Tuesday Briefing: Rebuilding Palm Coast Community Center, Flagler Auditorium Update, What Is Woman

Weekend: Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers. Highs in the upper 60s. Northeast winds 5 mph shifting to the southeast in the afternoon. Tonight: Partly cloudy. Patchy fog after midnight. Lows in the lower 50s. East winds 5 mph in the evening becoming light. Details here.
Drought Index is at 345.
Today’s tides: at the beaches, at the Intracoastal Waterway.
Today’s document from the National Archives.
The OED’s Word of the Day: atas, adj..
The Live Community Calendar
Today’s jail bookings.

Today’s Briefing: Quick Links

First Light
In Flagler and Palm Coast
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
Palm Coast Construction and Development
Local Road and Interstate Construction
Cultural Coda

“At bottom, the Court’s opinion is thus a rejection of the common sense of the American people, who have recognized a need to prevent corporations from undermining self-government since the founding, and who have fought against the distinctive corrupting potential of corporate electioneering since the days of Theodore Roosevelt. It is a strange time to repudiate that common sense. While American democracy is imperfect, few outside the majority of this Court would have thought its flaws included a dearth of corporate money in politics.”

–Justice John Paul Stevens, from his dissent in Citizens United v. FEC (2010).

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 in workshop at 9 a.m. at City Hall in Town Center. It will discuss the $7.8 million reconstruction-renovation of the Palm Coast Community Center, which would be completed by January 2018 by the Oldsmar, Fla.-based Ajax Building Corporation. The council will also discuss extending an incentive package, in the form of free or discounted Fibernet (high speed internet) services, to Gioia Sails.

The Flagler County School Board and the Flagler Auditorium board hold a joint workshop at 4 p.m. in Training Room 3 on the third floor of the Government Services Building in Bunnell.

The Flagler County Centennial Committee meets at 1:30 p.m. in the Emergency Operations Center in Bunnell.

The Flagler County Planning Board meets at 6 p.m. in board chambers at the Government Services Building, Bunnell. The board will review an application for System Improvements to the Plantation Bay Wastewater Treatment Facility at 1600 Old Dixie Highway. The agenda and background materials are here.

The St. Johns River Water Management District Governing Board will meet after holding committee meetings. (Committees start at 9 a.m., followed by board meeting, district headquarters, 4049 Reid St., Palatka.)

Tapestry: A Tribute to Carol King, at the Flagler Auditorium, 7:30 p.m. Adults, $29.50, Youth, $18.50.

In Florida and in State Government:

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

Property insurance: The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee will receive an overview of property-insurance issues, including a controversial issue known as “assignment of benefits.” The assignment-of-benefits issue involves homeowners who need repairs and sign over insurance benefits to contractors. The contractors then pursue payments from insurers. Insurers contend the process can lead to fraud and litigation and has fueled an increase in costly water-damage claims. But plaintiffs’ attorneys and contractors have countered that the practice helps homeowners hire contractors quickly to repair damage and forces insurers to properly pay claims. (10 a.m.)

Death penalty and workers’ compensation: The House Judiciary Committee will discuss court rulings on a series of issues, including the death-penalty sentencing system and the workers’ compensation insurance system. Capital punishment has been on hold for the past year in the state because of rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court and the Florida Supreme Court. Also during the past year, the Florida Supreme Court issued two rulings finding parts of the workers’ compensation insurance system unconstitutional. Those rulings played a major role in a 14.5 percent insurance rate increase that started hitting businesses in December. (3:30 p.m.)

The Visit Florida Board of Directors will meet. (9 a.m., Disney’s Contemporary Resort, 4600 North World Dr., Lake Buena Vista.)

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORTS DUE: Political committees, parties and candidates for state offices in 2018 and 2020 face a Tuesday deadline for filing finance reports showing activity through Dec. 31.

