Ocean Palm Golf Course, for 12 years a Flagler Beach city property and a quarry of millstones around commissioners’ necks, is one ordinance reading away from returning to private ownership. The 3-2 vote was marred by the report of a pending ethics complaint against City Manager Dale Martin alleging that he negotiated the sale out of public view. The state Ethics Commission is unlikely to find probable cause of wrongdoing.
Main Content
Daily Cartoon and Briefing
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, November 14, 2021
Flagler, Palm Coast & Other Local
Flagler Beach Takes Momentous Step to Annexing Veranda Bay as Developer Pledges Protections for Bulow Creek
In a momentous step that would reconfigure the city’s boundaries, character and political center of gravity, the Flagler Beach City Commission on Thursday evening voted 4-1 to approve on first reading the annexation of 514 acres on the west side of John Anderson Highway, a segment of the Veranda Bay development that’s been rebranded Summertown. The annexation would enlarge Flagler Beach’s current acreage of 2,291 by more than a fifth while the population of the annexed land at build-out at 2,400 homes, a few decades in the future, would more than double Flagler Beach’s current population of 5,500.
Jury Exonerates ‘Ed Boy’ Sampson of Shoving Pregnant Woman; He Would Have Faced Up to 30 Years in Prison
After a trial of barely three hours, a six-member jury–four women, two men, one Black–took 105 minutes this afternoon to find Edward “Ed Boy” Sampson, 30, not guilty of aggravated battery on a pregnant woman. On its face, it was not a significant case. But because of his criminal history, a conviction for Sampson would have doubled his punishment to up to 30 years in prison, with 15 of that mandatory, to be served day for day. Sampson would have been in his mid-40s or 50s before he would have seen another day’s freedom.
Sheriff Investigating Apparent Murder-Suicide of Elderly Couple in Palm Coast’s P-Section
Authorities on Wednesday found Julio Alonso, 85, and Martha Alonso, 74, dead of gunshots in an apparent murder-suicide at the house they’d lived in for 37 ears at 16 Pinelynn Lane in Palm Coast.
More Flagler, Palm Coast & Other Local
5 City Rep Theatre Actors Take on 39 Roles to Go ‘Around the World in 80 Days’
Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre is producing Mark Brown’s 2001 adaptation of Jules Verne’s 1872 adventure novel, “Around the World in 80 Days,” with just five actors playing all 39 roles, plus elephants, ships and trains all parading through CRT’s intimate black-box theater at City Marketplace. The play opens Friday.
Palm Coast Resident and Army Recruit Indicted On Sex Abuse Charges From When He Was 13
A Flagler County Grand Jury on Nov. 7 indicted 22-year-old Giovanni Gabriel Curtis, a Palm Coast resident and U.S. Army recruit, on a life felony rape charge involving a child younger than 12, when Curtis was himself 13. He also faces a molestation charge. He has confessed profusely to his mother, to a detective and to his victims, to whom he has also proffered unbidden apologies and regret.
Flagler Beach Manager Dale Martin Barely ‘Meets Job Standards’ Amid Scathing Outlier Evaluation
Flagler Beach City Manager Dale Martin, at the close of his second year, got a 1.32 out of 5 from Commissioner John Cunningham–who was elected last March–rating him “unsatisfactory.” Overall Martin lost ground compared to last year’s evaluation, going from an average of 3.65 to 3.17, and leaving him barely meeting job expectations. If Cunningham’s evaluation is excluded, his average rises to 3.53, still a decline from last year.
Marineland Survives! Judge Approves Sale to Dolphin Group and Singles Out FPC Student Voices for Praise
Ending a cascade of events that saw Marineland Dolphin Adventure all but sold to a commercial developer, a federal bankruptcy judge in Wilmington, Del., this morning approved the sale of Marineland Dolphin Adventure for $7.135 million to Apex Associates, a Green Cove Springs company owned by a philanthropic couple who pledge to preserve and broaden Marineland’s mission as an oceanarium. The bidders, Barbara and Jon Rubel, are backing Jack Kassewitz, a dolphin expert who is returning Felicia Cook to her former role as the general manager at Marineland.
