Weekend: high in the low to mid-70s, lows in the 60s. Details here.
Today’s fire danger is moderate. Flagler County’s Drought Index is at 354.
Today’s tides: at the beaches, at the Intracoastal Waterway.
Today’s document from the National Archives.
The OED’s Word of the Day: uncanny valley, n..
The Live Community Calendar
Today’s jail bookings.
Today’s Briefing: Quick Links
- In Flagler and Palm Coast
- Local News Recap
- In State Government
- In Coming Days in Flagler and Palm Coast
- PR Releases
- In the Press, In the News
- Fact-Checking the Knaves
- Palm Coast Construction and Development Progress Reports
- Local Road and Interstate Construction
- Cultural Coda
Note: all government meetings noticed below are free and open to the public unless otherwise indicated. Many can be heard or seen live through each agency’s website.
Friday: The German American Club holds its Christmas Dinner Dance, 12:30-4:30 p.m.
Friday: The upper orchestra of the Flagler Youth Orchestra at Salvo Art Gallery, performing at 6 p.m. in an arts collaboration with Salvo Art Project, the Bunnell gallery at 313 Old Brick Road, next to Nature Scapes, $10 for adults, children get in free. Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served. JJ Graham, gallery owner, will be raffling off a painting.
First Friday in Flagler Beach: This month’s performers include FPC’s Formality Singers, the Matanzas High School Blue Steel Band, the FPC band, the Buddy Taylor and Indian Trails Middle School bands, first graders from Wadsworth Elementary and students from Old Kings Elementary.
Friday: The Matanzas High School band is in concert at Pirates Theater at Matanzas High School, 7 p.m.
Friday and Saturday: Blowout book sale at the Flagler County Public Library in Palm Coast, all books in the Friends book shop will be priced at 25 cents. The sale will be held during normal business hours: Friday, 9 to 6 and Saturday 9 to 5. Shop for yourself or, stock up for your holiday gift giving. 2500 Palm Coast Pkwy NW. Call 446-6705 with any questions.
All Weekend: National K-12 Chess Championships, sponsored by the United States Chess Federation, at Coronado Springs Resort, Orlando, starting at 12:30 p.m. Friday, through closing ceremonies at 6 p.m. Sunday.
Saturday: Flagler Beach Christmas Parade, starting at 1 p.m. down A1A.
Saturday: You’re all invited to a Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club open house and fund-raiser: Come by and enjoy the pool, the sauna, the weight room, live music, a bake sale, plenty of games and fun for the whole family. It’s free admission. The event is scheduled for 1-4 p.m. The Flagler County School Board granted the Swim and Racquet Club an extension to make good on the promise of a new batch of membership to ensure that the venerable club stays open in months and years ahead. But the club needs your support, as the school board is set to reevaluate how the membership drive is going as early as January. This fund-raiser and open house is intended to show the community how much there is at the club, and how inexpensive the memberships are. Admission to the Dec. 5 open house is free.
Saturday: Health and Wellness Expo at Bunnell City Hall, to raise awareness and education to the community and inform the community of the services that are available to them. 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Saturday: “Tis the Seasons! The Hit Men Holiday Show” Featuring former stars of Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, at the Flagler Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday: Palm Coast Holiday Boat Parade: Registered boats gather in Cimmaron Basin at 6 p.m. and head east to the Intracoastal Waterway, where the parade turns south, passing Tidelands, Canopy Walk, St. Joe Walkway, Waterfront Park and Island Estates, before turning at the Grand Haven Gazebo and back to Clubhouse Waterway.
Is Flagler is headed in the right direction? The Chamber of Commerce wants to hear from you: “Please take the Chamber’s Economic Development survey and share the link with family, friends and colleagues. It’s important for everyone who lives and works here to weigh in on this important topic,” the Chamber says. “You might even win a prize for your effort. We are trying to get 1,000 responses before the end of the year. Click here to access the survey.
Bottom Line Cost of Demolishing School Board’s Old ITT Building: $1.27 Million: On Tuesday, the board voted 4-1 to approve a bid process to solicit a demolition company by January, with the demolition completed by mid-May. The cost of the demolition is pegged at $200,000. But that doesn’t include the $300,000 the district is spending to move some operations and renovate another location to accommodate the move. And it’s not including the $770,244 it will spend out of its capital budget to pay off the remaining loan on the building. The total comes to a $1.27 million hit on the district’s bottom line. The building has been costing $70,000 a year to maintain.
Ex-Commissioner Pat McGuire, on Sex-Offender Probation, Granted Permission for Vegas Birthday Trip: Patrick McGuire, a Flagler County commissioner from 2001 to 2004–he was known as Pat–and a former director of the Central Florida Police Benevolent Association, was found guilty of molesting two adopted daughters and sentenced to prison in 2007. He served 52 months of a 60-month sentence, was released in October 2011, and has been serving a 10-year felony probation term since.
