PTSD Memorial, Old Kings Traffic Light, Legacy Florida in Everglades

Today:Partly cloudy. Slight chance of showers in the morning… Then slight chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs in the lower 90s inland…in the upper 80s coast. Southwest winds 5 mph shifting to the east in the afternoon. Chance of rain 20 percent. Tonight: Partly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms in the evening. Lows in the upper 60s. Southwest winds 5 mph. Details here.
Today’s fire danger is moderate. Flagler County’s Drought Index is at 211.
Today’s tides: at the beaches, at the Intracoastal Waterway.
Today’s document from the National Archives.
The OED’s Word of the Day: ostensible, adj. and n..
The Live Community Calendar
Today’s jail bookings.

Today’s Briefing: Quick Links

First Light
In Flagler and Palm Coast
Local News Recap
Flagler Jail Bookings and Sheriff’s Crime Reports
In State Government
In Coming Days in Flagler, Palm Coast and Beyond
The Day’s Best Reads
Fact-Checking the Knaves
Summer Camps for Children
Palm Coast Construction and Development Progress Reports
Local Road and Interstate Construction
Cultural Coda

“President Kennedy’s eloquence was designed to make men think; President Johnson’s hammer blows are designed to make men act. He is not concerned with the fastidious refinements of speech. He is a vivid, earthy talker who either persuades or stuns his hearers.”

–James Reston in a New York Times column, Jan. 8, 1964.

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.

The Palm Coast City Council meets at 9 a.m. at City Hall in Town Center. It will discuss a proposed PTSD memorial for Heroes Park, which has gone through many versions (see its original version here), and will discuss approving a $125,000 traffic signal installation at the intersection of Old Kings Road and Town Center Boulevard.

Flagler County’s Centennial Committee meets at 1:30 p.m. in the third-floor financial services conference room at the Government Services Building, Bunnell. It’ll further discuss a presentation to be made to the school board, a letter to be written to the secretary of state, and talk about the Florida Historical Society.

Entrepreneur Night at Sunsetters Riverfront, 115 Main St., Daytona Beach. Join over 150 entrepreneurs, startup founders, investors, and supporters of entrepreneurs. Expect a terrific atmosphere, complimentary appetizers, cash bar, fast pitched sessions, peer-to-peer connections, conversations, networking, entertainment, and surprises. 5:30 p.m.

Local News Recap:

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

Flagler County Approves Manatee Protection Plan With Speed Zones on Intracoastal: Warm season speed zones are in effect from May 1 to September 7 for boats and other watercraft on the Intracoastal Waterway. Slow speed zones are primarily from north of the Lehigh Canal to just south of State Road 100 and from the canals south of State Road 100 to Gamble Rogers State Park. The specific zone areas can be viewed here.

weldon richlin ryan calypso fine art gallery — Weldon and Richlin Ryan, co-owners of Calypso Fine Art Gallery, beside Weldon’s painting ‘Red Hot.’ The gallery includes Weldon’s paintings of carnival revelers, inspired by the carnival tradition of his native Trinidad and Tobago. (© FlaglerLive)

Art Walk Renaissance as Calypso and ZinkZank Galleries Open Within Brush Stroke of Salvo: Artists at each venue – Salvo owners JJ Graham and Petra Iston, Calypso owners Weldon and Richlin Ryan and ZinkZank owner Sheila Skipp Zinkerman – use the term “art walk” to describe the dynamic they hope will develop since the Ryans left Salvo in March and opened their own gallery less than 100 yards away. Calypso had its grand opening on May 21 in suite K12 at Marvin’s Garden, which is on State Road 100 a turtle’s stroll west of Belle Terre Parkway.

Flagler County ceremonies remember fallen heroes on Memorial Day: “Every year since I was elected mayor, I’ve been asked to speak to you at this Memorial Day ceremony,” Palm Coast Mayor Jon Netts, on his last occasion as mayor at one such ceremony, said, according to the News-Journal. “And each year it has been my honor to memorialize the courageous men and women who have died in their service to the United States of America.” (Story paywall-protected.)

