To include your event in the Briefing and Live Calendar, please fill out this form.
Weather: Sunny, with a high near 44. Windy. Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 26.
- 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 Cold-Weather Shelter known as the Sheltering Tree will open tonight: The shelter opens at Church on the Rock at 2200 North State Street in Bunnell as the overnight temperature is expected to fall to 40 or below. It will open from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. The shelter is open to the homeless and to the nearly-homeless: anyone who is struggling to pay a utility bill or lacks heat or shelter and needs a safe, secure place for the night. The shelter will serve dinner and breakfast. Call 386-437-3258, extension 105 for more information. Flagler County Transportation offers free bus rides from pick up points in the county, starting at 3 p.m., at the following locations and times:
- McDonald’s at Old Kings Road South and State Road 100 at the dirt road on the east side, 4 p.m.
- Circle K at Kingswood and Old Kings Road, 4:40 p.m.
- Dollar Tree behind Carrabba’s in the Dollar Tree Parking lot, 4:50 p.m.
- Palm Coast Main Branch Library, northwest corner of Palm Coast Parkway and Belle Terre Parkway, 4:55 p.m.
- Bunnell Free Clinic, 703 Moody Boulevard, 5 p.m.
- Bridges United Methodist Church in Bunnell, 205 N. Pine Street, 5 p.m. (listed as the same pick-up time because of the close proximity)
The shelter is run by volunteers of the Sheltering Tree, a non-profit under the umbrella of the Flagler County Family Assistance Center, is a non-denominational civic organization. The Sheltering Tree is in need of donations. See the most needed items here, and to contribute cash, donate here or go to the Donate button at this page.
Palm Coast Farmers’ Market at European Village: The city’s only farmers’ market is open every Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. at European Village, 101 Palm Harbor Pkwy, Palm Coast. With fruit, veggies, other goodies and live music. For Vendor Information email [email protected]
‘I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,’ At Limelight Theatre, 11 Old Mission Avenue, St. Augustine. 7:30 p.m. except Sundays, 2 p.m. A witty, fast-paced musical revue that takes a humorous and heartfelt look at modern love in all its stages-from awkward first dates to long marriages. Directed by Daniel Starling.
ESL Bible Studies for Intermediate and Advanced Students: 9:30 to 10:25 a.m. at Grace Presbyterian Church, 1225 Royal Palms Parkway, Palm Coast. Improve your English skills while studying the Bible. This study is geared toward intermediate and advanced level English Language Learners.
Diary: I loved the frosty grass in the morning and that sight of what’s left of our devastated treeline to the east as if ablaze in sunrise, not quite TS Eliot’s morning at his window, not quite rattling breakfast plates in basement kitchens or the damp souls of housemaids at the edges of the street, but a more Palm Coastal glide. As cliché as it sounds–they’re not clichés for nothing, you know–a sunrise and a sunset is still, when we choose to pause and take it in, one of the simpler, awesomest gifts of the day, more so the sunrise with its endless dawnish hues as the night slowly disrobes and slinks off, once again defeated, though the night always has the last laugh, the last night. The night knows it. It is merely playing cat and mouse with the day’s delusions, mirror to our own. The sun is the ultimate term-limited power in our dark-mattered isolation. When it goes off in four and a half billion years or so, assuming Trump doesn’t seek to buy it and it self-extinguishes in despair, that’ll be it. The night to end all days. By then the sun will have turned into a red giant, its circumference just about reaching the crest of those trees, making the scene above more of a preview than a cliché. I am of course assuming that by the time it’s a red giant, my P Section will still be here, as will my street, as will my neighbors’ houses, as will our delusions of eternity. The thought is no more and no less absurd than the prognostications of Genesis. Perhaps we should stick to the beauties of the moment, though like that flaming dawn, they too disrobe and vanish in a sigh. We live between memory and projection, our hold on our own present the mother of all delusions. But what luck–what miracle–to feel and breathe even that, as long as it isn’t hellfired in suffering or cruelty or nature’s indifferent vindictiveness: would I be having these sunrise reflections from the same window had my roof been blown off by Hurricane Next? Had my wife or children been harmed, had cancer preened anew? Should I be having these reflections as Minnesotan bones are cracking to protect what’s left of our democracy’s Palm Coast-like canopy? The delusion of the unharmed present is the best we have, and what a present it is, all caveats and awaiting red giants aside.
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.
April 2026
Flagler Woman’s Club Charity Golf Tournament
Flagler Beach Farmers Market
Coffee With Flagler Beach Commission Chair Scott Spradley
Grace Community Food Pantry on Education Way
Gamble Jam at Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area
Dead Men Tell No Tales…. Or Do They? Murder Mystery Dinner Show
“The Sound of Music,” at Athens Theatre
‘Line’ and ‘All In the Timing’ At City Rep Theatre
ESL Bible Studies for Intermediate and Advanced Students
Grace Community Food Pantry on Education Way
Palm Coast Farmers’ Market at European Village
Dead Men Tell No Tales…. Or Do They? Murder Mystery Dinner Show
“The Sound of Music,” at Athens Theatre
Al-Anon Family Groups
‘Line’ and ‘All In the Timing’ At City Rep Theatre
For the full calendar, go here.
