To include your event in the Briefing and Live Calendar, please fill out this form.
Weather: Partly sunny. A slight chance of showers in the morning, then showers likely in the afternoon. Highs in the mid 80s. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent. Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy with a slight chance of thunderstorms. Showers likely, mainly in the evening. Lows around 60. Chance of rain 70 percent.
- 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:
Drug Court convenes before Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols at 10 a.m. in Courtroom 401 at the Flagler County courthouse, Kim C. Hammond Justice Center 1769 E Moody Blvd, Bldg 1, Bunnell. Drug Court is open to the public. See the Drug Court handbook here and the participation agreement here.
Flagler Beach United Methodist Church Food Pantry: Flagler Beach United Methodist Church‘s food pantry is open today from 9:30 a.m. to noon at 1500 S. Daytona Ave, Flagler Beach. The church’s mission is to provide nourishment and support in a welcoming, respectful environment. To find us, please turn at the corner of 15 Street and S. Daytona Ave, pull into the grass parking area and enter the green door.
The Flagler Beach City Commission meets at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, 105 South 2nd Street in Flagler Beach. R.J. Santore is sworn in for his first term, Scott Spradley is sworn in for his second term, Rick Belhumeur is, as he says, decommissioned. 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.
Swan Lake Ballet, Dance Alive Company, 7 p.m. at the Fitzgerald Performing Arts Center (Flagler Auditorium), 5500 State Road 100, Palm Coast. Call the box office at (386) 437-7547 Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., or book online here. The enchantment of Tchaikovsky’s most beloved ballet returns to the stage in “Swan Lake – Ballet Dance Alive,” a breathtaking performance that brings the timeless tale of love, magic, and transformation to life. This dazzling production features elegance, class, and indescribably beautiful choreography paired with a hauntingly gorgeous score to boot. Audiences will be swept away by the grace of the white swan, Odette, and the drama of her dark double, Odile, in a story that continues to captivate hearts internationally.
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.
Evenings at Whitney Lecture Series hosted by the University of Florida Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience at 6 p.m. This free lecture will be presented in person at the UF Whitney Laboratory Lohman Auditorium, 9505 Ocean Shore Boulevard, in St. Augustine. Those interested also have the option of registering to watch via Zoom live the night of the lecture. Go here to register for this month’s lecture. See previous lectures here.
The Palm Coast Democratic Club holds its monthly business meeting at noon at the Flagler Democratic Party Headquarters in City Marketplace, 160 Cypress Point Parkway, Suite C214, Palm Coast. This gathering is open to the public at no charge. No advance arrangements are necessary. Call (386) 283-4883 for best directions or (561)-235-2065 for more information. For further information, please contact Palm Coast Democratic Club’s President Donna Harkins at (561) 235-2065, visit our website at http://palmcoastdemocraticclub.org/ or Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/palmcoastdemclub/permalink
Yasmina Reza’s “God of Carnage” at Limelight Theatre, 11 Old Mission Avenue, St. Augustine. 7:30 p.m. except on Sundays at 2 p.m. Book here. What begins as polite conversation quickly unravels into escalating insults, exposed hypocrisies, and childish behavior. The dark comedy, God of Carnage, satirizes modern civility, exposing how thin the veneer of social decorum truly is when pride and principle collide.
“Steel Magnolias” at Athens Theatre, 7:30 p.m. except Sunday, 2:30 p.m., 124 North Florida Avenue, DeLand, (386) 736-1500. Cost: Adult $37, Senior $33, Student/Child $17, groups of 8 or more $30 per ticket, all including processing charge. Book here. Truvy’s beauty salon is where life happens. It’s where women gather to laugh, cry, share stories, and carry one another through everything life throws their way. Steel Magnolias is a funny, deeply moving story about friendship—the kind that’s loud, loyal, and shows up when it counts. It’s about finding strength in the people who know you best, and love you anyway. This heartfelt comedy-drama is as sweet and soulful as Southern tea—and proves that “laughter through tears” just might be the finest emotion of all.
Free Tax Preparation Services in Flagler County: The AARP Foundation’s Tax Aide provides free tax preparation services at six locations in Palm Coast, Flagler Beach and Flagler County through April 15, but you must make an appointment first and fill out paperwork. To do both, go here.
