Monday Briefing: Computer Coding as Foreign Language, Undocumented Criminals, Trump’s Russian Affinities

Today: Partly cloudy. Patchy fog in the morning. Highs around 80 inland…in the mid 70s coast. East winds 5 to 10 mph. Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 50s. Southeast winds 5 mph shifting to the south after midnight.
Details here.
Drought Index is at 371.
Today’s tides: at the beaches, at the Intracoastal Waterway.
Today’s document from the National Archives.
The OED’s Word of the Day: ablation, n..
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
• Announcements
• 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

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 Sheriff’s daily incident reports and jail bookings are posted here.

Keep in mind: March is Women’s History Month.

In court: Circuit Judge Dennis Craig holds felony arraignments at 8:30 a.m. in Courtroom 401 at the Flagler County courthouse.

The Flagler County government administration holds a special workshop for at least two of the commissioners elected in November to catch them up on the budget (special funds and proprietary funds), in the administrator’s conference room on the third floor, 1 p.m. It is the second such workshop designed to get the new commissioners up to speed omn the budget, so as not to have to hold repetitive, individual meetings with each.

The Bunnell City Commission meets in workshop at 6 p.m. to review code enforcement issues, and at 7 p.m. for a regularly scheduled meeting at City Hall, 201 West Moody Boulevard.

The 11th Annual Primary Care Spring Conference takes place at Hammock Beach Resort Monday through Friday.

Mostly useless information: The Trans-Alaska pipeline begins construction on this day in 1975. The U.S. Senate had approved the pipeline on a 77-20 vote on July 17, 1973, after Nixon’s Vice President, Spiro Agnew, cast a vote to break a 49-49 tie on a measure that immunized the privately built pipeline from further court challenges: that vote, in essence, shut out the courts from the Alaska pipeline, a 789-mile project that was to cost, at the time, $3.5 billion, and run from the north slope of Alaska to Valdez. The pipeline was completed on May 31, 1977.

Announcements:

Palm Coast Arts Foundation’s Annual Picnics and Pops Concert With the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, at Town Center: Tickets for the 10th Anniversary event, on May 7 at 6:30 p.m., are $40 for members of the foundation, $45 for the general public, through March 15. After March 15, tickets are $45 and $50, and a table of 10 goes for $450 for members, $500 for the general public. For tickets go to www.palmcoastartsfoundation.com or call 386-225-4394. See a full flier for the event here.

In Florida and in State Government:

Note: Some proceedings below can be followed live on the Florida Channel. Most legislative proceedings can be followed through the Senate or House websites.

Trauma system: The House Health Innovation Subcommittee will consider a bill (HB 1077), filed by Rep. Jay Trumbull, R-Panama City, that would erase limits on the number of trauma centers across the state. The bill comes after years of legal and political fights in the hospital industry about whether more trauma centers should be built. (12:30 p.m.)

Pip insurance repeal: The House Insurance & Banking Subcommittee will take up a proposal (HB 1063), filed by Rep. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, that would repeal the state’s no-fault auto insurance law, which requires motorists to carry personal-injury protection, or PIP, coverage. (12:30 p.m.)

Undocumented criminals: The House Justice Appropriations Subcommittee will consider a proposal (HB 83), filed by Rep. Dane Eagle, R-Cape Coral, that would increase penalties for undocumented immigrants who commit types of violent crimes. (12:30 p.m.)

Computer-coding as foreign language: The House PreK-12 Quality Subcommittee will consider a proposal (HB 265), filed by Rep. Elizabeth Porter, R-Lake City, and Rep. Patricia Williams, D-Lauderdale Lakes, that would allow high-school students to take computer-coding courses to satisfy two credits of foreign-language requirements. (Monday, 12:30 p.m., Reed Hall, House Office Building, the Capitol.)

