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Weather:
- 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 Flagler County Contractor Review Board meets at 5 p.m. at the Government Services Building, 1769 East Moody Boulevard, Bunnell. Staff liaison is Bo Snowden, Chief Building Official, who may be reached at (386) 313-4027. For agendas and details go here.
Flagler County’s Technical Review Committee Meeting at 9 a.m., first floor Conference Room, at the Government Services Building, 1769 East Moody Boulevard, Bunnell. The Technical Review Committee (TRC) is a quality control committee that provides technical review of project plans. Staff Liaison is Gina Lemon, 386-313-4067.
The Palm Coast Planning and Land Development Board meets at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.
The Flagler County Industrial Development Authority meets at 2 p.m. at the Government Services Building, 1769 East Moody Boulevard, Bunnell.
Flagler Tiger Bay Club Guest Speaker Roger B. Handberg, the former U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, returns to Tiger Bay to open the club’s fall season, this time to address Florida scam and fraud cases. As the former United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, he led one of the nation’s busiest federal districts through a period of historic enforcement activity. Today, he serves as a leader in GrayRobinson’s criminal and white-collar defense practice, representing corporations and individuals facing government investigations and high-stakes litigation. 11:30 a.m. at Hammock Dunes Club, 30 Ave Royale, Palm Coast. $35 for members, $40 for guests.
“Conversations in American Democracy” Celebrates Constitution Day: Conversations in American Democracy, a group discussion/podcast/vidcast created in Palm Coast, will mark Constitution Day, September 17th with a round of “Bill of Rights Bingo” created by the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The games will begin at 12 noon, at Pine Lakes Golf Club Clubhouse Pub and Grillroom, 400 Pine Lakes Pkwy, Palm Coast. The event is free and open to the public.
Central Avenue Comeback Bash at Barnhill’s Cafe Bar and Grill in Flagler Beach, 202 S Central Ave, Flagler Beach, starting at 4 p.m. The restaurant is marking the end of that endless construction on Central Avenue with “good music, great food, and that unbeatable Central Ave energy.”
The Republican Party of Flagler County is hosting a vigil in memory of slain activist Charlie Kirk at 7 p.m. on the grounds of the Flagler County Courthouse, 1769 East Moody Boulevard (State Road 100), in Bunnell.
The Circle of Light Course in Miracles study group meets at a private residence in Palm Coast every Wednesday at 1:20 PM. There is a $2 love donation that goes to the store for the use of their room. If you have your own book, please bring it. All students of the Course are welcome. There is also an introductory group at 1:00 PM. The group is facilitated by Aynne McAvoy, who can be reached at [email protected] for location and information.
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: Edmund Wilson is among the greatest men of letters of the 20th century–not because of his novels (he wrote only two, and they’re not canon-worthy) but because of his criticism, his essays, his To the Finland Station, that superb study of the history of socialism. He was lucid, as insightful as an oracle (but more accurate), witty, almost more erudite than Lord Acton, certainly less contradictory and never dull, as Acton could be. He wrote notebooks all his life, which Leon Edel edited into decennial volumes for Farrar, Straus and Giroux (except for the Sixties, the fattest–Wilson by then had become rather Taftian in rotundity–edited by someone else). I thought I’d give you a little taste from The Twenties through snippets: “The reason that more unusual and startling things are not done is not that they are particularly impracticable but that more people have not the imaginations to conceive them.” George Bernard “Shaw is the greatest master of literary sleight of hand the world has ever known: give him a platitude and in the twinkling of an eye he will transform it into a paradox.” “I always give the whores as little as possible: I don’t think that prostitution ought to be encouraged.” Wilson wrote this in quotes, as if to suggest that it was not quite what he believed, but to make a point. I’m not sure what his point was. On Eugene O’Neill: ” “I do not much like O’Neill as a dramatist: he depends too much upon hatred.” The “… reason the old become conservative — not because they are actually wiser, but because they are better established and adjusted than the youth, when they were in a constant state of exasperation from the effort to fit themselves to the world and the world to them.” This, he did not note whose he was referring to: “I wanted to kiss her inside the thighs, but she said, “Closed for the day.” And on time, a line written I think before Thomas Mann’s Magic Mountain was published, and which the most valued reader of these Briefings will appreciate: time: “I heard the harsh march of the clock and thought: That destroys us all!” He was often witty: “Somebody told her she had a large vocabulary — so now she’s dieting.” Some of us should take that advice.