Notebook: Last Sunday I referred to the picture of a young Lebanese boy huddling in Beirut’s Martyrs Square after being driven out of his home by Israeli attacks in South Lebanon. The picture today is that of Fatima Zaher Ahmadi. She was the receptionist at the Comfort Hotel in a mostly Christian suburb southeast of Beirut, across the street from the Sacre Coeur Hospital, a Christian hospital, and on the opposite side, the Chaldean Cathedral of St. Raphael, all in the neighborhood of Hazmieh, where we used to have friends and family. If the boy on Sunday could have been me, Fatima could have been my sister. She was killed while sleeping in her bed at 4 a.m. at the hotel, when Israel bombed it, even though the hotel had opened its door to refugee families from the South. The Times ran a video feature about the bombing, narrating the following: “Fatima had a master’s degree in math and was pursuing another in veterinary medicine. She was an animal lover and a competitive horseback rider. For more than a year, Israel bombed southern Lebanon on a near-daily basis. And for more than a year, Hezbollah didn’t respond. But then the U.S. and Israel went to war with Iran, killing its Supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel, two days later.” Did you catch that little detail? For more than a year since the cease-fire from the previous war with Hezbollah, Israel pounded the South every day, Hezbollah did not return fire. It was dumb enough to fire a few salvos after the assassination of Khamenei in Iran, giving Israel the pretext to go Gaza on Lebanon again. I say Fatima could have been my sister. But it’s not because of ethnic ancestry that I should feel that way. I’d feel the same kinship with a victim of the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel or with a victim of Congo’s war for that matter. Ancestry amplifies the anger by familiarity, but geography and murderers everywhere universalize it, down to the victims of mass shootings in our own backyards. You can see the Times video here, or below, if the Instagram embed works.
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
ESL Bible Studies for Intermediate and Advanced Students
Grace Community Food Pantry on Education Way
Palm Coast Farmers’ Market at European Village
“My Fair Lady,” at Daytona Playhouse
Al-Anon Family Groups
“Godspell,” at the Limelight Theatre
Free Tax Preparation Services in Flagler County
Flagler County Commission Morning Meeting
Beverly Beach Town Commission meeting
Nar-Anon Family Group
For the full calendar, go here.
In the space of 48 hours, leading Lebanese institutions have provided evidence that the mindset and national culture which continue to prevail within the “deep state” make it incapable not only of implementing political decisions taken by the highest authority in the country, the Council of Ministers, but also and above all of bringing about a change of mentality within the state itself. Last Saturday, the Lebanese army issued a statement that ignored the Supreme Political Authority’s decision to deem Hezbollah’s military and security activities illegal—which they have always been—and instead emphasized the importance of maintaining “national unity.” The statement specified that “resolving the crisis” hinges on halting “Israeli aggression” and “strengthening the capabilities of the military.” Under Fouad Chehab, the Lebanese army preserved its unity and cohesion through its inaction, its refusal to take sides. Must this inaction, which is costing us far more today than in the past, become a constant? If so, how should we answer those who ask us: what is the purpose of an army?
–From a column by Elie Fayad, L’Orient-Le Jour, March 9, 2026.
Pogo says
Oui.
Finis.
Laurel says
Congress, and the US American public, should demand local investigations of these deaths. Under what circumstances do we not investigate killings? Noem should be held responsible for these actions, and be liable for defamation of the victims’ characters.
This is just one of the nearly endless reasons this administration is not credible or worthy of our trust. Don’t tread on me, right?
Ed P says
It’s been more than a decade that Trump has been on the political radar, but no one has revealed themselves as the anti-Trump candidate possessing the ability to be that single polarizing political leader everyone can coalesce around. Why?
Is it because the elliptical orbits (radical left and right policies) have elongated too far, unable to encircle everyone? The left is trying to out left each other. The right, just the opposite? Is it because a rational Moderate doesn’t appeal to a broad enough audience to be politically viable anymore? If that’s true, trouble is ahead.
Civility is gone. Listening is a lost talent. Common sense is elusive. Critical thinking, what’s that? Respect? F – Off. You’re wrong, I’m right. You’re brainwashed, but I’m not.
You can never hear it’s Fox News fault enough, right? Can you say hackneyed?
An elected politician serves every constituent and should attempt to unite instead of divide. They get paid to perform not just obstruct. Results for the country matter.
Remember when a minimum wage job was the entry level gateway to gain experience and prove oneself? Today, it’s demanded to be a living wage. It’s owed to them.
No one climbs a ladder from the top.
Why is it usually someone else’s fault? Personal responsibility is rarely blamed. Everyone gets a participation trophy and believes they are entitled to more than LIFE,LIBERTY, and the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. Health care, new cars, big homes and income are expected and even demanded.
Unfortunately, material assets are not entitlements and that’s where I believe the wheel came off. It’s our fault.
We caused the problems. We tried to be too inclusive. We bent norms, minds and even genders. We endorsed recreational drug use. We’ve defined everything in palatable terms. Everyone has an excuse for failure instead of understanding failure is the first step to success. People are too dependent on the system instead of relying on themselves. Live as if no one is coming to give you anything. You must earn it.
The American Dream isn’t dead, it just can’t be achieved with an iPad in someone’s basement.
Ed P says
When someone is convinced they possess moral certainty, they stop looking for solutions and start looking for heretics.
Doesn’t leave room for common sense.
Skibum says
You make a wonderful case for communism, comrade! Putin would salute you with a glass of his best vodka. In his realm, like you apparently wish for, they don’t have to worry about being too inclusive. No bent norms, minds or even genders… NYET!
Putin doesn’t have to worry about people making excuses for their failures, because HE tells them what he wants them to hear and gives them all just enough so they cannot really see success or failure in each other due to everyone failing to achieve much of anything together in their “great” society.
So, when exactly is your plane leaving???
Ed P says
Skibum,
Is that really what you gleaned from my post.
Not only did you miss the target, but you are amplifying my point.
Thanks for the assist.
Ray W. says
According to a GlobalData story, China’s CATL, the world’s largest EV battery maker, recently reported that FY2025 “net profit attributable to shareholders” ($10.44 billion) grew by 42.3%, when compared to FY2024.
EV battery manufacturing output, as measured by total EV battery storage capacity produced, rose 39.16% to 661 GWh.
Make of this what you will.
Ray W. says
In a story published by The Telegraph, a reporter argues that recent videos of American missile and drone strikes on Iranian mine-laying boats are in reality strikes on Iranian fast-attack boats, not its mine-layers. He asserts that Iran’s minelayers are disguised to look like fishing dhows, and that Iran has over 1,000 of them, hidden in the inlets and coves of Iran’s southern shores.
Make of this what you will.
Ray W. says
In a new research note, the oil team for Goldman Sachs published their “rule of thumb.” For every sustained 10% rise in the price of crude oil, inflation will rise by 0.2%. And, that same 10% rise in the price of crude oil will lower GDP growth by 0.1%.
Make of this what you will.
Ray W. says
This from a FOX News story about the wine industry and about demographic trends in American wine consumption. The American 25-to-39 demographic is not consuming as much alcohol, wrote the reporter, and the Boomer generation is aging out of the level of alcohol consumption it once commanded.
California vineyard acreage, in recent years hovering around 600,000 acres, totaled just over 475,000 acres in 2025. Even so, 20% of that potential yield was left to rot on the vine.
Make of this what you will.
Me?
I am skeptical about changing demographics, alone, being enough to account for all of such a big shift in wine consumption. Curious, too. The FOX News story devotes not a single word to the increasing paucity of immigrant pickers that resulted in so many other crops being left to rot in the fields. Nor does the story devote any space to a possible collapse of American wine exports.
So I found a Yahoofinance! story about how American wine exports dropped 33.5% last year, mainly because Canadians, previously the most prolific foreign consumers of American wines, largely stopped (down 78.6%) buying our wine products.
Sherry says
Yep. . . by not telling the “whole” story, Fox is spreading disinformation far and wide. After all, many claim that they are the most “popular” source for news(?) in the US. The question is, popular with who? Anyone who cannot clearly see that they are very right winged biased is emotionally indoctrinated to live in “Alternate Reality LaLa Land”. Critical thinking and research reveals the truth. Stick with the Associated Press and BBC.
Ray W. says
According to a Morning Overview article, a major advantage to battery backup power in a grid is that battery systems can in milliseconds respond to grid frequency disruptions or to supply-demand voltage imbalances, whereas fossil fuel power generating systems take time, perhaps minutes, to ramp up or ramp down output.
Make of this what you will.
BobsAnon says
It was just fun and games and shooting pups, who’d have thunk it could all go wrong…