Avoid Old Kings Road in F Section, Centra Care's Grand Opening

Today: Partly cloudy. Highs in the upper 70s. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph. Tonight: Cooler. Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 40s. North winds 5 to 10 mph.. Details here.
Today’s fire danger is moderate. Flagler County’s Drought Index is at 78.
Today’s tides: at the beaches, at the Intracoastal Waterway.
Today’s document from the National Archives.
The OED’s Word of the Day: gambo, n..
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.

Grand opening of the Florida Hospital Centra Care urgent care facility, a 5,000 sq. ft. operation at 1270 Palm Coast Pkwy NW, with on-site labs and other immediate healthcare services such as X-rays, EKG, stitches, physicals, blood pressure testing, immunizations, and more. 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tours and light lunch.

Ribbon Cutting: Toni & Co Salon celebrates its 10-year renovation, 2521 Moody Blvd., Flagler Beach, 4 to 6 p.m.

Road closure note: The southbound lane of Old Kings Road just south of Forest Grove Drive will be temporarily closed to traffic most of Wednesday, Thursday and Friday while new storm drain piping is installed. To accommodate school schedules, all lanes will be open between the hours of 7 and 8 a.m. and 2 to 3 p.m. During the closure, there will be flagmen at each end of closed portion of roadway to assist with the local traffic. For convenience, avoid the construction area if possible.

Local News Recap:

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

Where are the trees at the Florida Agricultural Museum? “The trees were cleared over the Christmas holiday, but the process began in 2014,” the Observer reports. “The trees were sand pine and planted for the purpose of harvest. The revenue from the sale of the timber benefits the museum.”

A Dog Is Shot Dead in Palm Coast’s W-Section, Triggering Murky Investigation–and Fear: The family that once owned the puppy, and a family friend who first posted about the dog on Facebook when it was missing, spoke about the case at length on Tuesday. So did the man who owned the dog and acknowledged recovering it when it was dead. Both parties spoke of the death of the dog resulting in mutual fears of worse to come.

In Major Shift, Florida Senate Panel Approves Use of “Full-Strength” Pot for Terminally Ill: The bill (SB 460), approved by the Senate Rules Committee, would allow dying patients to use full-strength medical marijuana — a potentially major shift in Florida. But that issue received relatively little debate Monday, as senators sparred over other parts of the bill that are an outgrowth of the 2014 law, which authorized non-euphoric types of cannabis for patients such as children who suffer from severe epilepsy.

In State Government:

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

Public records: The Senate will hold a floor session and could vote on a series of measures, including a bill (SB 1220), filed by Sen. Rene Garcia, R-Hialeah, that deals with attorney fees in public-records lawsuits. The issue stems from allegations by local governments that some public-records requests have been filed against agencies as part of a strategy to create violations and win attorney fees. (10 a.m.)

The House is scheduled to hold a floor session at 10:30 a.m.

Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet will take up a series of issues, including two projects that would help conserve large tracts of land in Highlands and Osceola counties. The projects involve buying what are known as conservation “easements,” which would protect the land from development but allow continued use as ranches. Scott and the Cabinet will consider spending $4.32 million for a 2,526-acre conservation easement on a northern Highlands County property owned by S.Y. Hartt & Son, Inc. They also will consider spending $2.35 million for a 1,189-acre easement on a central Osceola County property owned by Venture Four LLC. Both properties have long been used for cattle operations. (9 a.m.)

Stay of execution sought: The Florida Supreme Court will hear arguments about whether it should block the scheduled March 17 execution of Death Row inmate Mark James Asay, who was convicted of killing two men in 1987 in Jacksonville. Asay argues that he has not received adequate legal representation and that more time is needed to address a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month that struck down Florida’s death-penalty sentencing system. (9 a.m.)

The state university system’s Board of Governors is scheduled to meet and discuss issues such as a proposed downtown Orlando campus for the University of Central Florida. (Committee meeting starts at 1 p.m., followed by the full board meeting, University of Central Florida, Fairwinds Alumni Center, 12676 Gemini Blvd., Orlando.)