–Compiled by the News Service of Florida and FlaglerLive

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

♦ Jan. 11: A status conference is scheduled for 9:30 a.m., by phone, in the Judicial Qualification Commission’s case against Flagler County Circuit Judge Scott DuPont, who faces five charges of unethical conduct during his reelection run last year.
♦ Jan. 12: The Flagler Beach City Commission meets at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.
♦ Jan. 13-15: The 4th Annual Flagler Film Festival features 60 films (shorts and features) from several local Flagler County filmmakers and films from around the world. Films from first time filmmakers, students and multi-award winning filmmakers will be screened. Hilton Garden Inn, 55 Town Center Blvd., Palm Coast. Tickets available at the door and on the festival’s website soon (www.flaglerfilmfestival.com) or by calling the box office 386-597-0260. Advance ticket prices are $5 in advance for one block of films, $10 for one day of films or $25 for the entire weekend of films.

♦ Jan. 17: Learn about historic and interesting Flagler County sites with local author Bill Ryan as your guide on this latest Historic Flagler County Bus Tour. The bus leaves at 10 a.m. from the Holden House, 204 East Moody Boulevard, Bunnell, and returns at 2:30 p.m. The cost is $20, which does not include lunch at Bull Creek Fish Camp. To make reservations or for more information call 386-439-5003.
♦ Jan. 21 and 22: Flagler County Home and Lifestyle Show, the annual event and fund-raiser for Flagler Technical Institute, the adult education division of the school district, takes place at Flagler Palm Coast High School.
♦ Jan. 23: Doughnuts with Doughney: Similar to “Coffee with a Cop,” Doughnuts with provides the public an opportunity to meet and speak openly with Flagler Beach Police Chief Matt Doughney about issues or concerns in Flagler Beach. The location of the meeting provides citizens easy access to both the 7-ELEVEN and Chief Doughney, in a relaxed, non-threatening atmosphere. From 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. at the Flagler Beach 7-ELEVEN convenience store, 408 South Oceanshore Boulevard.
♦ Feb. 6: The great violinist Itzhak Perlman opens the 2017 season of the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival with a 7:30 p.m. performance at First Baptist Church, 1600 South 8th Street in Fernandina Beach. Tickets here.
♦ Feb. 8: Jonathan Canales, the man accused of shooting his girlfriend in the neck and leaving her to bleed in a bathtub for hours in their Mondex trailer in Nov. 2014, is scheduled for a pre-trial at 1:30 p.m. in Courtroom 401 at the Flagler County Courthouse. Canales had been judged incompetent to stand trial previously.
♦ March 7: Bunnell and Flagler Beach hold their municipal elections.
♦ March 22: The boy Scouts Council holds its Golden Eagle Dinner at 6 p.m. at Hammock Beach Resort, honoring Bob Cuff, now a Palm coast City council member.

The Day’s Best Reads:

7 things to know about guns and gun violence including how many die each year and views on background checks: https://t.co/HdhgH3amkM

— PolitiFact Florida (@PolitiFactFL) January 9, 2017

Trump's protectionist economic plan is nothing new, writes @AlexiaCampbell https://t.co/RAlg0xysoM pic.twitter.com/d3VcjoJ7Sg

— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) January 9, 2017

Our new datavisualization: Great info on 60 years of nuclear power plant startups & shutdowns at your fingertips https://t.co/3GmQJjfFwb pic.twitter.com/vB1mhFoXUE

— Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (@BulletinAtomic) January 9, 2017

Warren torches Trump's education pick in 16-page letter https://t.co/d3MVkdXw0Y pic.twitter.com/kqilVwyc72

— The Hill (@thehill) January 9, 2017

The 25 most tolerant, progressive, and environmentally friendly countries in the world https://t.co/vPZ6bR2sC3

— The Independent (@Independent) January 9, 2017

A Twitter List by PierreTristam

Palm Coast Construction and Development Progress Reports

The following is an update of ongoing permitting, construction and development projects in Palm Coast, through Dec. 22 (the city administration’s full week in review is here):

Click to access development-palm-coast-dec-2.pdf

Road and Interstate Construction: