Clinton v. Sanders at AACS, Larry Newsom, FHF Expands

Meet Larry Newsom, Flagler Beach's new city manager, tonight from 5 to 7 p.m. at Flagler Beach City Hall. (© FlaglerLive) — Meet Larry Newsom, Flagler Beach’s new city manager, tonight from 5 to 7 p.m. at Flagler Beach City Hall. (© FlaglerLive)

Today: Warmer. Mostly cloudy. Slight chance of showers in the morning…then chance of showers and slight chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs in the mid 70s inland… In the lower 70s coast. Southeast winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40 percent. Tonight: Cloudy. Chance of showers and slight chance of thunderstorms in the evening…then showers likely and slight chance of thunderstorms after midnight. Lows in the lower 60s. South winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60 percent. Details here.
Today’s fire danger is moderate. Flagler County’s Drought Index is at 21.
Today’s tides: at the beaches, at the Intracoastal Waterway.
Today’s document from the National Archives.
The OED’s Word of the Day: lovey-dovey, n. and adj..
The Live Community Calendar
Today’s jail bookings.

Today’s Briefing: Quick Links

In Flagler and Palm Coast
Local News Recap
Flagler Jail Bookings and Sheriff’s Crime Reports
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.

Closure Note: No school Monday, in observance of Presidents Day.

The Flagler County Commission meets at 5 p.m. in board chambers at the Government Services Building in Bunnell. The commission will consider creating a special taxing district in the Hammock, in the Malacompra area, to begin paying for drainage problems in that sector. It will also consider approval of an agreement for Emergency Transport Services between Florida Hospital Flagler and Flagler County Fire Rescue of patients requiring heart surgery to the nearest cardiac certified hospital. The commission will also consider appealing a decision by the Florida Ethics Commission that turned down the county’s request for attorneys’ fees in frivolous cases against county officials.

Meet and Greet Larry Newsom, Flagler Beach’s new city manager, at City Hall’s commission chamber, 5 to 7 p.m.

Florida Hospital Flagler holds a groundbreaking on a 23-bed, $15-million expansion scheduled for completion at the end of 2016. The groundbreaking takes place outside the Emergency Room entrance at 4 p.m.

Clinton v. Sanders: Palm Coast’s African-American Cultural Society hosts a free political forum at 6 p.m. featuring the two respective local leaders of the campaigns for Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

Local News Recap:

Updated jail bookings and day and night shift incident summary reports are available here.

Flagler School District Is Rated B For Third Straight Year, All Schools Either A or B: Flagler County’s schools added up to an overall B, the same grade they’ve had for the past three years, while every school in the county is either an A or B rated campus. Statewide, 56 percent of school campuses earned an A or a B, while 6 percent got an F.

Thanks to Elderly, Florida Medical Marijuana Market Could Be a $1.5 Billion Industry By 2020: Florida’s older population will play a big role in that. That means there will be more patients with conditions like cancer that may turn to medical marijuana.

Two Young Palm Coast Residents Killed in Construction Zone off Forest Grove Dr.: Kevin Walsh, 29, and Jessica Darby, 22, both of Palm Coast, were killed late Thursday night in the construction zone off Forest Grove Drive.

Palm Coast Boy, 3, Is Safe as Fugitive and Girlfriend Are Arrested After 2 Weeks on the Run: Escaped prisoner Gary Bullock, his girlfriend Natasha Quigley and her 3-year-old son Xander Quigley were located today in Flemingsburg, Ky, a small town about half way between Lexington, Ky., and Huntington, W.Va.

Palm Coast Arts Foundation Breaks Ground at New Home With Poetry, Nietzsche and a Party: Palm Coast Mayor Jon Netts welcomed an unusually large crowd for a groundbreaking as some 250 idols gathered under a big tent Thursday afternoon in Town Center for the ceremonial shoveling where the Palm Coast Arts Foundation’s events venue will start taking root very soon.

“The Last Romance” Bids a Golden Valentine for Adult Sensibilities at City Rep Theatre: In “The Last Romance,” a 2008 romantic comedy by Joe DiPietro, John portrays Ralph, an 80-year-old widower who forfeited his dream of becoming an opera singer in order to earn a mundane living. He lives with his nag-prone, possessive sister Rose, played by Kathryn Weed.

Nothing mild about Florida Agriculture Museum’s Hot n Spicy Festival: “It was a BYOC (Bring Your Own Chair) event and lines of canvas chairs stretched across the field, facing the stage. After a damp and dreary January it was obvious being outside on a beautiful day was what everyone wanted,” The Observer reported.

In State Government:

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

Former President Bill Clinton will attend a campaign event in Palm Beach County for his wife, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. (2 p.m., Port of Palm Beach, Cruise Terminal, 1 East 11th St., Riviera Beach.)

–Compiled by the News Service of Florida and FlaglerLive

In Coming Days in Palm Coast and Flagler:

Click on the links for more details:

Feb. 19-21, Friday, Saturday and Sunday: “The Last Romance,” at Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre at City Marketplace.

Purchase your tickets easily online here

Feb. 29: Flagler Youth Orchestra’s Strings Around the World Concert, 7 p.m. at the Flagler Auditorium. Adult tickets, $6 and children 17 and under are $1. Visit the website.
April 2: Cheer at the Pier, a fund-raiser for the Flagler Beach Historical Museum, from 3 to 6 p.m. Call Virginia Giaramita for information at 386/299-8892.

PR Releases:

Click on the link for more details.

In the Press, In the News:

Bipartisan support for Sri Srinivasan in 2013 when he was unanimously confirmed by Senate for DC
Circuit https://t.co/8O1yc7OcRx @usatoday

— Michiko Kakutani (@michikokakutani) February 14, 2016

The Trials Of Pronouncing Antonin Scalia Dead In West Texas https://t.co/EHkjlDWL5W

— NPR (@NPR) February 14, 2016

How do you count the homeless in America? https://t.co/cVDI9ClV9Q @jacksonmollye1 pic.twitter.com/i3LvGsYmQH

— The Christian Science Monitor (@csmonitor) February 14, 2016

America has not invested enough to maintain its water systems. https://t.co/xiTD8tDYSk pic.twitter.com/PBP1GvRb6r

— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) February 14, 2016

One of Britain’s best-known novelists talks to @yochidreazen about his radical reinvention of The Merchant of Venice https://t.co/dFpPlAg8RT

— Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) February 14, 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 Jan. 27:

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, 50 percent done: Grading and installation of sidewalks continues. Rough grading of Playground area. Restroom slab has been poured. Electrical conduit installation continues. Pavilion lighting being installed. Stormwater piping installation continues in Playground area.

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, 47 percent done: January 25, 2016 the new 10″ water main and 6″ force main
on the east end between the Conservatory and Old Kings Road were tied into existing mains on Forest Grove.

Colechester Bridge, 94 percent done: Sea walls have been completed and forming of the western abutment almost complete.

Palm Harbor Extension, 45 percent done: Met on site with contractor to discuss water and sewer testing and construction meter placement.

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 90 percent done:: The contractor has tied the 8″ force main to the 16″ force main in front of the new Master Pump Station on South Old Kings Road. On January 13, 2016 the contractor installed a 16″ X 8″ wye and an 8″ valve in front of the existing lift station on Old Kings Road South. An 8″ wye and an 8″ 45 elbow fitting was installed to complete the connection from the existing 8″ force main to the new 16″ future force main.

Island Walk Shopping Center Phase 2, 25 percent done: A substantial walk thru for punch list was done January 22,
2016. Chlorination of new section of water main in Phase 2 was completed January 27, 2016.

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 clane@palmcoastgov.com.