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Weather: Partly sunny, with a high near 71. Calm wind becoming northeast 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon. Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 58.
- 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.
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.
Rotary’s Fantasy Lights Festival in Palm Coast’s Town Center: Nightly from 6 to 9 p.m. at Palm Coast’s Central Park, with 57 lighted displays you can enjoy with a leisurely stroll around the pond in the park. Admission to Fantasy Lights is free, but donations to support Rotary’s service work are gladly accepted. Holiday music will pipe through the speaker system throughout the park, Santa’s Village, which has several elf houses for the kids to explore, will be open, with Santa’s Merry Train Ride nightly (weather permitting), and Santa will be there every Sunday night until Christmas, plus snow on weekends! On certain nights, live musical performances will be held on the stage.
Notably: I was so impressed with the president’s grief-stricken response to the death of Rob and Michel Singer Reiner. Such compassion, such empathy. This is what we look for at moments of national shock, as when Reagan eulogized the Challenger astronauts (“We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them – this morning – as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye, and slipped the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God.”) I always knew Trump had it in him. I was equally impressed with our hard-working Congress–so hard working, so judicious against all challenges–outdoing Australia’s lawmakers, who as we well know have pledged to strengthen what was already some very strong gun-control laws, the kind of gun control they passed after the Port Arthur massacre of 1996, when Martin Bryant gunned down 35 people. Until the Bondi Beach massacre by that ISIS-inspired pair of vomit, Australia hadn’t known anything like it: 30 years of relative quiet. We hardly go 30 hours without a mass shooting. But good for our GOP Congress and its twin in Tallahassee, showing those socceroos what we’re made of after the Brown University shooting. Or the Stockton shooting. Or the Newark shooting. Anyway, you get the point. And that rain of bills coming out of the Florida Legislature to commemorate Rob Reiner and his wife–ordering college campuses to name streets after them, establishing Dec. 14 as Reiner Remembrance Day, requiring schools to have Reiner Clubs and appropriating those hundreds of millions for a Reiner Film School at UF. I am all verklempt. So proud to be an American. Enough to make me wish all sorts of thoughts and prayers on those lawmakers.
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.
January 2026
Palm Coast Code Enforcement Board Meeting
Separation Chat: Open Discussion
Flagler Beach Library Book Club
The Circle of Light A Course in Miracles Study Group
Flagler County Republican Club Meeting
Flagler Beach Parks Ad Hoc Committee
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
Free For All Fridays With Host David Ayres on WNZF
Friday Blue Forum
For the full calendar, go here.
Rob Reiner refused to go on after dress rehearsal. I was in his dressing room. It was hilarious because it was like a monologue, him going, “I can’t do this show, I can’t do this show! It’s bad, it’s horrible, I’m going to make mistakes, I don’t know the lines, I can’t do it, I’m not doing it, I’m sorry, that’s it!” And it was like he was not going to do it. And Lorne just talked him through it. And of course Rob did a good show.
–Neil Levy in Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live (2002).
Laurel says
Look, if you voted for this asshole, we forgive you, and let’s move forward! Let’s bring this country back to sanity and do what we can to get our allies back, if that’s possible.
If you don’t want to forward, don’t bother me anymore.
Joe D says
Yes….the OL’ DOUBLE STANDARD!
When activist (also racist, sexist, homophobic, etc., etc.) Charlie Kirk was assassinated, ANYONE who even SUGGESTED in Media posts or even private statements, that he wasn’t deserving of “Sainthood” was attacked, censured, vilified and in many cases had their jobs or positions put in jeopardy. In some cases they were FIRED!
But here, the PRESIDENT of the USA is saying openly, that Rob Reiner and his wife brought on their murders themselves by the strong political positions they took!….REALLY!?! Well the shoe is now on the other foot Mr. President.
What a CLASSLESS (in my opinion ) example of inappropriate behavior (AGAIN) displayed by the “LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD.” What an EXAMPLE for the WORLD…and our children!
Sherry says
Let’s Go jack Smith!
Trump’s Lame Duck Karma
Joyce Vance
Dec 18
Last night, I closed out our preview of Jack Smith’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee today by writing, “We won’t be able to watch the proceedings because those members of Congress are afraid to let us see them. But there is more to come. This may well be a case of ‘Be careful what you ask for.’ Jack Smith undoubtedly has a lot to say.” And, bam. That turned out to be the case right out of the gate this morning.
“Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and to prevent the lawful transfer of power,” Smith told the Committee in his opening statement.