Killed in House, Stand Your Ground Bill That Shifts Burden of Proof Lives Again in Senate: Sen. Rob. Bradley filed the bill after the Florida Supreme Court ruled in July that people who use the defense have the burden of showing they should be shielded from prosecution. In “stand your ground” cases, pre-trial evidentiary hearings are held to determine whether defendants are immune from prosecution.
Note: Most proceedings below can be followed live on the Florida Channel.
Collective bargaining: The Joint Select Committee on Collective Bargaining will hold a hearing on issues at impasse. (Friday, 1 p.m.)
The Florida Board of Medicine will meet and consider disciplinary cases from various parts of the state. (Friday, 8 a.m., Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront, 225 East Coastline Dr., Jacksonville.)
–Compiled by the News Service of Florida and FlaglerLive
In Coming Days in Palm Coast and Flagler:
Click on the links for more details:
- Dec. 6: Bulow Parks Historic Alliance will have a Trail Maintenance Day to prepare for the Saturday, December 12, Bulow Woods Trail Race. Workers are asked to meet at the trailhead on the Beach Road at 9 a.m. For further information call 386-437-5338.
- Dec. 9: The Flagler Youth Orchestra is in concert at the Flagler Auditorium at 7 p.m. $6 for adults, children younger than 18 get in free.
- Dec. 16: The Bulow Parks Historic Alliance members and friends will meet at 6 p.m. in the Annex of the Flagler County Historical Society, 204 East Moody Boulevard, Bunnell. For information call 386-437-5338.
- Dec. 19 and 20: Performance of Handel’s Messiah at First Church of Palm Coast, 91 Old Kings Road North, 4 p.m. each day: The Edward Waters Alumni Choir, along with the First Church Choir, will give performances of the oratorio, and feature Nathaniel Shropshire, III, bass; Francesca Scott, alto; Irma Marria Adams, soprano; and Drickus Horne, tenor. Tickets are $20 per person. To order call the church at 386-446-5759.
Click on the link for more details.
- Florida Hospital Flagler Foundation Honors Local Humanitarians Peter and Sue Freytag
- Palm Coast Citizens Academy graduates 35th class
- Students at Imagine School at Town Center are Thankfully-Giving
- Palm Coast Mayor honored with NEFRC’s 2015 ‘Regional Leadership Award’
Blankenship guilty of conspiring to violate mine safety ruleshttps://t.co/B0Ca5sWny9 by @Kenwardjr pic.twitter.com/vjjF7niPIq
— Charleston Gazette-Mail (@wvgazettemail) December 4, 2015
Islamist terror, security and the Hobbesian question of order. By John Gray https://t.co/FVq6TFht1x pic.twitter.com/sZ6v3l01n4
— The New Statesman (@NewStatesman) December 3, 2015
Terrorist group Isis/Daesh is now running cities like Raqqa & Mosul. How's it getting on? https://t.co/nRvKAuP0uL pic.twitter.com/Xqq3Ajc6cL
— City Monitor (@CityMonitorAI) December 3, 2015
https://twitter.com/Disruptia/status/672466847657287684
How Kurt Vonnegut’s first wife retained a voice in his text: https://t.co/zoelobD7is
— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) December 4, 2015
George Zimmerman was kicked off of Twitter for posting semi-nude photos of his "ex-girlfriend" without her consent: https://t.co/hnCK2SmqqV
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) December 4, 2015
Palm Coast Construction and Development Progress Reports
The following is an update of ongoing construction and development projects in Palm Coast, through Nov. 5:
Palm Coast Parkway Six-Laning is 97 percent done: (Not updated this week.)
Holland Park, 37 percent done: Perimeter sidewalk continues to be formed and poured. The new 8″ water main was installed across Florida Park Drive and the water tap was made. Electrical trenching and conduit installation continues. 8″ water main and 2 hydrants being re-installed per plan. New irrigation system installation continues.
County’s I-95 Interchange Matanzas Woods Reclaim Water, 76 percent done: Retention ponds are being excavated and fill continues for the ramps.
Palm Harbor Parkway Roadway Extension, 32 percent done: The City Fiber Optic cable was removed to allow the demucking to continue north on Forest Grove. The Fiber Optic cable will be replaced when the new force main is installed. Installation of stormwater pipe continues.
Colechester Bridge, 90 percent done: Bridge Deck has been paved and striped and has been reopened. Pedestrian railings are installed, demolition of slope pavement continues. Directional bore of water main almost complete.
North Old Kings Road Extension to Matanzas Woods Parkway, 19 percent done: Asphalt was installed on the new section of roadway adjacent to the old roadway at the intersection of Old Kings Road and Forest Grove.
Island Walk Shopping Center Phase 1, 93 percent done: Water mains behind the Island Doctor and Bealls have been chlorinated for 2nd day bacteriological samples.
Old Kings Road Force Main 50 percent done:: Contractor is working on Force main at the entrance north of spray field.
Road and Interstate Construction:
Camille Saint-Saëns’s Complete Carnival Of the Animals, parts of which will be perfoemd by the Flagler Youth Orchestra Friday evening at Salvo Art gallery and again Wednesday evening at the Flagler Auditorium:
