used illegal passports and legation hideaways to save tens of thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary.” From The Times. Watch:
The settlements are not part of Israel: From a Haaretz editorial: “The United States, a State Department Press Office statement made clear on Tuesday, objected and objects to the settlement policy and has never recognized the territories as part of the State of Israel. This policy is shared by the states of the European Union, 16 of whose foreign ministers signed a letter last April in favor of labeling products from the settlements. The American administration’s sharp, prompt response should not come as a surprise. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made it clear he does not foresee a peace solution with the Palestinians during his term, while Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said he does not foresee one “in our generation.” The two states for two peoples formula – which the American administration supports, together with most states in the world – has been trampled and crushed by Israel’s government. In view of all this, it was necessary to underline in bold the indistinct borderline between Israel and the territories. Israel can once again utter the wail of the “robbed Cossack,” blame Obama for abandoning Israel and even say the president supports BDS. But it should be stressed immediately that Obama does not boycott Israel and the bill he signed explicitly protects it from such actions. But when Israel insists on annexing the settlements, it can only expect the international community to step up its policy of distinguishing between Israel and the territories.”
Surging Trump and the GOP’s problem: “Trump comes second to former Florida governor, Jeb Bush, in New Hampshire and second to current Wisconsin governor Scott Walker in Iowa. He is tied for second in Michigan and comes in second in the latest national polls. Notice a trend? Trump, for all his negatives (he holds the highest negative ratings of any GOP candidate — Jeb’s a close second) has a base of supporters stronger and more consistent in their support than any other Republican candidate. […] Impolitic statements like, “our country is honestly going to hell,” and ridiculous anti-immigrant tirades have lead 700,000 petitioners to sign a successful demand that Macy’s drop Trump but those same statement have also lead to his surging standing with the GOP base.” From Salon.
Columbia Just Became the First US University to Divest From Private Prisons: “Citing the “ongoing discussion of the issue of mass incarceration,” Columbia University has decided to stop investing money in companies that run private prisons, becoming the first university in the United States to divest from the controversial industry. The university’s Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing announced last week that Columbia’s board of trustees would divest from companies currently engaged in the operation of private prisons, and would “refrain from making new investments in such companies,” according a statement on the university’s Finance Gateway website. The $5 billion private prison industry has taken off in recent years, with the number of inmates serving sentences in for-profit prisons doubling between 2000 and 2010. Private prisons house nearly 20 percent of federal prisoners and about 7 percent of state prisoners. Minorities who are convicted of crimes are more likely to be sent to private prisons than their white counterparts. For-profit prison companies have guaranteed shareholders certain occupancy levels, and to boost occupancy prisons sometimes doled out infractions that lengthen prisoners’ sentences or worked with groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council to enact policies that result in higher rates of incarceration. Divestment efforts at colleges and universities have often played a leading role in effecting social change, most notably when divestment at schools like Michigan State University, Columbia, and Stanford University helped end South African apartheid. At Columbia, the push to divest from private prisons was led by students organized as Columbia Prison Divest.” From Mother Jones.
What Susan Sontag Stood For: “Susan wrote about subjects as diverse as pornography and photography, the aesthetics of silence and the aesthetics of fascism, Bunraku puppet theater and the choreography of Balanchine, the uses and abuses of language and illness, as well as admiring portraits of such writers and filmmakers as Antonin Artaud, Walter Benjamin, Roland Barthes, Elias Canetti, Kenneth Anger, Ingmar Bergman, Robert Bresson, Carl Dreyer, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Hans-Jürgen Syberberg, and Jean-Luc Godard, Robert Walser, Marina Tsvetaeva, Alice James. She was always hungry for more. All her life she aspired to live up to Goethe’s injunction that “you must know everything.” She wanted, as Wayne Koestenbaum has astutely observed, to devour the world. There were never enough hours in the day or the night. She stole from sleep the hours she spent reading and rereading, reading and rereading. She was an insomniac omnivore, insatiable, driven, endlessly curious, obsessed collector of enthusiasms and passions. She was a fervent believer in the capacity of art to delight, to inform, to transform. She was hungry for aesthetic pleasures but haunted by the burden of a moral tradition for which purely aesthetic delights were a guilty pastime. She strained mightily to rid herself of its suffocations, even going so far as to turn a personal predicament into a general condition, famously urging, in her 1964 essay “Against Interpretation,” that “in place of a hermeneutics we need an erotics of art.” She was a paladin of seriousness. She thought it the obligation of cultural criticism to bear down on what matters. She did not believe that one’s first thoughts were one’s best thoughts. She knew that the fundamental idea at stake in the criticism of culture generally is the self-image of society: how it reasons with itself, describes itself, imagines itself. And she knew that nothing in the excitements made possible by the digital revolution banishes the need for the rigor such self-reckoning requires. Time is required to think through difficult questions. Patience is a condition of genuine intellection. The thinking mind should not be rushed. She was distressed by the way her earlier championing of popular culture had been used as a cudgel by her critics to beat down the very idea of high culture, accusing it of snobbery and elitism, calling into question the necessity of artistic or literary or cultural discrimination.” From the Los Angeles Review of Books.
How Art Became Irrelevant: Michael Lewis in Commentary: “The last time that artists were part of the national conversation was a generation ago, in 1990. This was the year of the NEA Four, artists whose grants were withdrawn by the National Endowment for the Arts because of the obscene content of their work. Their names were Tim Miller, John Fleck, Holly Hughes, and Karen Finley—the latter especially famous because her most notable work largely involved smearing her own body with chocolate. As it happened, their work was rather less offensive than that of Andres Serrano and Robert Mapplethorpe, who had been the subject of NEA-funded exhibitions the year before. Serrano’s photograph of a crucifix immersed in a jar of his own urine was called “Piss Christ.” Mapplethorpe’s notorious self-portrait featured a bullwhip thrust into his fundamental aperture. Even the New York Times, a stalwart champion of Mapplethorpe, could not honestly describe that photograph, let alone publish it, referring to it with coy primness as a “sadomasochistic self-portrait (nearly naked, with bullwhip).” That controversy ended with a double defeat. In a case that was heard by the Supreme Court, the NEA Four failed to have their grants restored. But Senator Jesse Helms and Representative Newt Gingrich likewise failed in their determined effort to defund the NEA (total budget at the time: $165 million). And the American public—left with an impressionistic vision in which urine, bullwhips, and a naked but chocolate-streaked Karen Finley figured largely—drew the fatal conclusion that contemporary art had nothing to offer them. Fatal, because the moment the public disengages itself collectively from art, even to refrain from criticizing it, art becomes irrelevant. This essay proposes that such a disengagement has already taken place, and that its consequences are dire. The fine arts and the performing arts have indeed ceased to matter in Western culture, other than in honorific or pecuniary terms, and they no longer shape in meaningful ways our image of ourselves or define our collective values. This collapse in the prestige and consequence of art is the central cultural phenomenon of our day.”
Palm Coast Construction and Development Progress Reports:
The following is an update of ongoing construction and development projects in Palm Coast, through June 24:
Palm Coast Parkway Six-Laning is 80 percent done: Widening on the north side of the parkway continues. Landscape irrigation work continues. Utility connection tie-ins has begun. Two day water samples were taken andbacteriological test have passed. The applications for clearance
will be sent to Florida Department of Environmental
Protection.
Royal Palms Parkway Improvements, 98 percent done: Contactor will be doing pressure testing.
Holland Park, 20 percent done: Installation of 8″ water main, installation of 24″ RCP storm water pipe has begun.
Palm Coast City Hall at Town Center, 60 percent done: Installation of drywall of interior walls, mechanical duct work installation, electrical conduit rough-in and fire sprinkler piping continues. Installation of exterior windows and exterior wall trim continues. Grading and layout for parking area continues and concrete sidewalks have been constructed. Painting of exterior walls continues. FPL transformer and pad have been installed. See ongoing images of construction here.
Colechester at College Waterway Bridge Rehabilitation Construction, 16 percent done: Inside bents and pilings have been painted. Sheet piles were delivered. Demolition on seawall has begun.
County’s I-95 Interchange Matanzas Woods Reclaim Water, 20 percent done: A storm structure crossing the road was completed on the east
side of I-95. Fill dirt continues being hauled in to raise the overpass and ramp areas. The city’s portion of the project is also 20 percent done.
Shops at Pine Lakes Convenience Store, 88 percent done: Work on parking and drive thru areas continues. Water meters have been installed.
Walmart Addition, 30 percent done: A new Grease Interceptor has been installed replacing the old one outside the new building addition.
Old Kings Road Utilities Work, 75 percent done:Utility Department Water Distribution crews have flushed the new water main. Contractor has set up for pressure testing. Utility Department Water Distribution crews have removed the old 8″ water main and preparing for extension of North Old Kings Road to Matanzas Parkway.
Road and Interstate Construction:
Lane closures planned for Palm Coast July 2 cancelled: In order to improve the flow of traffic, the eastbound lane closures on the I-95 bridge planned for Wednesday, July 1, and Thursday, July 2, between the hours of 2:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., have been cancelled. These lane closures will be re-scheduled in the near future during nighttime hours.
Matanzas Woods Parkway closed: Matanzas Woods Parkway is closed until early August for construction of the Interstate 95 interchange. The portion of Matanzas Woods Parkway that spans I-95 will be reconstructed to accommodate four single-lane ramps for on and off access to the interstate. Other improvements include the widening of the interstate to accommodate new acceleration and deceleration lanes, wet detention ponds adjacent to the roadway, sidewalks, lighting, overhead signs and landscaping. Project details are available and regularly updated at http://www.matanzas95interchange.com. The detour map is available here.
Palm Coast Parkway between Cypress Point Parkway and Florida Park Drive. IMPACTS: Lane shifts and closures will occur and this may cause traffic congestion on this already busy roadway. Most construction work will occur between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. though weather and unforeseen issues may adjust the schedules. This project will be complete by December 2015.”