Developer Charlie Faulkner Arrested on DUI and Criminal Mischief Charges Over Political Sign: Sheriff’s candidate Chris Yates, who planted the sign there, had not however gotten permission from Faulkner, who manages the land, nor from the land owner, as candidates are required to do when placing campaign signs on private property. Faulkner made that clear to the arresting deputy. Nevertheless, he was charged.

Florida Insurers Requesting an Average 17.7% Rate Increase in Obamacare Plans for 2017: While the requested increases for Florida vary from zero to 40 percent, they are more modest for the popular “silver” benchmark plans, which qualify for tax credits. All of the requested increases for silver plans are under 14 percent, and half are under 3 percent, according to a search of Florida plans for 2017 on a federal website.

In Florida and in State Government:

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

Legacy Florida: Gov. Rick Scott is expected to hold a ceremonial bill-signing event for the “Legacy Florida” initiative, which will provide money to help restore the Everglades, the state’s natural springs and Lake Apopka. Also expected to take part in the event are incoming Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, and state Rep. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart. (1:30 p.m., Florida Atlantic University, Pine Jog Environmental Education Center, 6301 Summit Blvd., West Palm Beach.)

Bear management and hunting: The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will hold a webinar to discuss bear-management issues. The webinar comes after the commission held a controversial bear hunt in October and as it considers another potential hunt this year. (6 p.m. More information at www.myfwc.com/bear or sign up here).

–Compiled by the News Service of Florida and FlaglerLive

In Coming Days in Palm Coast, Flagler and the Occasional Beyond:

♦ June 1: The Flagler County Republican Club hosts a forum for the Republican candidates for Palm Coast City Council, starting at 6 p.m. (doors open at 5:30 p.m.) at the Palm Coast Community Center, 305 Palm Coast Parkway NE. The forum will feature Milissa Holland and Ron Radford, who are running for mayor, and Troy DuBose, Robert Cuff and Pam Richardson, who are running for two council seats. The several Democrats running for those seats are not invited to the forum as participants, though they may attend.
♦ June 1: Flagler County Emergency Management makes a presentation at the inaugural “Hurricane Preparedness Breakfast” being hosted by Flagler Volunteer Services. The breakfast will be held from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. June 1 at the Hilton Garden Inn.
♦ June 2: The Flagler County Young Republicans Club host a forum featuring the six Republican candidates running for sheriff in the Aug. 30 primary. The forum is at the Hilton garden Inn, 55 Town Center Blvd., Palm Coast, at 6 p.m. It features Don Fleming, John Lamb, Jerry O’Gara, Rick Staly, Mark Whisenant and Christopher Yates.
♦ June 4: Flagler County’s Democratic Executive Committee holds a potluck picnic at Hershel King Park at 1000 Grady Prather Jr. Cove in Palm Coast starting at noon, with honorary guest James Canfield, first mayor of Palm Coast. Plenty of children’s activities, a dunk tank, ice cream truck, and a chance to meet Democratic candidates. Free admission includes hot dogs, baked beans and coleslaw.
♦ June 7: A 1:30 p.m. hearing is scheduled in the case of Anna Pehota, accused of second-degree murder in the shooting death of her husband on Sept. 23, 2015, in the Hammock. Her trial was scheduled for April 18, but her attorney, Ray Warren, was granted a delay so he could explore Pehota’s memory issues, which could play a deciding role in the handling of her case. The results of that inquiry are to be the subject of this hearing.
♦ June 8: The Public Safety Coordinating Council meets at 8:45 a.m. at the Emergency Operations Center in the Government Services complex, behind the Government Services Building.
♦ June 8: Euro 2016 begins at 3 p.m. with a France-Romania match-up. France is hosting the month-long tournament, which features 24 of the world’s best national teams. The final is on July 10.
♦ June 14: Dr. Bill Mefford, Faith Outreach Specialist for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, leads a discussion entitled “Religion and Partisan Politics Don’t Mix,” hosted by the All Flagler Democratic Club at 7 p.m. at the African American Cultural Society, 4422 US 1 North, Palm Coast. Call 386-447-7030 for best directions. This program is free, open to the public, all are welcome, no advance arrangements are necessary.
♦ June 16: The fourth annual commemoration of the largest mass arrest of Rabbis in U.S. History, an event that took place in St. Augustine on June 18, 1964, will be held on Thursday, June 16, at 7 p.m. in the Gamache-Koger Theater in the Ringhaver Student Center at 48 Sevilla Street in St. Augustine on the campus of Flagler College. The 90-minute event will include the reading of the letter written by the Rabbis in the Flagler County Jail and a video of the forum held with the surviving rabbis who gathered in St. Augustine in June, 2014. This event is free, all are welcome, no advance arrangements are necessary. Call (904) 819-6365 for best directions.
♦ July 20: The Flagler League of Cities, a gathering of the county’s mayors, meets at noon at Flagler Beach City Hall.

