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Weather: Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 80s. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph. Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 60s.
- Daily weather briefing from the National Weather Service in Jacksonville here.
- Drought conditions here. (What is the Keetch-Byram drought index?).
- Check today’s tides in Daytona Beach (a few minutes off from Flagler Beach) here.
- Tropical cyclone activity here, and even more details here.
Today at a Glance:
In Court: A pre-trial hearing is scheduled at 1:30 p.m. in the case of Jermaine Williams, 52, who faces the death penalty for the stabbing death of his wife, Yolonda Williams, in the driveway of the couple’s Bunnell house in August 2024.
River to Sea Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) meets at 9 a.m. at the Airline Room at the Daytona Beach International Airport. The TPO’s planning oversight includes all of Volusia County and the developed areas of eastern Flagler County including Beverly Beach and Flagler Beach as well as portions of the cities of Palm Coast and Bunnell, with board member representation from each of those jurisdictions. See the full agendas here. To join the meeting electronically, go here.
Separation Chat, Open Discussion: The Atlantic Chapter of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State hosts an open, freewheeling discussion on the topic here in our community, around Florida and throughout the United States, noon to 1 p.m. at Pine Lakes Golf Club Clubhouse Pub & Grillroom (no purchase is necessary), 400 Pine Lakes Pkwy, Palm Coast (0.7 miles from Belle Terre Parkway). Call (386) 445-0852 for best directions. All are welcome! Everyone’s voice is important. For further information email [email protected] or call Merrill at 804-914-4460.
Weekly Chess Club for Teens, Ages 9-18, at the Flagler County Public Library: Do you enjoy Chess, trying out new moves, or even like some friendly competition? Come visit the Flagler County Public Library at the Teen Spot every Wednesday from 4 to 5 p.m. for Chess Club. Everyone is welcome, for beginners who want to learn how to play all the way to advanced players. For more information contact the Youth Service department 386-446-6763 ext. 3714 or email us at [email protected]
Notably: Flagler Beach Commissioner Scott Spradley’s photographer’s eye is usually trained on Flagler Beach. Last week he and his Ukrainian Juliet (her name is actually Olena) were at the Seven Sisters, those imposing dromedary undulations of clay in England’s East Sussex, among other places they’ve been visiting in the old country. I asked him to send pictures. I’m not sure how he took the one above, and I’m pretty sure he did not take his drone with him (the drone he used to update us all after those hurricanes in Flagler Beach: remember his Ian Beach Blog?), though there’s another one of him at a look-out above the Sisters. His photographer’s instincts must’ve kicked in when that seagull made like a Messerschmitt and gunned for him, hopefully not with guano. The pictures below are part of Scott’s This Is London chronicle–in front of Big Ben, which has been counting down the days of Western civilization (not just in the United States), and near what may or may not be the Ukrainian Embassy (whose address is, of all names, 60 Holland Park. If you squint, you can see the splash pad on the roof. But I don’t think that building is the embassy, the flag notwithstanding). As of Monday they were still in London, with no word on their return, though the City Commission is scheduled to meet Thursday evening. If he makes it back, and if his colleagues decide to pull one of their eternal sessions, look for a commissioner surfing jet lag that evening.
—P.T.
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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.
May 2025
East Flagler Mosquito Control District Board Meeting
Flagler County Commission Workshop
Flagler County Commission Evening Meeting
Nar-Anon Family Group
Palm Coast City Council Meeting
Food Truck Tuesday
Flagler Beach Library Writers’ Club
Random Acts of Insanity Standup Comedy
For the full calendar, go here.
London “is a city of consumers, of people who are deeply civilised but not primarily useful.”
–From George Orwell’s An Age Like This, Essays etc., vol. 1 (1920-1940)..
Pogo says
@Yeah, too bad about Ukraine
“Life’s tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late”
— Benjamin Franklin
Ray W, says
Japan’s Kyodo News PRWIRE outlet reports that CATL unveiled three new battery products at its inaugural “Super Tech Day” on April 21st.
Here are some bullet points from the article:
1. The world’s first mass-produced sodium-ion battery, named Naxtra, “breaks resource constraints and strengthens the foundation of the new energy industry.”
– Given the abundance of sodium reserves, the Naxtra line of batteries will reduce dependence on lithium reserves and reduce the risk of fire.
