Menopause at the Auditorium, JetBlue's and Frontier's Routes

The Flagler County Public Library marks its 16th anniversary in a celebration at 2 p.m. Friday at the main branch at Palm Coast Parkway and Belle Terre Parkway. (c FlaglerLive)

Today and the weekend: highs around 70 to 75, lows in upper 50s. Details here.
Today’s fire danger is moderate. Flagler County’s Drought Index is at 372.
Today’s tides: at the beaches, at the Intracoastal Waterway.
Today’s document from the National Archives.
The OED’s Word of the Day: nigget, 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

In Flagler and Palm Coast:

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: Celebrate the Flagler County Public Library’s 16th birthday at 2 p.m. at the main branch, Palm Coast Parkway and Belle Terre Parkway. Music will be provided by well know musician and resident of Flagler Beach, Capt’n Nick. Dancing encouraged. Cake will be served. Sponsored by the Friends of the Library. Any questions, call 386-446-6763.

See Also:

Anonymous Donor Offers $1 Million For Flagler County Library Construction, But With Strings

Friday: Raychill Muller Live at Center Stage, European Village, 7 to 10 p.m. A Florida native and FSU graduate she spends her time delivering finger picking acoustic guitar and sultry vocals throughout the Southeast.

Saturday: The Palm Coast Tennis Center will open courts for free play, demos and a Kids Zone. See why this Center is a local favorite place to play. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Saturday: Palm Coast’s Christmas Tree Recycling Event. Bring your Christmas tree to the Utility Drive Fuel Depot, 22 Utility Drive and City staff will grind your tree to recycle for landscaping mulch. You can also bring electronics to reycle (no TVs, microwaves or computer monitors) and holiday wrapping paper. Free small evergreen trees will be distributed in exchange for your old tree.

Saturday: Gamble Rogers Acoustic Jam Session: Jam out at Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area with the Saturday Jam Session in the park, 2 to 5:45 p.m. Musicians of all levels are encouraged to bring instruments and a chair to join the circle for a casual acoustic jam session. Or just come to listen to great music! Feel free to bring snacks and non-alcoholic beverages. The Jam is held every 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month. Contact Celena Cline at 386-517-2086 or email [email protected] with any questions. Park entrance fee is $5 per carload of 2-8 people; one person is $4; bicyclist or pedestrian is $2.

bob currul art decay — Bob Currul’s ‘Decay’ isn’t on the cover of some Charles Bukowski book. Rather, it’s one of the few works to feature people in the Flagler County Art League’s 4th Annual Juried Photography Show, opening Saturday.

Saturday: The 4th Annual Juried Photography Show will be on exhibit Saturday through Feb. 9 at the Flagler County Art League in City Marketplace, 160 Cypress Point Parkway, Suite 207C, Palm Coast. An opening reception will be 6 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday Regular gallery hours are noon to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free. Information: 386-986-4668 or flaglercountyartleague.com.

Saturday: Justin Gurney Live at Center Stage, European Village, 7 to 10 p.m.: Justin is the lead singer of The Greener Grass Band, based in Rochester, NY. He is spending a little time in the Sunshine State and we are excited to have him on the main stage. Expect rocks, blues, and even a little reggae from this show. Free Admission.

Sunday: Menopause the Musical: The Survivor Tour, at the Flagler Auditorium, 3 and 7 p.m. The show that’s brought joy to millions worldwide is proving that laughter truly is the best medicine. With a cast of breast cancer survivors and co-survivors, Menopause The Musical is partnering with Susan G. Komen to offer inspiration, sisterhood, and hope. Four women at a lingerie sale have nothing in common but a black lace bra and memory loss, hot flashes, night sweats, not enough sex, too much sex and more. This hilarious musical parody set to classic tunes from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s will have you cheering and dancing in the aisles. ($2 of each ticket sale benefits Susan G. Komen, the foundation devoted to breast cancer research.)

See Also:

Menopause: The Musical–and a Worthy Workshop For Men–at Flagler Auditorium

Local News Recap:

Ethics Commission Set to Reject Flagler’s Pitch to Recover Fees from Frivolous Complaints: Flagler County government will almost certainly not get reimbursed for the money it spent fighting frivolous ethics complaints filed against County Commissioner Nate McLaughlin and County Attorney Al Hadeed last year. The Florida Ethics Commission’s counsel is recommending against reimbursement in a Dec. 30 memo and a proposed order that the full ethics commission board will act upon at its January 22 meeting. The board rarely counters its counsel’s recommendations.

JetBlue starts JFK – Daytona Beach flights: “New York’s Hometown Airline, JetBlue announced the start of service to its newest destination Daytona Beach. With the launch of services between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Daytona Beach International Airport (DAB), JetBlue now serves eight Florida destinations and offers more flights between the Empire State and the Sunshine State than any other airline with up to 83 daily non-stops,” FT News reports.