Local Samaritans Successfully Outbid Developer with $7.1 Million Pitch for Marineland Dolphin Adventure
A $7.135 million bid by a philanthropist couple looking to save Marineland Dolphin Adventure became the successful bidder at a reopened auction for the property Monday, displacing a developer’s $7.1 million bid. The successful bid by the couple, Barbara and Jon Rubel of Green Cove Springs, is the latest twist in a frantic three and a half weeks of efforts to save the 87-year-old oceanarium following what had appeared to be a done deal favoring Delightful Development. The final sale hearing is scheduled for Tuesday at 10 a.m. before federal Bankruptcy Judge Laurie Silverstein in Wilmington, Del.
Flagler Cares Launches ‘Keep the Holiday Lights On’ Program as Hedge Against Power Disconnection
Flagler Cares, a one-stop health and social care organization, has launched its Second Annual “Keep the Holiday Lights On” campaign, inviting the community to come together to support local families in need this holiday season.
‘Ed Boy,’ Target of Murderers in a Trial 9 Months Ago, Is Now a Defendant Facing Up to 30 Years Over a Shove
Edward Gerard Sampson, better known as Ed Boy, shoved a woman and was charged with aggravated battery, a charge that would normally result in a minor penalty, possibly some jail time or probation. But the woman was pregnant, and Sampson is a habitual offender who was released from prison in May. Those factors combined now mean that if the jury convicts him at his trial this week, Sampson could spend the next 30 years in prison for that shove.
15-Year-Old FPC Student Charged as Adult Sentenced to 18 to 36 Months in Lock-Up Over Gun Incidents
After carrying a 9 mm handgun with him all day at Flagler Palm Coast High School last Sept. 4, Sean Junior Goska, 15, who was on probation for a series of felonies but nevertheless attending school, went to McDonald’s with a few friends and pulled the gun on one of them. On Friday, in a plea, he was sentenced to 18 o 38 months in a juvenile prison followed by two years of house arrest and three years on probation.
Cold-Weather Shelter for Homeless and Others Open Monday and Tuesday Night
The Sheltering Tree will open the Flagler County cold-weather shelter Monday and Tuesday night, Nov. 10 and 11, as temperatures are expected to fall to the mid-30s Monday and Tuesday night, in inland Flagler County, and wind chills are expected to make it feel more like it’s in the 20s.
The Paradise Where Millions of Floridians May Go Hungry and Lose Their Insurance
The federal government could pay for SNAP, Head Start, flood insurance, heating assistance, WIC, and all the rest of it if the regime weren’t so busy wasting your money on Trump’s expensive whims, such as bailing out his friend, the right-wing fruitcake president of Argentina, to the tune of $40 billion. Or retrofitting his Qatari gift-jet as Airforce One, which reportedly could cost us about $1 billion.
TDS
In France, a former president just got imprisoned for taking money from an Arab despot. Donald Trump just accepted a $400 million gift from another Arab despot in the shape of a 747. He has raided nearly $1 billion out of the country’s missile defense modernization budget so he can retrofit the plane in gold and gaud. If the secret project is completed before Trump is scheduled to leave office, which is doubtful, the plane will fly at most for a few weeks, then get parked as a re-gift to the Trump library in Miami, on land stolen from the public trust and handed over to Trump at no cost, Qatari style.