—P.T.
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.
October 2025
Flagler Beach United Methodist Church Food Pantry
Flagler County Drug Court Convenes
Model Yacht Club Races at the Pond in Palm Coast’s Town Center
Palm Coast Democratic Club Meeting
Flagler Beach City Commission Meeting
Evenings at Whitney Lecture Series
‘Sweeney Todd’ at Athens Theatre
Free For All Fridays With Host David Ayres on WNZF
Friday Blue Forum
‘Sweeney Todd’ at Athens Theatre
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
For the full calendar, go here.
Bethlehem, Pa. The blast furnaces like giants at stool with their intestines wrapped around their bellies, voiding their bowels with a thunderous hissing and excreting a molten feces of gold burnt beyond gold to white ethereal yellow-shriveling the very autumn sunlight with its supreme incandescence. It seemed to be something which got light from the sun but something that outburned the sunlight, which showed through it as if through a confused white film. Cascades of intense thin sublimated gold pig iron, from which sparks burst like tiny rockets in the air-an explosive spray of fire. —Thick fly-wheels revolving through the floor, their rims almost reaching to the roof. Enormous engines pounding, throwing great pounding cylindrical rams back and forth, like phalluses in some gigantic copulation–or as if the machining were playing a game–each by itself–of batting this bolt back and forth, say, from hand to hand, trying to see how much momentum could be withstood before one of the guardian hands gave way.–In face of one of these machines, one feels abashed, immensely rebellious, a weakling in the presence of prodigious strength-like a small dog before a big dog.
–From Edmund Wilson’s The Twenties (1975).
This is Charlie? says
https://www.observerlocalnews.com/news/2025/sep/16/letter-we-are-charlie-kirk/
Laurel says
And how is white washing history different from brain washing? Do you not yet see the danger of this man? Is it preferable to just ignore all the danger he does? Pull your heads out of the sand.
Pogo says
@P.T.
Well said — about people and things worthy of spending the irreplaceable: time.
A reminder
https://www.google.com/search?q=irreplaceable
Regarding the excerpt of Wilson’s The Twenties, the visual narrative is worthy of the scale (and how small, in comparison, is a man — the creator of same…) and the light, and heat. Byron said, approximately, “… the sound is absent: a din, who those who have heard, would give their oath is hell.”
P.S.
Mr. Tony Bennett, welcome all the time. Thank you.
Pogo says
@This is Charlie?
People worship anything they choose. In the case you cite, it appears it’s a desire for a selfie — is there a more common endeavor?
Skibum says
To: This is Charlie…
I don’t know what the reason was for your link to someone else’s opinion? You have your own, so I have to ask… did you really need external validation from someone else to help support what you believe? Are you so unsure of your own views that you have to resort to seeking out additional backup support from anonymous people you don’t even know?
Although I continue to say Kirk should have been able to have the freedom we all have to think and say what he wants, he was no hero, no saint, no true Christian. He was a peddler of hate toward other people. That was his business, which earned him a luxurious living. Something Jesus had preached against many times, and who Jesus himself would have abhorred and disagreed with strongly.
You can disagree and/or argue an opposing point to your heart’s content. After all, your opinion is as valid as mine, and consequently, mine is just as valid as yours, is it not?
What I will give Charlie is the same consideration, the same compassion, the same empathy (which is a word and an emotion he also hated, by the way), that he has given to the thousands of school children who have been murdered by a wacko person with a gun, just like Charlie was. I’ll give him thoughts and prayers. Now lets move on with our lives, just like Charlie did each and every time after a horrendous school shooting in America, because Charlie Kirk deserves no more or no less than he was willing to give others.
That was his “brand”, his shtick, of pseudo-Christian “charity” which earned him the undying support from the right wing pseudo-“Christian” nationalist movement and it’s sheeple who have enriched him to the tune of millions and millions of dollars.
Gee, ain’t capitalism great!?
Ray W. says
Per a Mediaite story, on September 13th, a Chapel Hill doctoral candidate posted this on social media:
“This is an archived government report that found that “Since 1990, far-right extremists have committed far more ideologically motivated homicides than far-left or radical Islamist extremists.”
“It existed yesterday and is gone today.”
The subject matter of the doctoral student’s study? Online extremism, radicalization, and conspiracy beliefs.
