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Weather: Mostly clear. Highs in the mid 80s. 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:
The Palm Coast City Council interviews its two candidates for city manager in open session at 1 p.m. at City Hall. Richard Hough is at 1 p.m., Paul Trombino at 2:45 p.m. A community meet and greet with the candidates and their spouses is scheduled for 6 p.m. at City Hall. The five council members will each be holding one-on-one interviews with the candidates in the morning, in staggered meetings starting at 8 a.m.
The Flagler Beach City Commission meets at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, 105 South 2nd Street in Flagler Beach. 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.
Model Yacht Club Races at the Pond in Palm Coast’s Central Park, from noon to 2 p.m. in Central Park in Town Center, 975 Central Ave. Join Bill Wells, Bob Rupp and other members of the Palm Coast Model Yacht Club, watch them race or join the races with your own model yacht. No dues to join the club, which meets at the pond in Central Park every Thursday.
The Palm Coast Beautification and Environmental Advisory Committee meets at 5 p.m. at City Hall, 160 Lake Avenue, Palm Coast.
Notably: Nothing need be added to this illustration of what Jean-Francois Revel, called “the triumphalist cult of willful ignorance” (“le culte triomphaliste de l’ignorance volontaire.” )
—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.
“A wisecracking practical joker sent a present of two caged squirrels and a note saying they’d be sure to feel at home on board with the nuts.”
–From Richard Powers’s Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance (1985).
Pogo says
@FlaglerLive
Re: trump tariffs catastrophe, thanks for the info, and excellent video.
More is more
https://www.statista.com/topics/13216/us-tariffs/#topicOverview
Florida man (Daytona born) billionaire speaks
https://www.semafor.com/article/04/23/2025/citadel-ceo-ken-griffin-trump-is-eroding-us-brand-and-making-the-country-poorer
You read that right
https://www.google.com/search?q=Ken+Griffin
Sherry says
Thanks Pogo. . . I read the same thing. . . trump is destroying our economy and our country’s financial reputation:
Ken Griffin said, “no brand compared” to US Treasurys, the strength of the US dollar, or the nation’s creditworthiness. But Trump’s tactics have “eroded” that reputation.
“We put that brand at risk,” the billionaire hedge fund manager said. “It can be a lifetime to repair the damage that has been done.”
Investors have dumped US stocks and Treasurys in recent weeks in response to Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs on imports to the US. While most countries have been granted a 90-day reprieve, Trump has increased duties on China and suggested he might fire Jerome Powell, the respected governor of the US Federal Reserve. (Trump walked back those comments, saying he has no plans to remove Powell.)
Using the euro as a reference, the US “has become 20% poorer in four weeks,” Griffin said, an environment that produces no winners or bright spots.
Ray W, says
According to an April 24, 2025, press release by SEA INTELLIGENCE, a maritime industry publication, container shipping vessels that left port during week 12 (starting April 7, 2025) were filled to planned capacity, using a definition of scheduled “blanked” capacity as a percentage of overall planned capacity.
“Blanked” is a shipping industry term that means either a cancelled sailing or a skipped port during a sailing. A “blank” rate of zero means all ships sailing during a particular week are filled to planned capacity.
For sailing dates during week 15 (starting May 5, 2025), there is a scheduled “blank” rate of 35% of planned capacity.
For sailing dates during week 16 (starting May 12, 2025), there is a scheduled “blank” capacity of 42%.
According to the press release, it is common for the “blank” rate to rise in the weeks following the Chinese New Year each January/February and following “Chinese Golden Week” each October, but “[t]his level of escalation in blanked capacity illustrates a dramatic change in the market. … partly from the perspective that many of these blank sailings have been announced with very limited advance warning to the shippers.”
The author of the press release opines:
“When we look at the data, it is quite evident that the impact of the trade war has caused many shippers to pause, or outright cancel, shipments. This in turn reduces demand for capacity on container vessels, to which carriers respond by cancelling sailings.”
Make of this what you will.
Me?
It has been reported that CEOs from three major retailers met with President Trump in the White House to share their belief that if his tariff war with China continues, store shelves at their stores will be bare in a number of weeks. Trump blinked. He began telling anyone who would listen that tariff negotiations with China are ongoing. This morning, Trump said that negotiations with Chinese representatives had occurred earlier in the morning. The Chinese government told reporters that negotiations on the tariff war have yet to start.
I don’t know who to believe on the issue of the occurrence of actual tariff negotiations.
For all I know, the parties are haggling over the shape and size of the negotiating table, and that actual negotiations will not begin until the table issues are resolved, and that Trump has decided to define the haggling over table shape and size as actual tariff negotiations. It wouldn’t be the first time that negotiators have spoken from different perspectives.
All I know is that earlier today a maritime industry journal issued a press release, in which it described as “drastic” and “dramatic” a sudden and unusual rise in “blank” sailings during a time of year when “blank” sailings are normally low.
Ed P says
Since the extended shut down of the world’s entire economy under the Covid mandates didn’t “destroy” our economy, it seems a bit premature to state that the sky is falling.
Uncertainties drive fear and admittedly makes it difficult for stock markets, c.e.o.s, small businesses, or individuals to conduct long term planning. Yes, working on the face of a glacier guarantees slippery footing. The gyrations of the market indicate the lack of understanding. The stock market isn’t always rational. There is not any historical data to reference the current economy. Maybe the old rules no longer apply. No one knows.
The macro and micro economics of the global economy are far too complex for anyone to actually predict how the tariff experiment will shake out. Add the geopolitical issues like wars or the threat of nuclear proliferation and it is simply impossible to even anticipate all the moving parts or the results. Trumps “flexibility” is possibly the biggest unknown piece to the puzzle.
If the tariff wars end positively then history may remember Trump as “the great negotiator” instead of a retaliator. Or maybe both. I don’t think Trump cares as long as he wins for the American people. Even the lefties.
Ray W, says
According to Barron’s, supply shortages loom on the American horizon as imports from China drop.
Here are some bullet points from the article:
– “Ocean container bookings from China to the US fell 64% in the first week of April compared with the week earlier.”
– “The rate to ship a 40-foot container between Shanghai and Los Angeles has halved, … implying little demand for the critical shipping route.”
– “Consumers may soon face empty store shelves if the U.S. and China don’t find a way to de-escalate the trade conflict.”
– “Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday tariffs at these levels are effectively a trade embargo between the two countries, a situation he described as unsustainable.”
-“Trucking company Knight-Swift Transportation said in its first-quarter earnings call Wednesday it wouldn’t give guidance for the third quarter, citing trade policy uncertainty.”
– Evidence exists to support the position that American companies rushed to bring in goods in March and early April ahead of anticipated tariffs.
– “Companies stocked up on inventory in anticipation of April 2nd, so it will take a while before shortages hit. If Trump reverses course very soon, he can head off the worst of this catastrophe. But every day it gets [worse],” wrote Ryan Peterson, CEO of supply-chain logistics company Flexport. …”
Make of this what you will.
Sherry says
trump murders a migrant on Fifth Avenue. . . “Come on Baby, Let’s Do The Twist”. . .
(she said and sang sarcastically)