Today at the Editor’s glance: Today is Election Day, or more accurately the final day of voting–which has been going on for over a month–in the special election for Palm Coast mayor. Today’s voting for all eligible Palm Coast residents (who have not yet voted) is between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. at their precinct. Here’s a precinct finder. Be sure to have an ID. All other inquiries, go here. Voting has been quite poor: 5,300 people voted in early voting, and under 10,000 did so in mail voting, for a total of 15,19 ballots cast so far, a turnout of 21 percent. For the past several elections, in-person voting on Election Day has drawn less than a third of the total voting proportion of the election, so absent a surge today, it does not bode well for turnout. There’s an election on, but the Palm Coast City Council–the Serengeti of Flagler County–is still meeting in workshop at 9 a.m. “The Financial Services Director will present the City Council with the proposed Fiscal Year 2022 budget for the Utility, Stormwater, IT Enterprise and Building funds,” the city says. “These budget items are separate from the general fund.” The complete agenda package is here. In court, what started as a heavy trial week resulted in a much lighter one as pleas and continuances replaced trials on Monday, with one remaining civil trial on Judge Perkins’s docket, although in one case–that of Palm Coast resident Daniel Priotti’s felony DUI trial–the continuance was the governor’s doing: a key witness for the state, FHP trooper Michael Lima, is necessary at trial. Lima is among the 50 troopers DeSantis sent to the Texas border in his latest political stunt, undermining the effective disposition of law enforcement and justice at home. The state requested and got the continuance. The Priotti case is more than two years old. Flagler Health Plus Groundbreaking on its new health and wellness campus, its first in Flagler County, during a 10 a.m. ceremony at the southwest corner of Matanzas Woods Parkway and Belle Terre Parkway (6500 Belle Terre Parkway).
Vaccinations and Covid testing: Given the continued increase in COVID-19 cases in the community, the Flagler County Health Department (DOH-Flagler) will continue its COVID testing and vaccination sites for the upcoming week. Flagler County recorded nearly 400 new cases of Covid in the week ending Friday compared with 240 one week ago. If you have not done so already, please consider getting vaccinated at one of the following locations:
Mondays from 5 to 6PM, Santa Maria Del Mar Catholic Church, 915 N Central Ave, Flagler Beach.
Tuesdays from 4:30 to 6:30PM, Flagler County Health Department, 301 Dr. Carter Blvd, Bunnell.
Wednesdays from 5 to 6PM, First United Methodist Church, 205 N. Pine Street, Bunnell.
Fridays from 9AM to 11AM, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church, 4600 Belle Terre Pkwy, Palm Coast.
NOTE: There will be no COVID testing at the health department on Friday afternoons.
Vaccination appointments are preferred, but walk-ups will be accepted. Please call 386-437-7350 ext. 0 for scheduling or questions. Nearly all pharmacies in Flagler County offer COVID-19 vaccinations and testing, and 12 offer Pfizer, which is approved for individuals ages 12 and over.
The Live Calendar is a compendium of local and regional political, civic and cultural events. You can input your own calendar events directly onto the site as you wish them to appear (pending approval of course). To include your event in the Live Calendar, please fill out this form.
Rotary’s Fantasy Lights Festival in Palm Coast’s Town Center
Rotary’s Fantasy Lights Festival in Palm Coast’s Town Center
For the full calendar, go here.
“Honorable Justice George Kara: Israel is not entirely completely your state. That is the message of your fellow Supreme Court justices. Of the 10 Jewish justices who heard the petitions against the nation-state law, none joined the pained and persuasive opinion of Kara, which expressed the obvious: that a Basic Law that stipulates that Israel is exclusively the state of the Jewish people, that Hebrew is the only official state language, that the development of Jewish settlement is a national value that the state is committed to fostering and strengthening, is a law that enshrines Jewish superiority and Arab inferiority and harms equality. Kara based his opinion not only on what the nation-state law says but also on what is missing from it and from all of Israel’s Basic Laws – which, in the absence of a constitution, have quasi-constitutional statutes – namely, a commitment to the principle of equality and the obligation to uphold the rights of the national minority. These two lacunae were joined in Kara’s opinion by the fact, known to anyone who does not shut their eyes against it, that the Palestinian minority in Israel suffers from systematic discrimination in all areas of life: in regard to rights and resources as well as treatment and policy of government authorities.
–From a Haaretz editorial, “Instead of Defending Minorities, Israel’s Top Court Opted for an Alternative Reality,” July 11, 2021.
The 2021 Special Election for Palm Coast Mayor
Charlie Ericksen Jr says
Attended today’s City of Palm Coast Canvassing Board meeting at NOON.., the canvassing of absentee Ballots …
Final results will be announced at 7PM, THIS EVENING !!