The reporter then wrote of a 404 Media story. The 404 Media reporter wrote that when he or she attempted to link to the archived report, the site showed this message:
“The Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs is currently reviewing its websites and materials in accordance with recent Executive Orders and related guidance. During this review, some pages and publications will be unavailable. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”
That was then, meaning on or shortly after September 13th.
This is now:
“The requested page could not be found.”
The Mediaite reporter did find an archived copy of the DOJ report. From that archived copy, the reporter quoted some of the text:
“Militant, nationalistic, white supremacist violent extremism has increased in the United States. In fact, the number of far-right attacks continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism. Since 1990, far-right extremists have committed far more ideologically motivated homicides than far-left or radical Islamist extremists, including 227 events that took more than 520 lives.[1] In this same period, far-left extremists committed 42 ideologically motivated attacks that took 78 lives. A recent threat assessment by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security concluded that domestic violent extremists are an acute threat and highlighted a probability that COVID-19 pandemic-related stressors, long-standing ideological grievances related to immigration, and narratives surrounding electoral fraud will continue to serve as justification for violent actions.”
Make of this what you will.
Me?
Some of the current narrative being fostered by members of the professional lying class that sits at the top of one of our two political parties is that far-left radicals not only are behind the shooting of Charlie Kirk, they are also solely responsible for most or all of today’s political hatreds. Some of the FlaglerLive commenting community have fallen for the garbage.
There now exists competent and reliable evidence that that after Mr. Kirk’s shooting that same professional lying class set out to cull a DOJ report that shows that, between far-left threats to us all and far-right threats to us all, the far-right extremists are the greater danger to us all.
I do not choose between the murderous extremists on either side of the political aisle that walk among us. Perhaps the wisest course is to oppose all violent extremists, ranging from the political to the religious to the white-nationalist, and on to the rest. I condemn murderous extremist thought regardless of its source.
I have repeatedly commented that I, as a very young man, began to internalize the Tolkien view that because no one person among us is wise enough to see all ends we should not be too quick in our judgments to take life.
That my parents opposed the death penalty was also an influence.
I have also commented on this a number of times over the years.
History records that my father, as the elected State Attorney for the Seventh Judicial Circuit, was the first Southern prosecutor since Reconstruction to obtain a death penalty verdict from an all-white jury in a case of a white man murdering a Black man.
What history didn’t record was that whenever my father told me the story, he described his throwing up in a bathroom after the jury retired to its deliberations.
As a prosecutor, he said his duty was to follow the law, regardless of his personal beliefs. As an individual, he opposed what he had asked the jury to do.
He did tell me that he gave thanks when the USSC abolished the death penalty.
Because it had become evident to the Justices in 1968 that too many Southern prosecutors were arbitrarily and capriciously seeking death for Black defendants and not for white defendants, the Court abolished the death penalty. That finding of arbitrary and capricious application of the law meant that there was enough evidence in the court record to establish that prosecutors all over the South had shown themselves incapable of following the law. When numerous prosecutors show themselves incapable of following the law, the only remedy is to abolish the death penalty.
Legislatures all over the country then scrambled to revamp their death penalty statutes to place limits on prosecutors. Four years later, the Supreme Court approved one of those state revisions and the application of the death penalty resumed. Those limits on prosecutors came in the form of aggravating factors.
What is the most basic premise of these revamped death penalty schemes? In my opinion, it is that the death penalty shall be reserved only for the “worst of the worst” of the many defendants who are accused of murder. This is the language adopted by our Supreme Court. Not all of the murderers. Not some of the murderers. Not even the worst of the murderers. Only the worst of the worst of the murderers can be sanctioned by death.
Utah has a list of 12 individuated aggravating factors that can be employed by prosecutors to legitimize the death penalty, plus one catch-all “reckless indifference” factor.
1. Mr. Robinson was not in a correctional institution, so that one won’t apply.
2. Mr. Robinson put others at risk, an aggravating factor that will apply to this case. In Florida, this aggravating factor is not considered to be among the most weighty of factors.
3. The shooting did not occur during the commission of another felony, so that one won’t apply.
4. Mr. Robinson was not acting for pecuniary gain, so that one will not apply.
5. Mr. Kirk was not a public servant, so that one will not apply.
6. The shooting did not occur to prevent a witness from testifying nor was it in retaliation arising from a legal proceeding, so that one will not apply.
7. Mr. Robinson has no prior conviction for any type of murder, so that one will not apply.
8. This is a broad one, meaning that if Mr. Robinson used poison, or a bomb, or an explosive, or a weapon of mass destruction, or a lethal substance, then that can be an aggravating factor. I doubt if it would fit, but who knows whether “explosive” can be stretched to fit a cartridge.
