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Weather: Showers likely with a chance of thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 70s. Chance of rain 70 percent. Friday Night: Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers with a slight chance of thunderstorms. Lows in the mid 50s. See the daily weather briefing from the National Weather Service in Jacksonville here.
Today at a Glance:
Qualifying period for Flagler Beach and Bunnell municipal elections: The qualifying period for both municipal elections, to be held on March 19, ends today at 5 p.m. in Flagler Beach, noon in Bunnell. In Flagler Beach, the mayor’s seat and one commission seat, that of Eric Cooley, are up. One candidate has filed so far for the mayor’s seat (Patricia Louise King), two have filed for the commission seat (Robert Cunningham and Doug Bruno O’Connor).
The Flagler County Affordable Housing Advisory Committee meets at 3:30 p.m. at the Health and Human Services building, 1000 Belle Terre Blvd., Palm Coast. The meeting will feature an orientation to related staff.
Free For All Fridays with Host David Ayres, an hour-long public affairs radio show featuring local newsmakers, personalities, public health updates and the occasional surprise guest, starts a little after 9 a.m. after FlaglerLive Editor Pierre Tristam’s Reality Check. See previous podcasts here. On WNZF at 94.9 FM and 1550 AM.
Movie Matinee, 1 p.m. at Flagler County Public Library, 2500 Palm Coast Pkwy NW, Palm Coast: “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” Archaeologist Indiana Jones races against time to retrieve a legendary artifact that can change the course of history.
The Blue 24 Forum, a discussion group organized by local Democrats, meets at 12:15 p.m. at the Palm Coast Community Center, 305 Palm Coast Parkway NE. Come and add your voice to local, state and national political issues.
LGBTQ+ Night at Flagler Beach’s Coquina Coast Brewing Company: The monthly LGBTQ+ social for adults is scheduled for every second Friday of the month from 8 to 11 p.m. at Coquina Coast Brewing Co., 318 Moody Boulevard, Flagler Beach. “Come together, make new friends and share some brews. Going strong since Oct 2021! We feature many genres of local LGBTQ+ talent in our community; comedy, burlesque, belly dance, drag, musicians, bingo games, etc. There is never a cover charge but donations are greatly appreciated! When you register, your email is used to keep you up to date on future LGBTQ+ friendly events.
In Coming Days:
Keep Palm Coast Clean: It’s a Litter-ALL Effort: You can make a difference and be part of the collective effort to keep our city litter-free. Join the City of Palm Coast for the “Keep Palm Coast Clean” litter pick-up event on Saturday, January13th, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Volunteers will meet at the Public Works Department located at 1 Wellfield Grade, just off US-1. Multiple roadways are designated as focus areas for the event. See the list here. There will be awards. The city will provide: Litter-Ready Gloves, Eco-Friendly Trash Bags, Refreshments to Fuel Your Effort, Safety Measures for a Litter-Free Day. The schedule:
8 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. Briefing & introduction along with location assignments
9 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. On-site cleanup
12 p.m. – Closing Ceremony to Celebrate a Litter-Free Victory
The event is FREE to participate in and we’re actively seeking volunteers, like you, who want to make a difference in our community! Individuals or groups interested in volunteering can send an email to Solidwastedivision@palmcoastgov.com.
Voltairomania: It’s purely coincidental that I am writing on Jan. 12, 2024, of a letter Voltaire wrote on Jan. 10, 1774 (that I just as coincidentally happen to have just read), making this, but for those two days, its 250th-year commemoration (I happen to be reading his correspondence from 1774 just now, also coincidental: I’ve been reading it since I was 17, but had lagged for the last couple of years, because I am nearing its end, and I don’t want it to end: he died in 1778, I only have about a thousand letters left, and he was the greatest letter-writer this world has known, bar none, though the greater pleasure will be in the re-reading; that’s all an aside). He is ailing–he was always ailing, even when he was a strapping 30 year old–and he has a lot to say about his health, like all old men. But I found this particularly salient, in light of the Supreme Court case about to be decided this year, Harrington v. Purdue Pharma, when I hope (against all hope) that the court will rule against the Sacklers, those murderers. This should be entered as a Friend of the Court brief, from Voltaire: “A wise man does not distribute his drugs as if they were lottery tickets.” (Un homme sage ne distribue point ses drogues comme on donne des billets do loterie.”)
—P.T.
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Purdue Pharma’s blockbuster opioid OxyContin first came on the market in 1996. The company conducted an aggressive marketing campaign for the drug, selling it as a relief option for a broad array of pain, from cancer to long-lasting sports injuries, and generating some $35 billion in revenue. The company suggested that because the drug was made with an outer coating to slowly release its active ingredient, it was less susceptible to abuse. But OxyContin proved to be highly addictive, leading to a serious public health crisis. Between 1999 and 2019, nearly a quarter-million people died from overdosing on prescription opioids like OxyContin, outstripping car accidents and gunshots as the leading cause of accidental death in the United States. Purdue Pharma has twice pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges relating to its marketing of OxyContin. Along with members of the Sackler family, some of whom were actively involved in the development and marketing of the company’s drugs, it was also a defendant in thousands of lawsuits, seeking more than $40 trillion, accusing them of having deceptively marketed the drug. Facing those civil lawsuits, Purdue Pharma filed for bankruptcy in 2019. In Oct. 2019, a bankruptcy court in New York put lawsuits against the company and the Sacklers on hold. And in Sept. 2021, the bankruptcy court confirmed a reorganization plan that would remake the company as a nonprofit devoted to addressing the public-health problems created by the opioid epidemic – by, for example, funding the development of an OTC nasal spray to treat opioid dependence, as well as a drug to reverse opioid overdoses. The company also agreed to create a public repository of documents related to its sales and marketing practices, and the Sacklers agreed to stay out of the opioid business going forward. Members of the Sackler family – who had taken pre-tax distributions of $11 billion from Purdue Pharma between 2008 and 2016 – agreed to contribute up to $6 billion to the plan. In exchange, the plan contained provisions that shielded members of the Sackler family, who have not filed for bankruptcy, from future civil liability relating to the opioid crisis. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain called the settlement a “bitter result” but noted the costs and risks of continuing to litigate rather than settle the disputes.
–From “Opioid maker Purdue’s bankruptcy case comes before Supreme Court,” by Amy Howe, Scotus Blog, Dec. 2, 2023.
Pogo says
@P.T.
Voltairomania for all, for all time. Being reminded of the date of his “transition” inspired a question: what would that great mind have made of the outcome of his own epoch — e.g., Robespierre, Napoleon, and so much else.
Related
As stated (but definitely nothing to do with tRump or dEsantis)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_of_the_Supreme_Being