Flagler County Road 302 is Closed to all but local traffic as repaving began on June 7 and the roadway will be closed to all but local traffic. Others will be required to detour around County Road 302 using State Road 100. The roadway will be closed for 90 days, or until early September.
Palm Coast’s Colechester Lane bridge to be closed July 7 through Sept. 4: Palm Coast – Motorists and other travelers are advised that the Colechester Lane bridge will be closed to all traffic from July 7 through Sept. 4 while the bridge is rebuilt. A detour will be established taking travelers over the Colorado Drive bridge instead. Signs will be posted directing motorists to the Colorado Drive bridge. The City of Palm Coast strives for safe construction zones. The City asks for the cooperation and patience of residents as this important bridge improvement project is completed. For more information, contact Palm Coast Customer Service at 386-986-2360.
Volusia: I-95 Southbound On-Ramp Closure for Reconstruction: Starting Thursday, June 25, the I-95 southbound on-ramp – accessed when going westbound on US 92 – will have a detour while closed for reconstruction. The detour will be 9:00 p.m. – 5:30 a.m. June 25 through July 2. This means the left merge, on-ramp to southbound I-95 from westbound US-92 is closed, and a temporary on-ramp will take its place. This is occurring as the existing I-95 southbound on-ramp is demolished and removed. A temporary signal for I-95 southbound access, has been put in place west of the I-95 and US 92 Interchange, near Skip’s Boots and Motel 6. The detour put in place will be from Tomoka Farms Road to Bellevue Avenue to Williamson Boulevard. Businesses west of the I-95 and US 92 interchange, on the north side of US 92, will need to use their entrances along Tomoka Farms Road. Driveways along US 92 Westbound can be used for exit only. Businesses east of the I-95 and US 92 Interchange, on the north side of US 92, can use the intersection at Indigo Drive as both an entrance and an exit.
Volusia: I-4 Widening from SR 44 to east of I-95, Monday and Friday, 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Eastbound/Westbound shoulder closing. Sunday through Thursday, Eastbound and Westbound lane closures as needed from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Thursday, 9:00 p.m. – 5:30 a.m. EB road closure between Canal St./SR 44 and I-95 with detour at US 92 exit ramp.Motorists should be aware of traffic shifts near Canal St./SR 44.
- Palm Coast Parkway Project Website
- Florida Department of Transportation Road Project List
- County Road 304 Project Map and Description
Click on the links for more details:
- All Summer: Free Breakfast and Lunch for All Flagler County Children Through Seamless Summer Freeding
- All Summer: Flagler Sheriff’s Police Athletic League (P.A.L.) Offers Free Summer Activities for Youth .
- All Summer: Swimming lessons and lifeguard classes available at Frieda Zamba Swimming Pool.
- June 27: Safety F.I.R.S.T. and Playing It Safe! Expo Set for June 27th in Palm Coast.
- Registration opens for 2015 Palm Coast & the Flagler Beaches Senior Games.
- July 2: Stewart Marchman-Act Foundation Annual Dinner and Fund-Raiser honoring Judge Joseph G. Will, at the Daytona 500 Club at the Daytona International Speedway.
- July 10: “Back to the Future” is the Movie in the Park, scheduled for 8:40 p.m. at Central Park in Town Center, 975 Central Ave.
- Sept. 28: Bunnell’s State of the Art Water Treatment Facility Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting at 100 Utility Drive (directly across the street from the Flagler County Government Services Building), from 4 to 6 p.m.
Comment of the Day (From the Comment Section):
Anonymous, in “Supreme Court’s Lethal Injection Ruling Clears Way For More Florida Executions, and Challenges“: “I love it when good Christian people are so eager to make exceptions to their rules about “the sanctity of life”, let alone cheering on the idea that we shouldn’t care how prolonged and/or painful that process of execution may turn out to be. Their sensibilities, it turns out, are stunningly similar to the people they are proud to exterminate (in the name of justice.)” Reply to Anonymous here.
Cultural Coda:
Aaron Copland: Fanfare For The Common Man, from the 3rd Symphony, with a great opening speech by Leonard Bernstein: “They’re all American accents, they’ve been absorbed.” And Copeland himself conducting:
Lancer says
The left is planning massive protests this weekend, all over the country!!
It seems “Independence Day” is offensive to them and they are moving “progressively forward” to have the name changed to…
Dependence Day.
Samuel L. Bronkowitz says
Meanwhile, back in reality, the right is wrapping itself in the american flag while shedding crocodile tears over the loss of american lives across the globe in the name of democracy, all the while enjoying the haliburtonesqe benefits of the war machine.
YankeeExPat says
Yep, I’m a damn carpetbagging Flagler Yankee, but you will only see a Stars and Stripes American Flag properly displayed on my property on Independence Day as I have no allegiance to any other.
YankeeExPat says
Support our Service Men and Women and our local economy both at once!
Shop at Winn Dixie today as all Profits on 4th of July sales will be donated to the Wounded Warriors Project..
Show your support and acknowledge the sacrifice of our Service Men and Women.
Sherry E says
YES Mr. Bronkowitz! You are very correct! I salute you ( now) from amazing Northern Tenerife! Tapas tonight!