– There are two types of Naxtra batteries at this time: passenger vehicle batteries and start-stop 24-volt batteries designed to replace lead-acid batteries in heavy-duty trucks that operate in extreme cold conditions, as low as -40 degrees centigrade.
– The passenger vehicle Naxtra battery retains 90% of usable power at -40 degrees centigrade, and even when depleted to 10% of full charge, it has no significant degradation of power delivery at that low a temperature.
– The passenger vehicle Naxtra battery carries an energy density of 175 Wh/kg, a level comparable to lithium-ferrous-phosphate (LFP) batteries (and higher than lead-acid batteries). Naxtra batteries are safe enough compared to liquid-state lithium-ion (LiB) batteries to be designated intrinsically safe, as opposed to passively defensive.
-The 24-volt Naxtra heavy-duty truck battery offers 8000 charging cycles, reducing life-cycle costs by 61% over the life of the battery. Truck operators will have a battery that ages at the same rate as the trucks in which they are installed [lead-acid batteries have a 300-500 deep-cycle lifetime].
2. The Freevoy Dual-Power battery line combines two different battery chemistries in one battery package to meet customized battery needs.
– Each dual-power battery style, combined with CATL’s “self-forming anode technology”, allows for “independent energy zones” that allow for five dual functions: “dual high voltage, dual low voltage, dual structure, dual thermal management, and dual thermal runaway safety protection.”
– One dual-power battery style, the Sodium-LFP Dual-Power Battery, combines Naxtra with an LFP self-forming anode battery, “utilizing the low temperature performance of sodium-ion technology to provide users with an exceptional experience that excels in cold conditions while delivering extended range.”
– Another dual-power battery style, the LFP-LFP Dual-Power Battery, combines a “second-generation Shenxing Superfast Charging Battery with the LFP self-forming anode battery.” This battery type permits EV sedan ranges in excess of 1,000 kilometers (621 miles), with a per kilometer commuting cost as low as 0.1 yuan per kilometer. (At today’s rate of 14 cents per yuan, that means a commuting cost of 1.4 cents per kilometer, or around 2.3 cents per mile. Comparing this to an ICE car that gets 40 miles per gallon at the national average gasoline price of $3.17 per gallon, that means the electric car commuting cost is roughly one-third that of a gasoline-powered sedan.)
– A third dual-power battery style is the NCM-LFP/NCM-NCM Dual-Power Battery, which “integrates an NCM battery with an LFP self-forming anode battery. This combination permits a “peak charging rate of 12C. (1C batteries charge from zero to full in one hour.) This combination “enables a capacity of over 180 kWh in sedans with a 3-meter wheelbase [roughly 100 inches, i.e., subcompact or smaller], breaking through the 1,500-kilometer pure electric range barrier. [932 miles].”
-CATL also released its Shenxing 12C charging system which allows a charging rate of up to 2.5 kilometers of range per second. At a temperature of -10 degrees centigrade, a Shenxing Superfast Charging Battery can charge from 5% to 80% in 15 minutes, half the time needed for the highest current industry charging standard.
Make of this what you will.
Me?
This article deals with only one of many battery manufacturers and with the company’s newly released products for just this year alone.
The world’s battery center is now in China, and it is developing quickly. It didn’t have to be. 20 years ago, America was at the forefront of battery research and development. Somehow, we turned a blind eye to developing and manufacturing EV batteries and abandoned to the Chinese what will soon be a multi-trillion-dollar industry. BYD, which sold its first EV in 2008, sold 4.2 million cars, SUVs, buses and trucks last year, with EV sales up 40% over 2023.
Manufacturing costs for EV batteries drop rapidly. Options proliferate just as fast. Many promising battery chemistries, such as graphene-aluminum-ion or iron-ion, await commercial development. An emerging American iron-ion battery manufacturer has raised $1.2 billion in private funds through five different offerings.
LFP batteries use relatively small amounts of refined lithium and no cobalt. Sodium-ion batteries do not use lithium at all. Each of the two chemistries commands ever greater market share in the industry.
Three years ago, refined lithium was commanding prices as high as $80,000 per ton. Now, the price is at or just below $10,000 per ton.