Frontier adding service from St. Augustine to Chicago, Philadelphia: “Frontier Airlines announced Thursday that it will continue its service at St. Augustine’s Northeast Florida Regional Airport with the addition of two nonstop routes to Philadelphia International Airport and Chicago O’Hare International Airport,” the St. Augustine Record reports. “In a release from Frontier, the airline announced service to Chicago will begin on April 14, and service to Philadelphia will begin on April 15. Flights between St. Augustine and Chicago will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays while flights to Philadelphia will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Fares in these new markets will be as low as $69 each way.” (Story paywall-protected)

In State Government:

Note: Most proceedings below can be followed live on the Florida Channel.

No events of note.

–Compiled by the News Service of Florida and FlaglerLive

In Coming Days in Palm Coast and Flagler:

Click on the links for more details:

Jan. 13: Mayor Jon Netts will be the featured speaker at the Indian Trails II Neighborhood Watch meeting at the Flagler County Public Library, 6 p.m.
Jan. 30: The City of Palm Coast’s Town Center Park will host the Color Vibe 5K – the first-ever “colorful” walk-run in Palm Coast. The Palm Coast Color Vibe 5K will be held Saturday, Jan. 30, at Central Park in Town Center, 975 Central Ave.

PR Releases:

Click on the link for more details.

Palm Coast’s annual Christmas tree, electronics recycling event is Jan. 9.

In the Press, In the News:

White America’s fear of Barack Obama has made us all so much worse off https://t.co/pX9TB4yZEo pic.twitter.com/jukZRMknKt

— Salon (@Salon) January 7, 2016

"Walid Raad’s Unreality Show Spins Middle Eastern History as Art" via @nytimesarts. https://t.co/OhQDFDj4jc pic.twitter.com/HnUW3qdkAQ

— MoMA The Museum of Modern Art (@MuseumModernArt) January 7, 2016

"Every year at least 16,000 Americans die after overdosing on opioid painkillers" https://t.co/7wiSxWDcFc pic.twitter.com/5fTzIpZugJ

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) January 7, 2016

Fact-Checking the Knaves:

Palm Coast Construction and Development Progress Reports

The following is an update of ongoing construction and development projects in Palm Coast, through Dec. 15:

Christ the King Evangelical Lutheran Church and School, 1 percent done: Located at 5625 North US Highway 1, the school received a Development Order for a new 13,794 sq. ft. early learning center to be located on the south side of their 8.6-acre site. The architecture of the new one-story building will be very similar to the existing church and school facilities that are located just north of the proposed new building.

Holland Park, 48 percent done: Grading and installation of perimeter sidewalk continues. Electrical conduits being installed to new restroom. Restroom plot has been cleared and graded. Water service has been installed at restroom site. Surveying for basketball court and roadway has begun..

County’s I-95 Interchange Matanzas Woods Reclaim Water, 76 percent done: Retention ponds are being excavated and fill continues for the ramps. (Not in the Dec. 15 update.)

Palm Harbor Parkway Roadway Extension, 38 percent done: The headwall for the double barrel stormwater pipe has been installed and tied in. The water main and reuse main have been extended towards Forest Grove Drive waiting on the
closure of the road next week to make the road crossing.

Colechester Bridge, 93 percent done: Seawall has been completed on the east side, slope pavement has begun.

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. (Not in the Dec. 4 update.)

Old Kings Road Force Main 83 percent done:: Contractor has completed the Force main up to the pig launch points and restored the site and trail. The area for the pig flush was completed and flushing has started. (Not in the Dec. 15 update.)

Road and Interstate Construction:

Forest Grove Drive connection to Palm Harbor Parkway to be closed starting Dec. 18: Effective Friday, Dec. 18, the City of Palm Coast will be closing the Forest Grove Drive connection to Palm Harbor Parkway. This road closure is required as part of construction operations for the Palm Harbor Parkway extension, which is currently under construction. Palm Harbor is being realigned and extended to connect directly with Matanzas Woods Parkway where it intersects with Old Kings Road. Message boards will be placed to advise motorists and other travelers of the upcoming change, and a public meeting has already been held for residents living in that area. Both the Palm Harbor extension and a separate extension of Old Kings Road are being built in preparation for the new Interstate 95 interchange to open next June at Matanzas Woods Parkway. As part of the projects, traffic patterns around Matanzas High School will be changing. One goal is to turn Forest Grove Drive back into a residential street as it was originally intended to be. The upcoming road closure of the Forest Grove Drive connection to Palm Harbor Parkway is part of that project. Forest Grove will be turned into a cul de sac on that end. Once the separate Old Kings Road extension is completed, in June 2016, the Forest Grove Drive access to the high school will be closed because it will no longer be needed. Instead, motorists and other travelers will get to Matanzas High School via the new signalized intersection at Matanzas Woods, Palm Harbor and Old Kings. For more information, please contact Palm Coast Communications Manager Cindi Lane at 386-986-3708 or [email protected].