Bad News in Congress
In other bad news for the president, there are signs of his diminishing influence over his own party. With enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that were passed during the pandemic set to expire at the end of the year, Democrats are circulating a discharge petition that would force a vote on a three-year extension. Most Republicans are opposed to extending the subsidies, but apparently unwilling to go on record with a vote, as evidenced by the fact that the Speaker has refused to allow one.
This morning, four Republicans, enough to ensure passage of the petition, indicated they would join Democrats and vote for it. More may be on the way. They seem to understand that with insurance costs set to rise dramatically once the subsidies expire, they may find themselves vulnerable in midterm elections. That prospect seems to concern them enough to risk breaking with their party.
So far, Republican Pennsylvania Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick, Rob Bresnahan, and Ryan Mackenzie, joined by Michael Lawler from New York, have indicated they will join the discharge petition. The Washington Post is reporting California Republican David Valadao told them he wants to sign the petition, too. All five are in vulnerable positions come the midterms. Trump is a lame duck president. Traditional politics are starting to exert a gravitational pull over Republicans who understand there will be life after Trump. There may be more. It’s a win-win for Democrats, who will either get the extension in subsidies they want for their voters (and were willing to shut down the government for) or put Republicans firmly on the spot for refusing to go to bat for their constituents.
Bad News in Indiana
The losses for Trump, who has always tried to maintain a veneer of invincibility, are mounting. If you blinked during the hectic news cycle last week, you might have missed the story of Indiana Republicans rejecting Trump’s call for unprecedented, and openly political, redistricting. It was a major loss for Trump, as Republicans in Indiana’s legislature rejected his demand that they create two more Republican seats in Congress by gerrymandering the state’s electoral maps.
Twenty-one Republican state senators rejected Trump’s plan and joined with Democrats to reject the measure. It was something of a surprise after other red states, led by Texas, gave in to Trump. But as the tide continues to turn in this lame duck presidency, with Republicans defying the leader of their party on issues ranging from the Epstein files to congressional oversight of DoD strikes on alleged drug boats, Trump is no longer assured he will get his way. The Indiana vote is part of the slow rolling sea change that means Trump’s grip is no longer the death grip on Republicans it has been for the last nine years.
The proposed maps in Indiana were designed to deliver all nine seats the state has in the House into Republican hands. Currently, seven seats are held by Republicans, with only two held by Democrats. But Indiana’s popular vote in the 2024 presidential election was 58.8% for Donald Trump and 39.4% for Kamala Harris, which suggests that even before the redistricting plan, the state was significantly gerrymandered.
If you needed any more proof (and Republicans apparently do) that Trump’s alignment with them is purely transactional and he will abandon them if they don’t serve him, well, there it is.
Bad News from Jack Smith
Some excerpts from Jack Smith’s comments on the Hill this morning remind us of what this country used to look like, back when our leaders respected and adhered to the rule of law and the Justice Department served the people, not the president:
“I was taught as a young prosecutor to follow the facts and the law, and to do so without fear or favor. To do the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons. For nearly three decades, I have been a career prosecutor. I have served during both Republican and Democratic Administrations, and I have been guided by these principles in every role I have held.”
“[Toll] records were lawfully subpoenaed and were relevant to complete a comprehensive investigation. January 6 was an attack on the structure of our democracy in which over 100 heroic law enforcement officers were assaulted. Over 160 individuals later pled guilty to assaulting police officers that day. Exploiting that violence, President Trump and his associates tried to call Members of Congress in furtherance of their criminal scheme, urging them to further delay certification of the 2020 election. I didn’t choose those Members; President Trump did.”
“The decision to bring charges against President Trump was mine, but the basis for those charges rests entirely with President Trump and his actions, as alleged in the indictments returned by grand juries in two different districts.”
“I made my decisions in the investigation without regard to President Trump’s political association, activities, beliefs, or candidacy in the 2024 presidential election. We took actions based on what the facts and the law required—the very lesson I learned early in my career as a prosecutor.”
“If asked whether to prosecute a former President based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether the President was a Republican or Democrat.”
We used to live in a country that understood politics had no place in prosecution. We were not perfect. But that isn’t the point. The point was that we had a goal that we were committed to, to keep working towards getting better, even if we still had a long way to go, to help bend Dr. King’s moral arc of the universe further toward justice. We need to get back to that important work. We need a country and a government that serve the people, not the president.
Donald Trump’s hold on the country is no longer a stranglehold. We’re getting there. Keep going.
We’re in this together,
Joyce