Septic tank inspections: The House Natural Resources & Public Lands Subcommittee will take up a bill (HB 285), filed by Rep. Randy Fine, R-Palm Bay, that would require septic-tank inspections as part of the sales of property in areas with “impaired” waterways. (1 p.m.)

First responders’ death benefits: The Senate Criminal Justice Committee will consider a proposal (SB 1626), filed by Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, that deals with a series of issues at the Department of Legal Affairs, including allowing the department to award up to $50,000 to surviving family members of emergency responders who, as a result of crimes, are killed while answering calls for service. (1:30 p.m.)

School testing: The Senate Education Committee will take up a bill (SB 926), filed by Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, that would make a series of changes in public-school student assessments. (1:30 p.m.)

5-G: The Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee will take up a bill (SB 596), filed by Sen. Travis Hutson, R-Elkton, that would set statewide rules for wireless carriers on the installation of “small wireless facilities” used for new 5G technology. (4 p.m.)

Nursing home exemptions: The Senate Health Policy Committee will consider a proposal (SB 682), filed by Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, that would exempt some nursing-home residents from the statewide Medicaid managed-care system. The exemption would apply to residents who have been in nursing homes for at least 60 consecutive days and residents who receive hospice care. (4 p.m.)

Florida Democratic Party Chairman Stephen Bittel is expected to speak during a meeting of the Leon County Democratic Executive Committee. (Monday, 7 p.m., Tallahassee City Hall, 300 South Adams St., Tallahassee.)

–Compiled by the News Service of Florida and FlaglerLive

 

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

♦ March 28: The superintendent search’s Community Advisory Committee meets in Training Room 3 on the third floor of the Government Services Building in Bunnell, at 6 p.m.
♦ March 28: The Flagler Forum, the discussion group organized by Ed Fuller, hosts a panel discussion featuring Flagler County’s local media, including Palm Coast Observer Editor Brian McMillan, Flagler Broadcasting-WNZF General Manager David Ayres, Daytona Beach news-Journal Editor Pat Rice, and FlaglerLive Editor Pierre Tristam, at the Hilton Garden Inn, Palm Coast, at 6:30 p.m.
♦ March 30: The Flagler County Chamber of Commerce’s Common Ground Breakfast at 8 a.m. at Grand Haven Country Club features a panel including Palm Coast Observer Editor Brian McMillan, Flagler Broadcasting-WNZF General Manager David Ayres, Daytona Beach news-Journal Editor Pat Rice, and FlaglerLive Editor Pierre Tristam.
♦ March 30: Flagler County schools’ summer camps and activities expo, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Buddy Taylor Middle School-Wadsworth Elementary cafeteria.
♦ March 30: 2016 Artist of the Year Judi Wormek presents a demonstration of her work at 6 p.m. at Ocean Art Gallery, 206 Moody Boulevard (State Road 100) in Flagler Beach.
♦ April 1: Stetson University is hosting an open forum discussion with St. Petersburg immigration attorney Arturo R. Rios on recent changes in immigration actions and law including the expansion of enforcement capabilities. This forum is free and open to the public. The forum is scheduled for April 1 at 1 p.m. at the Marshall & Vera Lea Rinker Welcome Center, 529 N. Woodland Blvd., DeLand. Details here.
♦ April 4: The American Association of University Women (AAUW)’s Flagler branch has a wine and cheese social at the Hammock Cheese shop, 5368 N Ocean Shore Blvd, Palm Coast, starting at 4 p.m.
♦ April 6: Palm Coast Democratic Club meeting, 7 p.m. at the African American Cultural Center, US1 in Palm Coast.
♦ April 6: Tom Gargiulo will present a Gallery Walk and a Q&A on the works of 2016 Artist of the Year Judi Wormeck, at 6 p.m. at Ocean Art Gallery, 206 Moody Boulevard (State Road 100) in Flagler Beach.
♦ April 26: Anyone whose child has died is invited to an informal meeting to consider eventually establishing a local chapter of The Compassionate Friends, a nonprofit self-help bereavement support organization for families that have experienced the death of a child. There are some 650 such chapters across the country. The meeting will be from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Florida Hospital Flagler in classrooms A&B. for more information, call John Brady at 610/428-3139. To learn more about The Compassionate Friends, visit their national website at www.compassionatefriends.org. The meeting is open to all parents, grandparents, and siblings over age 18 who has suffered the loss of a child of any age.
♦ April 29: The People’s Climate Movement March, in conjunction with a march scheduled in Washington, D.C., will march locally, meeting at Wadsworth Park at 10 am and marching over the bridge to Veteran’s Park in Flagler Beach, where there we will a rally and speakers sharing a wide variety of issues and information on how to get involved.
♦ May 16: The Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission holds a hearing the the case of Circuit Judge Scott DuPont, who faces several charges of misconduct during his 2016 re-election election campaign. He has admitted wrongdoing. The 9 a.m. hearing is taking place in courtroom 406-7 at the Duval County Courthouse, 501 W. Adams Street, Jacksonville, before a six-member panel: Eugene Pettis, Steven P. DeLuca, Robert Morris, Michele Cummings, Harry Duncanson (a lay member of the commission) and Jerome S. Osteryoung.