9. Mr. Kirk was not used as a shield or hostage, so that one will not apply.
10. “The homicide was committed in a ‘heinous, atrocious, cruel, or exceptionally depraved manner’, which included physical torture or serious abuse of the victim before death.” This one will almost certainly not apply as an aggravating factor.
11. No dismemberment, mutilation, or disfigurement of Mr. Kirk’s body occurred, so this one will likely not apply.
12. The shooting did not occur during “the unlawful taking of a public conveyance”, so that aggravating factor will not apply.
Utah’s “reckless indifference” aggravating factor is defined as:
“Aggravated murder charges can also apply if a person acted with reckless indifference to human life, was a significant participant in the underlying crime, and caused someone’s death while committing certain other felonies, such as aggravated child abuse or child kidnapping.”
This one is so broadly worded that a judge might find it applicable to the facts surrounding Mr. Kirk’s death, but this one has three elements and uses “and” in the descriptor, so all three elements must be proven.
Unlike Florida, from what I can find, Utah does not have a “cold, calculated, and premeditated” aggravating factor. In Florida, this is one of the most weighty aggravating factors.
Is the evidence available to the prosecution at this time sufficient to support imposition of the death penalty? Only time will tell.
Sherry says
To those of you who “quite mistakenly” think that political violence from the left happens the same, or more than violence from the political right. . . please pay attention to the actual factual data . . . which trump’s Justice Department is now trying to HIDE. . . this from The Hill:
The Justice Department quietly removed from its website a study showing far-right extremists were responsible for the bulk of ideologically motivated deaths — a move that comes as the GOP seeks to back claims from President Trump that the “radical left” poses a greater danger than the right wing.
The 2024 study, in which several criminal justice researchers reviewed National Institute of Justice data, found far more instances of deaths credited to right-wing groups.
The study was still available on the Justice Department website last week, but a researcher on extremism posted on social media that it had been removed in the days after the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
“The number of far-right attacks continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism,” the study says.
“Since 1990, far-right extremists have committed far more ideologically motivated homicides than far-left or radical Islamist extremists, including 227 events that took more than 520 lives,” the study states.
“In this same period, far-left extremists committed 42 ideologically motivated attacks that took 78 lives.”
Skibum says
Thank you, Ray W. and Sherry, for having the courage and determination to seek out and speak the truth, as well as give all of us the facts and where those specific facts came from.
The current administration loves to speak only in generalities without giving specifics. They view factual data as destructive to their goals, so they peruse the official records, looking for data that doesn’t comport with what they want Americans to see and to know, and then they hide it if they are not able to delete it altogether.
And then the administration’s sycophants loudly and boldly feign shock and outrage that liberals would suggest they are fascists, trying to deceive us! This is exactly why us liberals need to remain “woke”, because to do so means we are awake, we see what they are doing, and we are calling them out each and every time they attempt to falsify data, or hide the truth, or lie to our faces about what they are doing.
Stay WOKE, folks!
Laurel says
Thank you Ray W., Sherry and Skibum. And Skibum, you are absolutely correct. “Woke” is meant to mean staying awake to the possible dangers around us. The word “woke” has been bastardized by the political right to mean whatever serves their purpose at the time.
This is Charlie? says
No, I didn’t need to post another persons opinion for validation. I linked it here for the few that might not have realized (like me) just how serious the situation is here in Palm Coast. And that is my current opinion.
Yes Pogo, I think perhaps you might have understood… I hope your conclusion is indeed all there is to the matter.
As has been written…
“… First Citizen: Come, come, we fear the worst. All will be well.
Second Citizen: When clouds are seen, wise men put on their cloaks; When great leaves fall, then winter is at hand; When the sun sets, who doth not look for night? Untimely storms make men expect a dearth. All may be well, but if God sort it so ‘Tis more than we deserve, or I expect.
Second Citizen: Truly the hearts of men are full of fear. You cannot reason almost with a man. That looks not heavily and full of dread.
Third Citizen: Before the days of change still is it so. By a divine instinct men’s minds mistrust
Ensuing danger, as by proof we see The water swell before a boist’rous storm. But leave it all to God. Whither away?
Second Citizen: Marry, we were sent for by the justices.
Third Citizen: And so always I. I’ll bear you company. …”
Sherry says
Thank you Skibum!