CATL commands 37% of the world’s battery marketplace in all its forms, with BYD second at around 17%. Were the battery marketplace static, it likely would be difficult for new manufacturers to break in, but the marketplace is dynamic in breadth and scope and growing rapidly. Any battery company with a new idea might find a niche within which to grow and succeed. There remains a chance for U.S. battery innovators to enter into and compete with the world’s battery makers, but the window of opportunity may be closing.
Ray W, says
According to Moneywise, Fed Chair Powell, during his recent testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, responded to a question about the availability of mortgages in extreme risk states such as California, with its wildfires, by saying:
“Those banks and insurance companies are pulling out of areas, coastal areas and … areas where there are a lot of fires. … So what that’s going to mean is if you fast-forward 10 or 15 years, there are going to be regions of the country where you can’t get a mortgage.”
Make of this what you will.
Sherry says
Here’s a Town Hall with Chuck Grassley (R) in Iowa. OMG. . . some idiot in the audience actually defended deporting people to “PRISON” in El Salvador because they had a “tatou on their body”! Then ole’ Grassley tries to blame the whole thing on President Biden. Even in Iowa, many were having none of it:
https://apnews.com/article/town-hall-grassley-trump-c7c8a715bdccf677821a1713d7d8eef1
Ray W, says
In an article delving into the recent nearly 9% drop in the value of the U.S. dollar in relation to the value of a basket of other nations’ currencies, a Fortune reporter seeks to explain which of the many possible reasons may be in play.
Was it China seeking to manipulate the value of the dollar? Japan? Hedge fund managers? Foreign private investors? Domestic private investors? A mixture? All?
Here are some bullet points from the article:
– Standard belief holds that when the stock market drops, Treasury values consistently drop, too. The opposite has happened this time around.
– According to analysts and economists contacted by the reporter, “as long as the White House continues to generate economic uncertainty, everyone is going to flee the dollar.”
– As of now, there is too little economic data to pinpoint exactly why investors of all types are fleeing the dollar, but what little reliable short-term data that does exist does not point to either China or Japan is trying to tank the dollar.
– Like data on China and Japan, there is some, but seemingly little, economic data to support an argument that hedge fund managers are unwinding leveraged bets on U.S. bonds.
– Yet a recent sell-off of U.S. dollars exists.
– According to the reporter, the blame may lie elsewhere, meaning right here at home:
“Trump’s chop-change economic pronouncements have generated so much global uncertainty that investors across all assets — stocks, bonds, and currency — are simply withdrawing from the U.S. until some kind of certainty reappears.”
– Japan has sold portions of all its foreign bond holdings, not just U.S. Treasuries.
– In the reporter’s estimation:
“The dollar is in decline and yields on U.S. bonds are staying high because everyone — literally everyone on the planet — wants to get the hell out of Dodge City right now. … With Trump changing his mind by the hour on trade policy and bullying his chief central banker on a daily basis, investors of all kinds are simply limiting their exposure to a nation they now regard as a risk asset rather than a safe haven. … This aversion to the U.S. has even started showing up in shipping routes. With tariffs restricting trade, the number of ‘blank sailings’ to the U.S. by ocean freighters has doubled since February. … Blank sailings occur when a shipping line schedules a route and then cancels it altogether or skips a port on that route.”
According to the reporter, blank sailings are not direct evidence of a sell-off of the dollar, but they are “a visible symptom of a world withdrawing from doing business with the U.S.” There is a name for this, coined by Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives: “Sell America Trade.”
– In a note to Wedbush investors, Mr. Ives wrote:
“This tariff/trade war is cutting US tech at the knees and helping steamroll China tech ahead.”
– Goldman Sachs advised:
“We believe the re-think of the risk and reward of Dollar assets has room to run and expect the USD to extend its declines over time.”
Make of this what you will.
Me.
Portents everywhere. Wisdom nowhere. Trade wars have that effect.
When one can’t know what tomorrow will bring? Perhaps it is best to stand put. But there can be little question but that, with such uncertainties, most people have no idea what is going on. All it takes it for President Trump to flip-flop on his desire to fire Fed Chair Powell and the market spikes upwards. Should he flip-flop on China tariffs, who knows how high the markets will go. Investors all over the world are on edge.
Trump might really strike good bargains with foreign negotiators, and everyone will benefit in the long term. Then again, he might strike bad bargains and then repeatedly declare awesome victory over each country before running away from the issue, and the status quo will re-emerge.
Oy vey!