“It was so cold that the sun made himself fires…”
–From Black Elk Speaks (1932).
Dennis C Rathsam says
TRUMP is doing exactly what 77 million American Patriots voted for! Too bad you don’t like it…. next time run a decent candidate! These fools in Minn are being payed by Soros, whom is under investigation now, & an American businessman, who lives in SHAG HI…. NEVILLE ROY SINGHAM! These riots are about disrupting Americans, they don’t give a RATTS ass who gets killed its all collateral damage to them. You would stand in minus 0 temperatures for free. Wake up people! Have you seen THIER custom signs? Newly printed, fresh wood….being delivered by a rented Home Depot truck. No other state has had a problem with ICE! Only Minn, where FRAUDE rules the state. This isn’t a Dem problem or a GOP problem THIS IS A AMERICAN PROBLEM!!!!! Stand up for your country … times running out!
Nephew of Uncle Sam says
Comical, “These fools in Minn are being payed by Soros,…”
If I had a dime for every time I heard that I’d be very rich and George Soros would be broke. Now if Dennis could only prove just one thing, only one, that thousands upon thousands of protestors have been paid by “Soros” and where can I sign up for this money.
Laurel says
He pulls his stats out of his…
Oh, and this:
https://crooksandliars.com/2026/01/greg-kelly-claims-alex-prettis-cell-phone
So, who here admits they actually watch Newsmax? C’mon, ‘fess up!
Bo Peep says
What lost rights exactly is your political cartoons suggesting that you think have been taken?
Pierre Tristam says
If you have to ask…
Laurel says
Apparently he/she does.
For you, Bo Peep:
The first four amendments of the U.S. Constitution are:
First Amendment – Protects freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition.
Second Amendment – Protects the right to keep and bear arms.
Third Amendment – Prohibits the quartering of soldiers in private homes without consent.
Fourth Amendment – Protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.
– Search Assist, Cornell University, Wikipedia
Sherry says
In recent years, the Trump administration has enacted numerous policies and executive orders that critics and advocacy groups argue have significantly curtailed civil, reproductive, and environmental rights.
CIVIL RIGHTS AND EQUALITY
DEI Programs:
*A day-one executive order in 2025 mandated the termination of all federal diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) programs and offices.
* Federal Contracting: The administration rescinded Executive Order 11246, a 1965 order that prohibited federal contractors from discriminating in hiring.
* Disparate Impact Analysis: Federal agencies were ordered to stop using “disparate impact” analysis, a tool used to identify and challenge policies that are neutral on paper but disproportionately harm marginalized groups.
*Language Access: The administration declared English the nation’s official language and repealed requirements for federal agencies to provide meaningful access for people with limited English proficiency.
LGBTQ+ RIGHTS
* Gender Identity Recognition: A 2025 executive order mandated that the federal government only recognize “biological sex” as assigned at birth on official documents like passports.
* Transgender Military Service: The administration moved to ban transgender and non-binary individuals from serving in the military and paused gender-affirming care for active members and veterans.
* Healthcare Protections: The administration eliminated LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination provisions under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act.
* Education (Title IX): Federal guidance was amended to exclude sexual orientation and gender identity from protections against discrimination in schools.
REPRODUCTIVE AND HEALTHCARE RIGHTS
* Abortion Access: Executive orders were signed to revoke prior protections for medication abortion and emergency abortion care under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).
* Birth Control Mandates: Rules were expanded to allow more employers to refuse to provide birth control coverage based on religious or moral objections.
*Medicaid Funding: Proposals were introduced to prohibit Medicaid and CHIP funding from covering gender-affirming medical care for minors.
ENVIRONMENTAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH RIGHTS
* Clean Water Protections: The administration repealed the 2015 Clean Water Rule, significantly narrowing the number of water bodies protected by federal law.
* Climate Regulations: The administration withdrew from the Paris climate accord and replaced the Clean Power Plan with the Affordable Clean Energy rule, which did not set firm caps on carbon emissions.
* Scientific Data: References to “climate change” were scrubbed from various government websites, and environmental justice offices were shuttered.
IMMIGRATION AND LABOR RIGHTS
* Asylum and Citizenship: Executive actions sought to end birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants and restrict the right to asylum.
* Union Rights: Collective bargaining rights were eliminated for tens of thousands of federal employees under the guise of “national security concerns”.
* Alien Enemies Act: The administration invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to
facilitate mass deportations, which critics argue allows for arrests without due process.
Sherry says
@ bo. . . next time, do your own research. . . get educated!