The Live Calendar: Today in Flagler
November 2025
Nov 14 2025
Flagler Outreach Brings Social Service Providers to Cattleman’s Hall
Cattleman's Hall, Flagler County Fairgrounds
Nov 14 2025
Thornton Wilder’s ‘Our Town,’ at Limelight Theatre in St. Augustine
Limelight Theatre
Nov 14 2025
‘Around the World in 80 Days’ at City Rep Theatre
City Repertory Theatre at City Marketplace
Nov 15 2025
Flagler Beach Farmers Market
In Front of Flagler Beach City Hall
Nov 15 2025
Coffee With Flagler Beach Commission Chair Scott Spradley
Law Office of Scott Spradley
Nov 15 2025
Democratic Women’s Club
Palm Coast Community Center
Nov 15 2025
Grace Community Food Pantry on Education Way
Flagler School District Bus Depot
Nov 15 2025
Thornton Wilder’s ‘Our Town,’ at Limelight Theatre in St. Augustine
Limelight Theatre
Nov 15 2025
‘Around the World in 80 Days’ at City Rep Theatre
City Repertory Theatre at City Marketplace
Nov 15 2025
Random Acts of Insanity’s Roundup of Standups from Around Central Florida
Cinematique of Daytona Beach
Nov 16 2025
ESL Bible Studies for Intermediate and Advanced Students
Grace Presbyterian Church
Nov 16 2025
Grace Community Food Pantry on Education Way
Flagler School District Bus Depot
No event found!
The Conversation
Age-Verification Laws Are Threatening Free Speech
In Florida and around the world, large swathes of the open web are being replaced by walled gardens. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Texas’s age restriction law. Twenty-one other states have similar laws in place, and more have been proposed. Australia restricts young people’s access not just to specific websites, but to all social media, and it will soon extend this to search engines.
Florida and Beyond
State Kills Bryan Jennings, 66, For Kidnapping, Rape and Murder of Rebecca Kunash, 6, in 1979
More than 46 years after he kidnapped, raped and murdered a 6-year-old girl in Brevard County, Bryan Frederick Jennings was put to death by lethal injection Thursday evening at Florida State Prison. Jennings was convicted of murdering Rebecca Kunash on May 11, 1979, in Merritt Island. A 1986 sentencing order said Jennings in the early morning hours went to the window of the child’s bedroom and saw her asleep.
Florida Board Approves Hard-Right Heritage Foundation’s Sweepingly Ideological Education Manifesto
Florida education leaders on Thursday approved a set of principles that would teach a conservative-backed vision of the United States. The State Board of Education, which also approved social-studies changes intended to highlight ideological evils of communism, signed off on Florida becoming the first state to adopt the Heritage Foundation’s “Phoenix Declaration: An American Vision for Education.”
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, November 13, 2025
The Flagler Beach City Commission considers the annexation of Veranda Bay and Summertown, Evenings at Whitney Lecture Series, rich and miserable, a snapshot of SNAP.
More Florida and Beyond
Millions Are Losing Food Aid Even with Shutdown Ending
The roughly 42 million Americans who rely on food stamps did not receive their November 1 SNAP benefits as the government shutdown dragged on. Lawmakers have now negotiated an end to the shutdown. But the threat to the nation’s primary nutrition assistance program is far from over. As the government reopens, millions will still lose access to food assistance starting almost immediately.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, November 12, 2025
A hearing in the bankruptcy sale of Marineland Dolphin Adventure is scheduled for 10 a.m. in Delaware federal bankruptcy court, TPO committee meeting, on matters of Augustine and the soul, a Schubert Impromptu.
How Ron DeSantis Made Florida #1 in State-Sponsored Killing
Florida has executed 15 prisoners in 2025 – the most ever in a single year since 1976, when a brief national moratorium on the death penalty was lifted. Two of the five remaining executions scheduled for 2025 are set to happen in Florida. Texas and Alabama are tied for a distant second, with five executions each.
What Is Peer Review?
Versions of peer review have been around for centuries. But the modern form – anonymous, structured and managed by journal editors – took hold after World War II. Today, it is central to how scientific publishing works, and nowhere more so than health, nursing and medicine. Research that survives review is more likely to be trusted and acted upon by health care practitioners and their patients.