–Compiled by the News Service of Florida and FlaglerLive

In Coming Days in Palm Coast and Flagler:

Click on the links for more details:

March 4: 15th Annual Flagler Reads Together Kickoff. The chosen book this year is “Grandma Gatewood’s Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail,” by Ben Montgomery. Montgomery will be present at the kickoff at 11 a.m. at the Flagler County Public Library, 2500 Palm Coast Parkway NW in Palm Coast.
March 5: Early Voting begins for the presidential primary election in Florida. Only Democrats and Republicans may cast ballots in their respective parties’ primaries. Independents and minor-party voters may not vote, Florida being a closed-primary state. Early voting runs through March 12 at the Supervisor of Elections’ office in Bunnell (at the Government Services Building), the Flagler County Public Library on Palm Coast Parkway, and at the Palm Coast Community Center. Every day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Click here for early voting details.
March 4: Stayin’ Alive, the Bee Gees tribute band, returns to the Flagler Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $29 for adults, $18 for youth.
March 11: Flagler County Job Fair, at the Palm Coast campus of Daytona State College, 3000 Palm Coast Pkwy, SE Bldg 3. The job fair will offer businesses and job seekers opportunities to connect on March 11, 2016 from noon to 6 p.m.
March 15: Presidential Primary Election in Flagler and all of Florida, and Bunnell city election. Early voting
March 30-April 2: Florida Future Problem Solvers State Competition, to be attended by four to five Flagler County schools, at Doubletree Orlando Seaworld, 10100 International Drive, Orlando.
March 5: Christian Women’s Conference: “Unexpected Detours,” Featuring Carol Kent, an inspiring Christian speaker and best-selling author. First Baptist Church of Bunnell, 2301 Commerce Parkway, Bunnell. $25 to attend. Price includes lunch. Contact Marge Ankrom for information, 386-931-2784
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.
April 12: Anjali Anabel Tomerlin, a third grader at Imagine School at Town Center in Palm Coast who’s written and illustrated her first book, will hold a book-signing at the Flagler Beach Public library from 4 to 6 p.m.
April 15: The Florida Ethics Commission will take up an administrative law judge’s recommendation in the ethics case against Flagler County Sheriff Jim Manfre. 9 a.m.

PR Releases:

Click on the link for more details.

In the Press, In the News:

More than 1/3 of people shot by L.A. police in 2015 were mentally ill, LAPD report finds https://t.co/dmAvqttLsJ pic.twitter.com/6QFCphcCF9

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) March 2, 2016

#SuperTuesday won’t change anything. Florida will. https://t.co/GrRG3bgAvs pic.twitter.com/fjj20GGYl6

— Slate (@Slate) March 2, 2016

Bashing Obamacare no guaranteed vote-getter in Florida, PPP poll shows https://t.co/ulW5SpXuvL #flapol #sayfie

— Peter Schorsch (@PeterSchorschFL) March 2, 2016

In other news, New York Police found $1 million worth of Marijuana in a crate marked "Art" https://t.co/6yXchE90KU pic.twitter.com/wiOJD95PrB

— Artnet (@artnet) March 1, 2016

Domestic violence rates make Papua New Guinea one of the most dangerous places in the world to be female https://t.co/gEwFe37x43

— The Guardian (@guardian) March 2, 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 Feb. 17:

Seminole Woods Multi Use Path design, 75 percent done: Survey continues, shot horizontal and vertical features for path design.

Holland Park, 54 percent done: Grading and installation of sidewalks continues. Restroom block cells poured and trusses installed. Installation of street and pathway light poles and fixtures.

County’s I-95 Interchange Matanzas Woods Reclaim Water, 83 percent done: Approximately 1,600 ft. of 16″ HDPE piping was air tested February 11, 2016. On February 12, 2016 the 16″ HDPE reuse main was installed under the southbound ramp.

Palm Harbor Parkway Roadway Extension, 50 percent done: Work continues on the stormwater structure at the intersection of Palm Harbor Parkway and Forest Grove.

Colechester Bridge, 94 percent done: Sea walls have been completed and forming of the western abutment 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. (Not in the Dec. 4 update.)

Old Kings Road Force Main 96 percent done:: February 11, 2016 night work with lane closure and tank trucking for the south end force main tie-in to the 12″ pipe from the South and the 12″ pipe from Town Center. The new
16″ force main and the 8″ old main were connected to the old Pump Station north of Lehigh Canal.

Island Walk Shopping Center Phase 2, 26 percent done: February 15, 2016 a 10″ core was made into the existing manhole for the sewer lateral for the 2 lots facing Palm Coast Parkway. (GoToby has a construction permitting progress report here.)

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].