The Day’s Best Reads:

Class, Trump, and the Election https://t.co/q6OSlUhqxW pic.twitter.com/hAW4XL7yr4

— National Review (@NRO) May 31, 2016

Will we ever change our minds about Hillary Clinton? https://t.co/6m53GQLVns pic.twitter.com/lOHM56B7gE

— The New Republic (@newrepublic) May 31, 2016

Troopers: Man road over 2 motorcyclists during Monday road-rage incident in #Lutz https://t.co/MOj6pc0mbM pic.twitter.com/DYRPEMZfu8

— Spectrum News 13 (@MyNews13) May 31, 2016

The secretive research into nuclear fusion energyhttps://t.co/iaZY5bOOwL @THEDavidWillis reports from California pic.twitter.com/UQ8HsrCtZa

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) May 31, 2016

The boiling river in the Amazon: https://t.co/UHSEsMEVik @georuzo pic.twitter.com/BsK2IiWTBo

— TED Talks (@TEDTalks) May 31, 2016

Fact-Checking the Knaves:

Palm Coast Construction and Development Progress Reports

The following is an update of ongoing permitting, construction and development projects in Palm Coast, through May 11:

Click to access week-in-review-may131.pdf

Summer Camps:

Florida Agricultural Museum Summer Camps: Become a junior farmer at the Florida Agricultural Museum this summer! Junior farmers will learn about farm life, forestry, and Florida history. Participate in arts & crafts, farm animal care, Florida fauna/flora education, fun and games. Sessions are all 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., $175 per session and are as follows:
1st) June 7-9
2nd) June 14-16
3rd) June 21-23
4th) June 28-30
5th) July 5-7
6th) July 12-14

Road and Interstate Construction:

Paving operations to begin Sunday May 22 on Interstate 4 near Deltona and DeBary: Paving operations will require nightly lane closures on Interstate 4 (I-4) near Deltona and DeBary beginning Sunday, May 22. Westbound single lane closures will occur from 7:30 p.m. to 6 a.m., while eastbound single lane closures will occur between 7:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. The contractor may close two lanes at a time between 10 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. The contractor, Ranger Construction Industries, Inc. will begin with a deep milling operation in the westbound lanes near the Saxon Boulevard entrance ramps to I-4 westbound. That work will occur Sunday and Monday nights, May 22 and 23. Milling and resurfacing of the westbound lanes to the St. John’s River Bridge will continue the remainder of the week. Additionally, the contractor will close the entrance ramp from Dirksen Drive to I-4 westbound on Wednesday, May 25, from 11 p.m. – 6 a.m. to remove barrier wall. The work is part of the Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT) resurfacing project on I-4 from the east end of the St. John’s River Bridge to Saxon Boulevard.