The Day’s Best Reads:

Palm Coast Construction and Development Progress Reports

The following is an update of ongoing permitting, construction and development projects in Palm Coast, through Feb. 24 (the city administration’s full week in review is here):

Click to access development-february-22-2017.pdf

Road and Interstate Construction:

• Florida Department of Transportation Road Project List

Cultural Coda:

Haydn: Piano Trio No. 39 in G major Hob. XV/25

Previous Codas:

• Mozart: Ave Verum Corpus, Leonard Bernstein
• What is McCarthyism? And how did it happen?
• The Corrs: Toss the Feathers
• Peter Falk’s Acceptance Speech for 1972 Emmy, for Colombo
• How Did Beethoven Compose His 9th Symphony After He Went Completely Deaf?
• Ray Chen Performs Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
• The Well Tempered Clavier, Book 1,HJ Lim, Piano
• Alicia de Larrocha plays Two Spanish Dances By Granados
• Comparone Plays a Scarlatti Sonata
• C. A. de Beriot, scene de Ballet, Daniel Shindarov, violin, Sergey Silvanskiy, piano
• Johnny Cash: Sunday Morning Coming Down
• Cinema Paradiso: The Main Theme
• Duke Ellington’s Take the A Train
• The Temptations and the Four Tops in a Motown Medley
• Sheku Kanneh-Mason Performs Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” Arranged By Tom Hodge
• Alessandro Marcello’s Oboe Concerto
• Isaac Albéniz, Suite Iberia, Félix Ardanaz, piano
• Johannes Ockeghem: Ave Maria
• Cimarosa’s Oboe Concerto, François Leleux and the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong
• Eubie Blake in Berlin, 1972, Plays Charleston Rag
• John Eliot Gardiner Conducts Three Bach Cantatas: BWV 113, BWV 179 and BWV 199
• David Letterman: The First Show, Feb. 1, 1982
• Roy Eldridge, 1957
• Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers: A Night In Tunisia (1958)
• T. Paige: Put The God Things First (sic.)
• Dick Cavett Interviews Janis Joplin, Gloria Swanson, Margot Kidder, Dave Meggyesy
• Theodor Adorno and the Critique of Capitalism: An Introduction
• Narciso Yepes in Concert, 1979, 10-string Guitar
• Keith Jarrett: Solo Concert, Tokyo, 1984
• What Is Woman?
• Poem Op.41, No.4 by Zdenek Fibich
• Watch a Performance of a Scarlatti Sonata on the Oldest Surviving Piano
• Bach: Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248, John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir
• Thirty Minutes of Bud Powell
• The Exquisite Billy Evans Plays My Foolish Heart
• Martha Argerich Performs Bach’s Partita No 2, BWV 826