Ray W, says
Jalopnik reporter Brad Brownell writes on the current state of the American automobile industry:
“The automotive industry is in the midst of a messy and difficult transition period, shifting from 100 years of internal combustion to cleaner and more efficient battery electric vehicles. The U.S. auto industry has a choice to make in this: to keep developing new BEV technology, or be left behind by the rest of the world and slowly collapse. In a recent interview with InsideEVs, LG energy North American President Bob Lee equated this tipping point to the transition from sailing ships to steam powered vessels in the late 1800s. ‘The writing is on the wall,’ Lee said. ‘Nobody is investing in better sails.’ The message is clear, if you’re not all-in on EVs, you’re toast.
“Over the last two decades the U.S. automotive market has lost its footing as the largest in the world and no longer holds the chips it once did, an issue exacerbated by the current administration’s global trade policy. While America’s so-called Big Three once all-but controlled the export car markets in the global south, these markets are now dominated by Chinese automakers; the formerly prosperous American brands have retreated upmarket, catering nearly exclusively to buyers in North America.
“With the government also pressing the rewind button on a plan for clean energy and an electric automobile future, and slowing (though still rising) EV adoption rates, automakers are walking back their previously aggressive electrification plans. Lee and I agree, this is a massive mistake and detrimental to the future of the industry.
“‘If [the U.S. auto industry] decides not to do EVs, if we decide we’re going back to internal combustion, and the rest of the world is moving on to cleaner things, what is the rest of the world going to buy?,’ Lee continued. ‘If we’re not the ones out there investing and building that next technology, then I think the risk is serious.’ If we continue down this path, he concludes, ‘we risk losing the auto industry.'”
Make of this what you will.
Ray W, says
On April 2nd, President Trump announced his “Liberation Day” and imposed some level of tariffs across the board against nearly every other country on the planet.
On April 22nd, less than three weeks later, Treasury Secretary Bessent told an audience that the tariff showdown with China has become “unsustainable”, adding that some form of “de-escalation” in the economic trade war between the two nations will have to take place.
Since talks between the U.S. and China have yet to commence, who knows how long the unsustainable conditions will last?
For that matter, what do we know of the status of any of the tariff negotiations between the multitude of nations post-Liberation Day?
The Trump administration says that talks are underway with trade representatives from Japan, India, South Korea, the EU, Canada and Mexico, among other nations.
Perhaps, negotiations with Ivory Coast are close to fruition? Ivory Coast imposes a value added tax on certain imported products, regardless of source, for revenue purposes, as well as customs duties on other products, again for revenue purposes. There are excise taxes on alcohol, tobacco and luxury items, again for revenue purposes. Certain protective tariffs exist, too, to preserve local industries. Ivory Coast exports oil, gold, and cocoa beans, among other products, to the U.S.
Trump repeatedly claims that we are bringing in billions per day to the Treasury from his tariffs. Why shouldn’t Ivory Coast also be able to bring money into its own treasury from imported goods? What would constitute a win in that setting?
From a transcript of the statement by Secretary Bessent obtained by the AP, he said to his audience:
“I do say China is going to be a slog in terms of the negotiations.”
Bessent might be right. The issues might take weeks or months or years to negotiate.
Ray W, says
With the completion of upgrades to the Transalpine oil pipeline system from Trieste, Italy, to Germany, and with an extension of a connecting pipeline from Germany into the Czech Republic, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala announced:
“After roughly 60 years, our dependence on Russia has ended. For the first time in history, the Czech Republic is completely supplied by non-Russian oil, and fully supplied through western routes.”
According to Reuters, last year, the Czech Republic purchased just over 2.4 million tons of Russian oil.
Make of this what you will.
Ray W, says
Late last week, Motor1.com reported that the Russian automobile industry is struggling to survive.
Alexey Kalitsev, chairman of the Automobile Manufacturers Committee, told a reporter that “the continuation of the current trend may lead to a crisis in the industry, which will require urgent support from the state.”
What is the crisis?
First quarter 2025 new vehicle sales are down 26% from 2024 first quarter sales, with March 2025 sales down 45% from the previous March.
Chairman Kalitsev said that many Russians have deferred plans to buy vehicles, hoping that foreign brands that left Russia after it invaded the Ukraine would return, but that has not happened.
