Thursday Briefing: District Band Festival at FPC, "Patriot" Show at Bethune-Cookman, Luna-tics Win, Flagler Beach Land Sale

Last Saturday (Feb. 23) Flagler County’s all Girl Scout Team, The Luna-tics competed in this First Lego League (FLL) tournament division and won 1st place for Strategy and Innovation in the Northeast regional Robotics Championship. Some 120 teams and more than 1200 participants competed. The Luna-tics were also one of only 11 FLL teams earning bids to compete in the Statewide Tournament in April. The team is comprised of five Flagler County Girl Scouts ages 12-14, from four different Flagler County Girl Scout Troops and four different Flagler County Schools (Indian Trails Middle School, Buddy Taylor Middle School, Wadsworth Elementary and iFlagler). This is their first year working together on the First Lego League Robotics League. This year’s theme is a space related challenge called “Into Orbit.” (Imagine School’s 11-member team, the Electro-Lions, took second place.) The Participants are judged on their Robot game, Robot design, a Project (to come up with an innovative solution to solve a problem faced by astronauts during long duration space travel) and Core Values. The robot game requires them to design, build and program robots to perform tasks on a mission board. Literally, hundreds of hours outside of school, extracurricular and family responsibilities goes into preparing for these tournaments. The Flagler County team was born when two of the members participated in last year’s challenge with a team from Fleming Island. They traveled two hours round trip, often multiple times a week, to participate. They decided that they wanted to start a local team and did just that with the backing of Girl Scouts of Gateway Council. The Team above is comprised of Madeline Brinker, Mackinzie Rogan, Alexandria Murray, Madilyn Winternheimer and Kadance (Nickmeyer) Schmidt-Alpers. The Team is coached by Therese Watson-Murray and Tania R. Schmidt-Alpers. (Tania R. Schmidt-Alpers)

Today:: Mostly cloudy in the morning then becoming partly cloudy. Areas of dense fog in the morning. Highs in the upper 70s. Northwest winds 5 mph shifting to the southeast in the afternoon. Tonight: Partly cloudy. Lows around 60. South winds around 5 mph shifting to the west after midnight. Details here.
Today’s document from the National Archives and the Astronomy Picture of the Day.
Today’s tides: at the beaches, at the Intracoastal Waterway.
Drought Index: 176
Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day: grift.
The Live Community Calendar
Today’s jail bookings.

Today’s Briefing: Quick Links

First Light
In Flagler and Palm Coast
Flagler Jail Bookings and Last 24 Hours of Incident Reports
Flagler Beach A1A Construction Updates
US 1-Old Dixie Highway Roundabout Construction Updates
Announcements
In State Government
In Coming Days in Flagler, Palm Coast and Beyond
Fact-Checking the Knaves
Palm Coast Construction and Development
Cultural Coda

“I’ve always thought that love, literature, morals and time are one and the same under different names and different aspects.”

–Jean d’Ormesson, “Le vagabond qui passe sous une ombrelle trouée” (1978).

Previously:

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.

The Flagler Beach City Commission meets at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall. The commission is expected to select three applicants to fill seats on its planning board, and may decide whether and to whom to sell a property at 1901 North Daytona Avenue. See the meeting materials here.

The Palm Coast Beautification and Environmental Advisory Committee meets at 5 p.m. at City Hall in Town Center. An agenda had not been posted online by Feb. 24.

Thursday, Friday, Saturday: District Band Festival at Flagler Palm Coast High School.

Bethune Cookman University is hosting an opening reception for “Patriot,” an art show featuring the paintings of native son Anthony Armstrong at the Mary McLeod Bethune Performing Arts Center / Visual Art Gallery. The show debuts selected paintings from his “Patriot Series.” These 40 works, two years in the making, are a symbolic testament to the continuous struggle of African Americans to shape a greater nation. The show has been on display since Jan. 14 and will run through March 31, 2019 with the reception on February 28 from 6 to 8 pm in the Visual Arts Gallery, at the Mary McLeod Bethune Performing Arts Center, 640 Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Blvd, Daytona Beach. Admission is free. The Visual Arts Gallery at Bethune Cookman University is free and open to the public, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Funding for this gallery space comes, in part, from the County of Volusia ECHO Grants in Aid Program. For more information on this art exhibit or the gallery, please call (386) 481‐2774.

