Today at the Editor’s glance: In court: Daniel S. Da Costa, a 26-year-old Palm Coast resident of the P Section, is sentenced by Circuit Judge Terence Perkins on two charges of second degree arson and possessing or manufacturing an incendiary device. Da Costa’s case drew significant attention in May 2020 when he was accused of setting two fires near a Publix store and a Citgo gas station on Palm Coast Parkway. He faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 3.5 to 3.9 years in prison. The sentencing is at 9 a.m. in Courtroom 401 at the Flagler County courthouse. Free For All Fridays on WNZF: Host David Ayres welcomes the Flagler County School Board’s Colleen Conklin and Health Department Medical Director Dr. Stephen Bickel to talk about covid and masking in schools, and several representatives of economic organizations will talk jobs, starting a little after 9 a.m. on WNZF radio. In the tropics: Hurricane Larry is now churning in the Atlantic, and is expected to be a Category 4 hurricane by Saturday, but the storm’s path for now remains northwesterly in the center of the Atlantic–perhaps reassuring news for Florida, but not for the battered Northeast and New York. Reilly Opelka is off today after winning his second round match at the U.S. Open (and $115,000), his best showing there yet. On Saturday, he faces 29-year-old Nikoloz Basilashvili, of Georgia (the country, not the state), ranked 39 in the world. Today’s Friends of Music Celebration at Stetson, what was to be the 2021-22 Season Premiere Concert, was cancelled due to Covid. Or rather, due to self-absorbed, fact-denying, covid-loving nihilists who won’t wear masks and make life miserable for everyone else.
Health Department’s Covid Testing and Vaccination Schedule and Information for Today Through Labor Day:
Testing has resumed at the Flagler County Fairgrounds (150 Sawgrass Road, Bunnell) weekdays from 8AM to 12 noon and weekends from 9AM to 11AM.
Priority will be given to any students, faculty and school staff of public or private schools in Flagler County, followed by the general public, who need testing appointments by calling 386-437-7350 ext. 0.
All individuals and families should consider the following when testing with DOH-Flagler.
- Testing should take place at least 3 to 5 days after exposure. Testing sooner than this may result in false negatives.
- Plan ahead and expect long lines. Bring snacks and drinks in the car, as well as books or toys to keep kids entertained while waiting for your turn.
- Wear a mask inside the testing facility. Should you test positive, you may be asked to exit the facility and wait for the rest of your party outside to avoid transmission.
- DOH employees and volunteers have been working extended hours to keep pace with the exponential demand for testing and the record-breaking number of positive COVID cases we are experiencing. We are expanding our team to help with testing, contact tracing and case investigation, and appreciate your patience during this challenging time.
- Since it may take some time for case investigators and contact tracers to reach you when/if you or your child tests positive for COVID-19, you should take initiative to protect your loved ones. You or your child will need to isolate for 10 days from the onset of symptoms. Talk with close contacts like family members on your own to ask them to get tested and watch for symptoms.
- If you are identified as a close contact to a person who tests positive, there is a possibility the health department may not connect with you if resources are not available.
- If you have been vaccinated (two weeks after your final dose) you will not need to quarantine if you do not have symptoms.
- If you have symptoms, you should get tested three to five days after exposure.
The weekday testing schedule through September 6 follows:
Friday, September 3 8AM to 12 noon Flagler County Fairgrounds
Sunday, September 5 8AM to noon Flagler County Fairgrounds
Monday, September 6 CLOSED for Labor Day Holiday
As a reminder, the health department does not offer testing for travel verification.
Vaccinations continue to be offered at 301 Dr. Carter Blvd three afternoons a week — Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 3:30 to 6:00PM well into September. Appointments are preferred; Walk-ins are welcome.
The health department is awaiting additional guidance for the administration of booster doses and expects to add vaccinations to its operation at the Flagler County Fairgrounds next month. Details will be shared when plans are finalized. Currently, CVS, Walgreens, Publix and Walmart offer boosters to immuno-compromised individuals.
For more information about Covid-19 vaccination and testing locally, please visit flagler.floridahealth.gov. For testing and vaccine appointments, please call 386-437-7350 ext. 0 weekdays between 8AM and 4:30PM.
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.
ESL Bible Studies for Intermediate and Advanced Students
Grace Community Food Pantry on Education Way
Palm Coast Farmers’ Market at European Village
Al-Anon Family Groups
Flagler County Beekeepers Association Meeting
Nar-Anon Family Group
Bunnell City Commission Meeting
For the full calendar, go here.
“… the PBS-NPR cohort: vineyard-touring doctored, novel-writing lawyers, tenured gardening buffs, unusually literary realtors, dangly-earringed psychologists, and the rest of us information-age burghers.”
–David Brooks, from “Bobos in paradise” (2000).
Wow says
We’re becoming Nazis. Neighbors turning in neighbors. If you don’t turn in someone are you going to be arrested for your failure? Will people turn in others they don’t like? Are we really now defunding the police? Let’s combine the new Nazi laws so uneducated untrained gun owners can turn in anyone they suspect of any crime? Heck why not just shoot them on sight and be done with democracy forever?