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Weather: Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 70s. East winds 5 to 10 mph. Thursday Night: Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 50s. Southeast winds around 5 mph.
Today at a Glance:
Drug Court convenes before Circuit Judge Terence Perkins at 10 a.m. in Courtroom 401 at the Flagler County courthouse, Kim C. Hammond Justice Center 1769 E Moody Blvd, Bldg 1, Bunnell. Drug Court is open to the public. See the Drug Court handbook here and the participation agreement here. At 3:30 p.m., Perkins hears a motion in the case of Nathaniel Shimmel, who was sentenced in 2020 to 50 years in prison for the murder of his mother in Palm Coast in 2017. He has filed his own motion to contest the sentence. The judge was to hear the motion earlier this month. The prosecution forgot to have Shimmel brought in from the state prison in Volusia County. This time, he’s here: he was booked in at the county jail Wednesday morning.
The Flagler Beach City Commission meets at 5 p.m.–not 5:30–at City Hall, 105 South 2nd Street in Flagler Beach. The 5 p.m. meeting will feature the swearing-in of Rick Belhumeur and Scott Spradley, who were elected to the commission on Tuesday. The commission will also choose its next chair and vice chair. It will then meet at 5:30 for its regular agenda. The commission is expected to discuss and possibly approve a bid package in the search for its next city manager. It will also discuss the terms of its severance for William Whitson, the manager it fired last month. Watch the meeting at the city’s YouTube channel here. Access meeting agenda and materials here. See a list of commission members and their email addresses here.
The Palm coast Democratic Club holds monthly meeting at 6 p.m. at the the African American Cultural Society, 4422 North U.S. Highway 1, Palm Coast (just north of Whiteview Parkway). The meeting is open to all; everyone is welcome. There is no charge and advance arrangements are not necessary. For best directions call the African American Cultural Society at (386) 447-7030. The evening begins at 6 p.m. with a social hour. At 7 p.m. a brief business meeting will be followed by a discussion or a guest speaker. For further information call Palm Coast Democratic Club Interim President, Donna Harkins at 386-237-7202. This Month’s topic: Florida House Bill 1: School Choice—”Good for Palm Coast or Good for Nothing?”
Evenings at Whitney Lecture Series hosted by the University of Florida Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience at 7 p.m. This free lecture will be presented in person at the UF Whitney Laboratory Lohman Auditorium, 9505 Ocean Shore Boulevard, in St. Augustine. Those interested also have the option of registering to watch via Zoom live the night of the lecture. Register to watch online here. In this edition: Mandë Holford, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Hunter College, The American Museum of Natural History, CUNY Graduate Center.
Uncouth, an open mic night: Join a unique community of creative artists and performers on Thursday nights from 9:30 to 10:30 p.m. in Lee’s Garage, Carlton Union Building, Room 261A, 131 E Minnesota Avenue, DeLand, for an event featuring the student community of Stetson University. Uncouth is an “open-mic night” where students can perform their poetry, prose, music, and any other ‘artistic’ talents. This is a safe space for students to gather with their peers and enjoy the company of other creative minds.
In Coming Days:
The Annual Strawberry festival in Palm Coast’s Central Park is on Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Entry fee is $6 per person except for children 2 and under. The festival describes itself this way: “Family Fun & Festivities, Plant City Strawberries, Art & Crafts, Delicious Food, Free Bounce Houses, Organic Strawberries, Strawberry Shortcake, Live Entertainment, Free Rock Painting, Strawberry Fudge, Pony Rides, Free Strawberry Relay, Face Painting, Free Hula Hoop Contest, Pie Eating Contest, Free Petting Farm, Berry Cute Baby Contest, Free Sack Races, Train Rides, Free Corn Hole, Yummy Treats & Much More!”
Notably: Barbie was born a brunette on this day in 1959, at the International Toy fare in New York, first of a billion sold (or trafficked by Mattel) since. Mortal Kombat was still a way off. “At the 1998 Toy Fair in New York City,”my old colleague Cinnamon Bair at The Ledger reported in 1999, “Mattel debuted prototypes for a new Barbie doll and friends that featured tattoos, triple-pierced ears and nose studs. The new line, titled “Generation Girl Barbie” and released this spring, was eventually toned down to include a tiny red and blue tattoo on Barbie’s ankle and a nose stud on her British buddy, Chelsie.” Parents complained. Mattel removed the tattoos. No future “Tattoo Barbies” are planned, Bair reported.
Now this: From the Pogo Collection (thank you Pogo): Margaret Atwood on Seth Myers.
Flagler Beach Webcam:
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.
August 2026
Free For All Fridays With Host David Ayres on WNZF
In Court: Flagler Home Builders Association v. Palm Coast
First Friday Garden Walks at Washington Oaks Gardens State Park
Friday Blue Forum
First Friday in Flagler Beach
Free Family Art Night at Ormond Memorial Art Museum and Gardens
Flagler Beach Farmers Market
Coffee With Flagler Beach Commission Chair Scott Spradley
Grace Community Food Pantry on Education Way
Second Saturday Plant Sale at Washington Oaks Gardens State Park
American Association of University Women (AAUW) Meeting
Randy Fine Press Conference/Campaign Stop at Beverly Beach Town Hall
Gamble Jam at Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area
For the full calendar, go here.
I have thought since about this lunch a great deal. The wine was chilled and poured into crystal glasses. The fish was served on porcelain plates that bore the American eagle. The sheep dog and the crystal and the American eagle together had on me a certain anesthetic effect, temporarily deadening that receptivity to the sinister that afflicts everyone in Salvador, and I experienced for a moment the official American delusion, the illusion of plausibility, the sense that the American undertaking in El Salvador might turn out to be, from the right angle, in the right light, just another difficult but possible mission in another troubled but possible country.
–From Joan Didion’s Salvador (1982).
Pogo says
@FlaglerLive
I’m honored. Aside from its (Margaret Atwood interview) great relevance to recurring current topics:
First, (this morning), I replayed Margaret’s and Seth’s conversation. Ms. Atwood, again, made me glad to be alive. And then I thought: some people will eschew something wonderful — because I, and now we, spoke well of it. She is so wonderful, wise, attractive in every way that matters — I hope even people who despise me, will not deprive themselves of a few minutes of… bliss.
Laurel says
Pogo: Delightful woman! Thanks for the clip. It’s starts with comments of her loss. We just lost a good friend one week ago, and it’s still hard to get a hold of. I feel bad for my husband; he lost his best friend in 2009 in south Florida. Then we moved up here and he reconnected with an old friend from high school. They became best buddies, and now he lost his best friend again.
What bothers me about aging is we are no longer revered. Young people think us seniors all think alike, all behave alike, and so on. Orange is the new black? No, grey is. Oh well, somebody has to do it.