COMMUNITY INPUT SOUGHT ON HEALTH ISSUES (closes Feb. 28): Flagler county residents are being asked to speak up and voice their opinion on a variety of health-related topics through an online survey. The input from the community will be used to create health improvement plans to address community concerns and improve quality of life. The survey is online here countyhealthsurvey.com and is available in English and Spanish. Results of the survey provide the foundation of Community Health Needs Assessments, which are a collection of data used to inform communities and develop goals to improve health outcomes. Once the assessments are complete, they will be used to create three-year Community Health Improvement Plans for both Volusia and Flagler counties. The assessments are being conducted in collaboration with the Florida Department of Health in Flagler and Volusia counties, Flagler Cares, local hospitals and Volusia and Flagler county government. Residents, employers and community partners are encouraged to share this link and ask others to take the survey as well. The survey will close February 28, 2019. Please take the survey here.

Blood Donations: The Big Red Bus will be at the following locations this week (schedule your donation by going to the website and entering a Palm Coast zip code, then locating one of the venues below):

Monday: Government Services Building, Bunnell, 1 to 4 p.m.
Wednesday: Flagler Palm Coast High School, 5500 State Road 100, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Thursday: Walmart, 174 Cypress Point Parkway, Palm Coast, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Friday: Advance America, 800 Belle Terre Parkway, Suite 212, Palm Coast, 2 to 7 p.m.

Jail Bookings and Last 24 Hours' Incidents in Flagler, Palm Coast, Flagler Beach, Bunnell


Jail Bookings, June 19-22 Sheriff's night shift incident reports, June 21 Sheriff's day shift incident reports, June 21 Flagler Beach's night shift incident reports, June 21 Flagler Beach's day shift incident reports, June 21 Bunnell police's night shift incident reports, June 21 Bunnell police's day shift incident reports, June 21
Previous and archived reports

Sources: Flagler County Sheriff's Office, Flagler Beach Police Department, Bunnell Police Department. This is Flagler County's only comprehensive, one-stop compilation of all local law enforcement's daily day and night shift commanders' reports.

Flagler Beach Is Open For Business: A1A Construction Update:

FlaglerLive is providing weekly updates to year-long construction on and near State Road A1A in Flagler Beach as the Florida Department of Transportation rebuilds a 1.5-mile segment from South 9th Street to South 22nd Street, and builds a sea wall at the north end of town. These updates are provided through DOT or local officials. If you have any relevant information or images, you’re welcome to email them to the editor here.

Segment 2: South 22nd to South 9th Street: A significant detour on State Road (S.R.) A1A in Flagler Beach is set to start Tuesday, Feb 26, as construction continues on a project to protect the road from erosion and future storm events. The work is part of a Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) project to construct improvements along three sections of S.R. A1A in Flagler County. A temporary traffic repair has been in place since the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew in late 2016.

Fast Facts:

Southbound traffic on S.R. A1A will be detoured onto a local road, South Central Avenue, between South 7^th Street and South 23^rd Street.
Northbound traffic will remain on S.R. A1A.
The detour will be in place throughout the reconstruction.
Access to all businesses and homes will be maintained.
Access will also be available using side streets.
For those with driveways only on S.R. A1A, access will be available from northbound S.R. A1A.

Since this is a popular destination for tourists and visitors, drivers are asked to obey the posted speed limits on both S.R. A1A and Central Avenue, and to be alert for pedestrians and bicyclists in the area. Due to safety concerns, bicyclists and foot traffic are urged to stay in designated, safe areas throughout the project.

Segment 3: North 18th Street to Osprey Drive: The contractor continues to bring in sand and prepare for installation of the new buried seawall. Residents may have noticed the contractor installing forms near North 18th Street. This is not the seawall itself. These forms will be used to guide the drill and form the new concrete shafts of the wall. These shafts will be about 36 feet deep. The contractor is expected to move its drilling equipment onto the work site this week. This movement is likely to require short stoppages of traffic using flagging operations along A1A.

Dune Walkovers:

The contractor will continue to remove dune walkovers as needed to accommodate construction of the buried seawall. The affected dune walkovers include both public and private walkovers between North 18^th Street and Osprey Drive. By contract, all affected dune walkovers will be reconstructed once work is complete to their pre-construction condition. The contractor is carefully removing and storing separately the existing materials for each walkover. Photographs also are being taken to document existing conditions and will be used to assist with reconstruction.

Please note that the walkovers must remain closed during construction for safety reasons.

The project team has announced that reconstruction of the walkovers is tentatively scheduled to begin in fall 2019. This timeframe is based on the current work schedule. Please note the schedule may be affected by weather or unforeseen circumstances.