According to the reporter, Russian new vehicle sales dropped by 59% in March 2022, after the initial invasion, and by 36% in early 2015 during a Russian national financial crisis (which occurred shortly after Russia launched its first invasion of the Ukraine).
Make of this what you will.
Ray W, says
According to an Alternet article, this past Monday, Fox Business reporter, Charles Gasparino, reported on the status of current U.S. tariff negations with Japan.
He said:
“Japanese negotiators are complaining that the problem with the trade negotiations with the White House, what’s delaying concrete progress and a real deal, is that the US keeps changing its ask in terms of exactly what it wants, said one financial CEO who speaks regularly with country officials. Maybe it a negotiating tactic. But the lack of publicly announced deal progress is depressing the dollar, spiking bond yields and leading to a flight to quality to gold and now Bitcoin.”
Make of this what you will.
Me?
I don’t think anyone knows where things are going. Everyone but me seems to have an explanation, but no two explanations dovetail with each other.
And it might be wise to question anyone who claims to know what is happening, re: tariffs, as it is likely he or she is pandering in order to somehow gain credibility or simply guessing, in hopes of getting lucky.
We have seen imposition of tariffs on Canada and Mexico, then a 30-day delay on some of the threats, then threats to other countries, then an announcement of Liberation Day, complete with near universal tariffs, then a further delay of 90 days on most tariffs, except for those tariffs targeting China, then retaliatory tariffs from China, then more American retaliatory tariffs on China, then an announcement of the suddenly “unsustainable” nature of the tariffs.
Now, we hear from Fox Business that American negotiators keep changing the goal line without rhyme or reason, to the frustration, nee consternation, of Japanese negotiators.
Whew!
James says
Getting back to that old TV show on new car technology… I should have mentioned that the Chinese EV maker was pairing the sale of the car with a battery replacement plan.
It had set up a chain of affiliated service stations for which owners of their vehicles could simply drive in, swap the battery out for a charged one, and go on their way. As I had mentioned, I thought it was great idea. Unfortunately, there is no standardization of battery components amongst car manufacturers… and the odds are likely there never will be… as anyone with even a passing familiarity with the battery packs of rechargeable tools can easily attest.
Beyond what the vast majority of EV batteries will ultimately be comprised of in the future, there will also be the question of what form factor they will take. In order for a system of replacement to work, there would need to be industry agreement on what the smallest form factor or “battery module” would be… thus enabling differing vehicle sizes and types to utilize a common module and connector (under the vehicle).
For instance, a motorcycle might use perhaps one module, a car might need three or four, a truck several more than that… this approach would allow the car manufacturers greater flexibility in design distinctions, yet allow “energy service centers” to handle all types of vehicles.
Such coordinator and agreement is unlikely… and sadly would probably work even with existing battery technology.
Just an opinion.
Btw, another item that the Trump administration is dropping the ball with… American car manufacturers (and energy providers) have an opportunity to set these standards. They have not.
Sherry says
Consider the possibility that trump now knows he can play the stock parker like a yoyo. He and his “day trading” billionaire friends are most certainly using “insider information” to enrich themselves even further. Meanwhile, retirement plans (which do not have the flexibility to move with trump’s idiotic whims) are bleeding value which cannot be easily regained.
The rich getting richer. . . F#$% Everyone else, Right Maga?!
Sherry says
EEK! That’s “Stock Market”. . . That’s what I get for doing 3 thing at once, my apologies!
James says
Btw, that battery module idea I mentioned probably won’t work either… the modules (as I thought of them) would still need to be configured in parallel. Current sources can add into a common node, resulting in a sum of the currents entering it… but voltage sources? :-)
And a series configuration would would seem to necessitate a multude of voltage levels for various types of vehicles.
If you reason it out for moment, you can conclude why most “battery packs” are of a fixed, application specific configuration. That is, they aren’t broken apart into separate smaller battery packs or built up into larger ones. Particularly if they are to be recharged. At least not for an application such as an EV storage battery.
Just correcting myself.
James says
Or you could perhaps just use a series configuration and a DC to DC converter… they are ubiquitous now-a-days. I associate electric motor technologies with currents, not voltages. That’s just how they were discussed forty or fifty years ago… but just as power supplies have shrunk over the years (a testament to the advances in solid state electronics). I suppose so too have electric motors.
Just another clarification.