Ray W. says
According to research conducted by Grid Strategies, an energy think tank, by 2028 some 34.948 GW of national electricity production capacity is slated to go offline due to both aging plants and generating inefficiencies. Another 66.337 GW of electricity production capacity will be from plants that will be 60-years-old or older in 2028, even though these plants are not yet slated for shutdown.
President Trump signed an executive directing the Department of Energy to keep coal-fired power plants. According to other sources, since then, some six coal-fired power plants have received DOE orders to remain active past their scheduled closure dates. The first to receive such an order has been operating for nine months past date of scheduled shutdown at a cost to customers thus far of approximately $80 million.
Should all aged fossil fuel power plants, both those scheduled for closure and those that are aged but not yet scheduled for closure, be kept open by DOE orders, the extra cost to consumers all over the country will be as much as $5.9 billion per year.
Here is the language from the report’s conclusion:
“DOE mandates to retain retiring power plants could cost U.S. electricity consumers between $3.1 billion and $5.9 billion per year, depending on how many plants are mandated to remain open. These costs will be broadly distributed across ratepayers in all regions except the northeastern U.S., with electricity increasing by tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in most states. Power plants have been slated to retire because their owners and state regulators have determined they are no longer economic or needed. DOE mandates override those well-informed decisions, inflating electric bills for homeowners and businesses and undermining the competitiveness of U.S. factories and data centers.”
Make of this what you will.
Pogo says
@Magic by Trump
… turning gold into lead.
Thank you for your illuminating comments.
Always.
Laurel says
Ah, but those damned windmills are still in view of Trump’s Scotland golf course.
Trump is not our retribution,
we are his.
Ray W. says
I previously commented on the roughly 11% slide in the valuation of the US dollar since January 2025, when compared to the valuations of a basket of currencies of other developed countries.
The Wall Street Journal published a story on the dollar’s slide in value. In the words of the reporters:
“The dollar’s strength over the past decade was propelled in large part by American exceptionalism, or the outperformance of the U.S. economy and markets compared to the rest of the developed world. Political stability and strong rule of law gave overseas investors- such as Japanese life insurers and European pensions – extra reasons to snap up U.S. assets. …
“At the same time, a stronger dollar afforded consumers more purchasing power to buy goods and services from abroad. …
But, “[t]he currency posted its worst annual performance since 2017. Trade shocks and signs of a slowing economy sparked an ‘Sell America’ trade that dinged U.S. assets. While stocks and bonds recovered, the dollar remained lower, weighed down by fears that a debt-burdened U.S. is scrambling the global order underpinning its own growth.”
Make of this what you will.
Me?
Are the reporters telling readers that a stronger dollar entices foreign investment, which further strengthens the dollar, which entices more foreign investment? That a cycle of economic strength can power at least some of the American economy? Makes sense to me.
Is this but one of the several reasons why the WSJ wrote that President Trump in January 2025 was inheriting an economy that was the “envy of the world”?
Ray W. says
On January 26, 2026, the EIA released its Electric Power Monthly report, with data through November 30, 2025. And the report contained projections for 2026.
A news outlet named Global Renewable News published portions of the report’s data.
During calendar year 2026, bases on existing projects already underway:
Small-scale solar will add an estimated 6,000 MW of electricity generating capacity.
Utility-scale renewables of all types, plus battery backup, will add 69,579.1 MW of electricity generating capacity.
Natural gas will add 3,960.7 MW of electricity generating capacity.
Nuclear will remain unchanged.
Coal will lose 3,837.0 MW of electricity generating capacity.
Petroleum and other liquid fuels will lose 10.4 MW of electricity generating capacity.
If all projects proceed as projected, 99.2% of all newly added electricity generating capacity in the US will come from renewables of all types, not counting small-scale solar projects.
Make of this what you will.
Ray W. says
During Texas Governor Abbott’s 2025 State of the State speech, he talked of Texas having increased electricity generating capacity by 35% over the four years between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2024. I looked it up. Over 90% of the capacity increase came from solar, wind and battery storage backup.
Make of this what you will.
Me?
For years, certain political leaders claimed that coal was king, when it wasn’t. Then, they claimed that natural gas was the new king. But it’s beginning to look like renewables are the new king.
When Hillary announced in 2016 that coal was dead, it seems she was prescient, but only in the economic sense. Politically, there remains great value in the Coal is King policy. Many people are more than willing to pay higher utility bills if it will keep coal king. The Texas legislature even coughed nearly $10 billion dollars to prop up natural gas. Few companies were risking building natural gas power plants in Texas. Once the nearly $10 billion hit the public trough, some 130 companies lined up for a share of the money.
Let’s face it. If private lenders will finance solar, wind and battery storage backup, but not so much natural gas and never coal, what does that tell you?
Sherry says
Many polls show trump’s approval rating on several issues in the dumper. . . even with Republicans on FOX polls! This from the AP:
https://apnews.com/article/poll-trump-affordability-costs-ice-44196e8814c5a8e47df26fa1d21f44fd