The contractor has 300 days to complete the work.

Caution! Flagler Beach police and and Sherriff’s deputies are actively monitoring speed and writing tickets. “I got a warning on north section of A1A before construction actually began so I keep to the 25 limit, but still getting tailgated by cars wanting to go faster,” a reader tells us.

See Also:

The proposed roundabout at the intersection of Old Dixie Highway and U.S. 1 is intended to drastically reduce the number of severe crashes at one of the county's most dangerous intersections. Two other such roundabouts are proposed for other dangerous intersections in Flagler. Click on the image for larger view. (DOT) — The proposed roundabout at the intersection of Old Dixie Highway and U.S. 1 is intended to drastically reduce the number of severe crashes at one of the county’s most dangerous intersections. Two other such roundabouts are proposed for other dangerous intersections in Flagler. Click on the image for larger view.
(DOT)

U.S. 1 and Old Dixie Highway Roundabout Construction Updates:

FlaglerLive is providing weekly updates to the planned 15-month, $4.1 million construction of a roundabout at U.S. 1 and Old Dixie Highway. The project started in late January and is scheduled for completion by spring 2020.

This week southbound U.S. 1 will be reduced to one lane and be shifted slightly west onto new pavement. Southbound U.S. 1 traffic heading to Old Dixie Highway will be directed to stay on southbound U.S. 1 and make a U-turn to return to Old Dixie Highway using northbound U.S. 1. Old Dixie Highway drivers heading to southbound U.S. 1 will have to turn onto northbound U.S. 1 and make a U-turn to access southbound U.S. 1. Later this week, northbound U.S. 1 will be reduced to one lane and shifted west onto the existing southbound side of the roadway. Once this shift is made, U.S. 1 will have one lane in each direction through the project area. The speed limit will be reduced along U.S. 1 through the construction zone, and drivers are asked to be alert and use caution when traveling through the work area.

More details here.

See Also:

Announcements:

Engineering Department hosts MalaCompra Basin project update with residents: Flagler County’s Engineering Department will host a public meeting from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 6 at the Hammock Community Center to provide an update on the MalaCompra Basin Water Quality Enhancement project. Mailed invitations will be sent to property owners who are directly impacted by the project – Marineland Acres, Rollins Dunes, and Seascape. “We want to keep residents informed about the status of the project,” said County Engineer Faith Alkhatib. “As always, we will do our best to minimize the impact on the daily life of our residents while we move forward with this health and safety project.” The project will accomplish two goals: ease flooding on the northern barrier island; and, prevent untreated stormwater and septic tank leachate from making its way into the Intracoastal and ultimately places like Pellicer Creek headwaters – a pristine estuarine system. Presently, construction for the system outfall improvements is underway. The stormwater treatment facility construction off Bay Drive will begin within the next couple of months. Design work is about 60 percent complete for the side street collection laterals. The construction for that $6 million portion of the project is almost fully funded through a Florida Department of Transportation grant for the 2019-20 fiscal year. Also assisting, the St. Johns River Water Management District in 2016 awarded Flagler County a $500,000 grant as a Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI) cost-share program project. The District decades ago placed the project in its Northern Coastal Basin Surface Water Improvement Management (SWIM) plan. The Flagler County Board of County Commissioners tracked the problems for many years, and in 2010 agreed to make the project a top legislative priority. The County has spent more than $6 million combined on the design and permitting – through the St. Johns River Water Management District and the Army Corps of Engineers, as well as the acquisition of property for the holding pond and outfall easements. Hammock Community Center is located at 79 MalaCompra Road.

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.

PAROLE CASES HEARD: The Florida Commission on Offender Review, which considers parole cases from across the state, will continue a two-day meeting in Duval County. (Thursday, 9 a.m., Jacksonville Beach City Hall, 11 North Third St., Jacksonville Beach.)

SUPREME COURT RELEASES OPINIONS: The Florida Supreme Court is scheduled to release its weekly opinions. (Thursday, 11 a.m.)

—-Compiled by the News Service of Florida and FlaglerLive

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

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A Twitter List by PierreTristam

Keep Up with Donald Trump’s attacks on the press through the ACLU’s running tab here.

Keep Up with mass shootings in a running database here.

Palm Coast Construction and Development Progress Reports

Here’s a summary of the latest city developments as of Feb. 22, 2019, with a link to the full week in review here.

Click to access week-in-review-feb-22-2018-development.pdf

Cultural Coda

Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody