The Legislature’s revenue estimating economists today announced a shortfall of about $1 billion for the coming year and $1.5 billion the following year. Rick Scott continues to rule out tax increases.
All Else
Flirting With the Bizarre and the Unconstitutional, Bunnell Retains 4 Lawyers
A Bunnell city commissioner opened Monday’s commission meeting with a hard-core Christian prayer as seven lawyers, including the city attorney, looked on–and took the fifth on the matter, as most were angling for a contract with the city.
Penny Wise, Light Foolish: Palm Coast in the Dark In Reclamation of Ralph Carter Park
League organizers and parents are calling Palm Coast’s plan to charge youth leagues for field and light use at city parks short-sighted and counter-productive, given the leagues’ stabilizing effect on once-troubled parks such as Ralph Carter Park.
Rubio’s Rig: Florida’s Answer to Obama Health Law Leaving Small Businesses Cold
Florida’s Marco Rubio-created insurance exchanges aren’t open to individuals, provide no subsidies or tax credits, and no essential health benefits, as federal plans do. The exchanges have not been popular.
Major Power Outages in Flagler Restored, But Many Smaller Ones Remain
Winds of up to 60 miles per hour have downed power lines and trees, cutting power for 6,000 customers in Flagler County as of 10:30 p.m. See how you can track your outages and find out reconnection times.
Tasers and the Flagler County School Board: Feeble Surrender to an Instrument of Torture
The re-introduction of Tasers on campus is disturbing on many levels, not least because the Flagler school board had no evidence they were needed. Nor did it consider the barbaric implications of Tasers in school settings.
This Week in Flagler and Tallahassee: Local Legislators’ Annual Drive-By Natter
Sid Nowell’s job is on the line in Bunnell, Bruce Campbell’s job may finally become more permanent in Flagler Beach, the African American Cultural Society’s 20th anniversary celebrations all week, dire state revenue estimates, and more.
In Praise of Steve Jobs
Lionel Rolfe, the writer and journalist, chronicles Steve Jobs’s influence on capitalism, cybernetics, typography, Rolfe’s own work and, to some extent, his life.
Occupy Jacksonville: Video and Reports of Saturday’s Occupy Wall Street-Inspired Protest
Occupy Jacksonville at hemming Plaza Saturday drew between 200 and 300 people, including participants from Palm Coast and Flagler County. Video of the protest, updates and pictures.
Dares From the Familiar From 7 Photographers at Hollingsworth Gallery’s Latest Show
Hollingsworth Gallery’s first all-photography exhibits features provocative, unsettling and arresting work by Steven Benson, Daniel Biferie, Jennifer Kaczmarek, A.J. Neste, Mark Townsend, Mercedes McCartney and Nik Clements.
Buddy Walk in Town Center Canceled, Creekside Festival Goes On
Buddy Walk in Town Center canceled, Great bed Race in Flagler Beach postponed, Creekside Festival goes on: the rains are playing havoc with weekend events in Flagler County.
Elect Dennis Cross
Palm Coast City Council District 3
Dennis Cross for Palm Coast City Council District 3: his experience, platform and qualifications for Palm Coast City Council.
Re-Elect Holsey Moorman
Palm Coast City Council District 1
Holsey Moorman for Palm Coast City Council District 1: his experience, game plan and qualifications for Palm Coast City Elections. Re-elect Holsey Moorman.
Saturday’s Great Bed Race in Flagler Beach Postponed Until Dec. 3
Weather is causing the postponement of the third annual Great Bed Race, which means that there’s two more months to enter the contest, which has already drawn a record 17 beds.
Palm Coast’s First Business-to-Business Expo: How-To For Recession-Defying Entrepreneurs
Some 60 businesses and agencies turned up for the day-long business-to-business expo organized by Palm Coast’s Business Assistance Center to focus on local, small and emerging businesses.
A Shade Less Than Dire, Unemployment Holds Again at 9.1% as 103,000 Jobs Are Added
July and August figures were revised upward for a net addition of 287,000 jobs over the last three month, still far short of what the economy needs to be healthy, or to bring the unemployment rate down.
Obama’s Job Creation Record: Millions Created or Saved, Still Too Few to Overcome Crisis
While the $825 billion stimulus raised employment from at least 1 million to 3.3 million people and significantly softened the recession, subsequent cutbacks at all level of governments reversed the gains and prevented a sustained recovery.
Blessing of the Animals: At St. Thomas Episcopal, a Fall Ritual for Creatures’ Sake
The annual Feast of St. Francis is an occasion, at Palm Coast’s St. Thomas Episcopal, to celebrate the bond and love between people and their pets as each animal is blessed in a moving and modest ceremony.
Occupy Wall Street Protests Spreading to Florida–Jacksonville, Gainesville and Ocala
Occupy Wall Street, the tea party’s growing flip-side movement, is organizing a series of protests across the nation and in a half dozen cities in Florida, from Jacksonville to Miami to Tampa.
Bogus Students, Fake Curriculums, Ghost Schools: Florida’s Voucher Fraud Is Probed
Florida House members grilled a Department of Education official Tuesday over reports of rampant fraud and lax oversight of private schools that receive state funds through a voucher program for students with disabilities.
All-Business Snub: Flagler County Can’t Fill Its Own Economic Development Council Seats
Only four people have applied for the county commission’s eight-member economic development council, an embarrassing result for the government that dissolved Enterprise Flagler, claiming it could do the job better.
“My Boyfriend Shot Him”: Sheriff’s Office Releases 911 Call on Brunswick Lane Invasion
The Flagler Sheriff’s Office released an edited version of the 911 call from the Brunswick Lane home three men invaded Monday, resulting in the shooting of one of them and the arrest of all three after a manhunt.
Report Shows How Far Florida and Other States Are Scuttling Voting Rights and Turnout
Reductions in early voting days, ending voting-day address changes for registered voters, clamping down on registration drives and other new rules could make it harder for 5 million people to vote in 2012, which may be just what GOP-led legislatures passing those laws aimed for.
Fun Coast Down Syndrome Association Buddy Walk Saturday: Going for Goal
The Fun Coast Down Syndrome Association raised $17,748 so far this year, ahead of its annual Buddy Walk next Saturday, Oct. 8, in Palm Coast’s Town Center. Help the association meet its $20,000 goal by donating or joining Saturday’s one-mile walk.
False Sunshine, Rick Perry’s Niggerhead Problem, Groucho’s 121st: The Live Wire
Rick Perry’s self-destruction speeds up, Kenneth Starr wants the US Supreme Court on TV, Jacques Derrida deconstructs American journalists and universities, proof that Mondays suck, and more
This Week in Flagler and Tallahassee: Arts Galore, Taser Time and Creekside
The Flagler school board is set to approve Tasers on campus, the county commission talks sustainable farming, Palm Coast revisits the Palm Coast Park DRI (a major planned development) and three galleries have show openings Friday and Saturday.
Trying Tests: Baby Dies, SWAT Team Caught in Exploding Meth Lab–10 Times in a Row
Not to worry: the mayhem was all part of Flagler County Fire Rescue’s second annual paramedic competition, featuring 10 Florida teams and 10 scenarios over two days designed to test EMS skills in extreme situations.
Of Course It’s Class Warfare. And the Rich Are Winning in a Rout.
Republicans are accusing President Obama of waging class warfare, which, Donald Kaul argues, is a little like the Japanese complaining about the time Pearl Harbor attacked them in 1941.
Bad Boy Wrestling Club: An Ancient Sport Underhooks Flagler’s Youngest
A video report on the fledgling Flagler Bad Boy Wrestling Club, now in its second year, with a presence in all the county’s elementary schools.
At European Village Jewelry Store, Two Unspeakable Words, One Charge, Then Jail
Dan and Edith Ferrena have run Palm Coast Gold Buyers at European Village for more than two years. At noon Friday, their world unraveled in a brief confrontation with a man who threw a supreme insult at Edith and accused Dan of pointing a gun at him.
Guns, Teen Abortions, Sexting and Bestial Misdemeanors: 29 New Florida Laws Kick In
A slew of new laws go in effect Saturday, including the NRA-inspired restriction on local governments’ gun regulations, making it a crime to have sex with animals, reducing credit card fraud and reducing teens’ abortion rights.
Memorial and Memories of Alex Taylor, “Gentle Servant” Killed in Tuesday Hit and Run
Alex Taylor, 54, was a regular visitor, helper and worshiper at Bunnell’s First United Methodist Church, where Rev. Beth Gardner and Gwen Barath came to know him–and remember him. Gardner will lead a memorial for Taylor Sunday, Oct. 2, at 2 p.m.
Two Crashes a Day on Flagler Roads: DMV’s Annual Report Adds Up Grim Miles
In Flagler, there were 716 crashes in 2010, about two crashes a day, 11 percent of them involving alcohol. There were a total of 23 fatalities on Flagler roads, up from 16 in 2009 and 2007. A complete report of local and state crashes.
Florida’s Bondi, 25 States and Obama Ask U.S. Supreme Court To Take Up Health Law
Florida Attorney general Pam Bondi led 26 states’ call to the US Supreme Court to take on Obama’s health care law. So did the Obama administration, as the court prepares to convene for its new term on Monday.
Claude Kirk, Florida’s First 20th Century Republican Governor, Is Dead at 85
Gov. Claude Kirk–flamboyant, outspoken, quirky–gave rise to Florida’s Republican ascendance and ushered in an era of environmental stewardship and conservation as governor between 1966 and 1970.
Hard Questions–and a Few, Targeted Softballs–at NAACP’s Candidate Forum
The four remaining candidates for the Palm Coast City Council faced off before more than 120 people at the NAACP’s forum at the African American Cultural Society Tuesday evening.
NAACP Candidates’ Forum for the Palm Coast City Election
A live video broadcast of the Palm Coast City Council candidates’ forum hosted by the NAACP at the African-American Cultural Society in Palm Coast.
Check the Box Scoundrels: Corporations Lobby to Preserve a $10 Billion Loophole
The ‘check-the-box’ rule, meant to cut red tape for companies, has inadvertently allowed them to avoid billions of dollars in taxes each year, and the government keeps balking at closing the loophole.
Herman Cain? Seriously? He Wins Florida Straw Poll, Upending GOP Race
Herman Cain, a pizza magnate seen as a minor candidate in a crowded field for the GOP nomination, scored an upset victory Saturday in the Republican Party of Florida’s Presidency 5 straw poll, raising questions about the standing of the two front-runners and the bellwether status of the fundraising event.
The Lusty Joys of Book-Banning
Parents who run their homes like North Korea aside, it is literally impossible to ban a book in America anymore. An excerpt from Pierre Tristam’s Banned Book Week address on Sept. 26 to the Friends of the Library in Palm Coast.
Republican Candidates’ Women Problems
Although none of the GOP presidential candidates dares utter the W word — unless it’s part of the phrase “our men and women in uniform” — it’s pretty easy to see what their views are on issues concerning the sex that comprises a majority of voters, argues Martha Burk.
Job-Killing Regulations: Busting the Myths
Job-killing regulations: Partisan myths and exaggerations aside, regulations may kill some jobs while creating others, netting a wash–and a vaster profit in protecting waterways, food, air and general safety.
“The Laramie Project” at Palm Coast’s New Repertory Theatre: This Is Who We Are
Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre launches its inaugural season with “The Laramie Project,” a drama based on the torture and murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming, in 1998, for being gay, and what the murder did to Laramie–and the nation.
Don’t Mess With Florida: Lawmakers Leery Of Texas-Like Assembly-Line Higher Ed
Florida Senators are willing to listen to Gov. Rick Scott’s proposal to adopt the Texas model of higher education, but they don’t like students treated as customers on a university assembly line.
Ride In Peace: Kirt Smith (1995-2011) Would Have Been 16 on Thursday
Kirt Smith, who died after being hit on Seminole Woods Blvd. while riding his bike on Aug. 26, had received the bike as an early 16th-birthdya present. A growing memorial has gone up at the crash site.
Rick Scott’s Rising Radicalism, Obama’s Failing leadership, Housing Pains: The Live Wire
Rick Scott’s Texas obsessions, poverty rising, death penalty barbarity in Georgia, housing forecast shows pain through 2015, Sarah Palin’s welfare state, and much more.
Sheriff, Citing Head-Butting Incident, Asking School Board to Let Tasers Back on Campus
A school deputy was briefly overpowered by a student at Matanzas High School in August, triggering renewed discussion of letting school cops carry Tasers. The board has prohibited Tasers on campus since 2005.
Frank Words and Revelations at Flagler Bar’s First Minority in Law Symposium
Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano, Judge Hubert Grimes, Mark Dwyer and students headlined the first of what’s to be an annual symposium to encourage minority participation in the law, particularly among students.
This Week in Flagler and Tallahassee: Tasers in Schools and Beach Preservation
The Flagler County School Board will consider reversing its four-year ban on Tasers in schools, the county offers up a $100,000-a-year post for an economic development director, Flagler Beach talks beach preservation, and more.
Palestinian Statehood: Deserved, Overdue, Inevitable
The Obama administration’s attempts to block Palestinian statehood at the United Nations scorn American ideals and pander to Israel’s insistence on denying Palestinians’ right to exist. The outcome will be ruinous.