Federal Judge Skeptical of Florida Agency’s Case for Firing Biologist Over Charlie Kirk Sarcasm
Attorneys for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said the agency fired biologist Brittney Brown to “prevent foreseeable disruption” after Brown reposted a sarcastic social media post about Charlie Kirk’s endorsement of occasional mass shootings if it’s the price of protecting the Second Amendment. U.S. District Judge Mark Walker was skeptical of the state’s defense: “Just because something’s inappropriate or controversial, how is it not covered by the First Amendment?” Walker asked.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, November 11, 2025
Joint Veterans Day Ceremony and Parade, 10 a.m. in Bunnell, Flagler Beach United Methodist Church Food Pantry, Democrats cave, Nina Simone’s Mississippi Goddamn, Balzac on cowardice.
Arctic Wildlife Is At Risk Again
The largest tract of public land in the United States is a wild expanse of tundra and wetlands stretching across nearly 23 million acres of northern Alaska. It’s called the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, but despite its industrial-sounding name, the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, or NPR-A, is much more than a fuel depot. Tens of thousands of caribou feed and breed in this area, which is the size of Maine. Migratory birds flock to its lakes in summer, and fish rely on the many rivers that crisscross the region. It is about to get opened up to industrial exploitation.
In Surrender, 7 Democratic Senators Join Most Republicans to End Shutdown
Seven U.S. Senate Democrats and one independent joined Republicans on Sunday night in advancing legislation to reopen the government and temporarily keep it afloat until the end of January, after a record-breaking shutdown that began Oct. 1.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, November 10, 2025
The Cold-Weather Shelter known as the Sheltering Tree, opens tonight, the Flagler County Library Board of Trustees meets, the Bunnell City Commission meets, when the Lutetia Hotel in Paris was a reception center for concentration and death camp survivors.
Ending Taxes on Home Sales Is Mostly a Giveaway to the Rich
Supporters of eliminating taxes on home sales, a bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, say it would benefit working families by eliminating all taxes on the sales of family homes. But most Americans who sell their homes already do so tax-free. And the households that would gain most under Trump’s proposals are those with the most valuable real estate.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, November 9, 2025
Grace Community Food Pantry, noon to 3 p.m., Thornton Wilder’s ‘Our Town,’ at Limelight Theatre in St. Augustine how the Swiss see Zohran Mamdani, and how he interviewed with the New Yorker, an excerpt from Aeschylus’s Persians.
Mindfulness Is Gaining in Schools. Is It Helping?
Writing, reading, math and mindfulness? That last subject is increasingly joining the three classic courses, as more young students in the United States are practicing mindfulness, meaning focusing on paying attention to the present moment without judgment. Mindfulness programs vary in what particular mindfulness skills are taught and what lesson objectives are. This makes it difficult to compare across studies and draw conclusions about how mindfulness helps students in schools.
Chaining Record, DeSantis Signs Another Death Warrant: Mark Geralds, Who Murdered Tressa Pettibone in 1989
Expanding a modern-era record for executions in a year, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a death warrant for a man convicted of murdering a Bay County woman in 1989. Mark Allen Geralds is scheduled to be executed Dec. 9 for the murder of Tressa Lynn Pettibone, a 33-year-old Panama City Beach mother who was beaten and stabbed to death in her home. Pettibone’s body was discovered on the kitchen floor by her 8-year-old son, Bart, when he returned from school on Feb. 1, 1989, according to court records. Tressa Lynn Pettibone was stabbed three times in her neck.
Commentary
Understanding who benefits from Food Stamps in 5 Charts
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has helped low-income Americans buy groceries for decades with few disruptions. A political scientist who has researched the history of government nutrition programs explains who SNAP helps, how enrollment varies from state to state and what the program costs to run.
Are High School Sports Living Up to Their Ideals?
Good coaching candidates are getting hired and doing their best to keep high school sports fixtures in their communities. But coaches often feel like they’re missing something, and they wonder whether they’re living up to those aspirations.
How Dick Cheney Enabled Donald Trump
Former Vice President Dick Cheney was arguably the most powerful vice president in American history. He also thought that the assertive Congress of the 1970s had gone too far and had emasculated the presidency, making it nearly impossible for the president to get things done. Under Bush, he the unitary executive theory, a conservative thesis that calls for total presidential control over the entire executive branch. Now, nearly two decades later, President Donald Trump is using this theory to push his agenda.