A patchy, foggy morning, Drug court, Albert W. Ketèlbey’s “In a Persian Market,” threatened species on the rise, Don DeLillo on being a tourist.
All Else
Ron DeSantis, ‘Injustice Denier’
DeSantis has explicitly denied that systemic racism exists – characterizing the notion as “a bunch of horse manure.” That makes him an “injustice denier.” Akin to climate change, there is no legitimate academic debate about the reality of systemic racism.
Cramped and Neglected Flagler Health Department Tells County Commission: ‘We Need Your Help’
The Flagler County Health Department is pleading with county commissioners for more money to improve an ageing facility and expand services that touch the lives of a third of the county’s population. The department hopes to open a facility in Palm Coast. While commissioners are not indifferent, finding a source of money will be a challenge.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, January 18, 2023
The Palm Coast Planning and Land Development Board considers yet another self-storage facility, Jack Lemmon at length, George Wallace.
Israel’s Ben-Gvir Is Celebrating a Convicted Terrorist and Justifying Violence Against Palestinians
Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, hailed the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, a convicted terrorist, and is trying to make his anti-Palestinian movement seem less extremist and more appealing to Jews and the international community. A rewrite of American history could help him do it.
Flagler School District Will Ask Its Employees: Do You Want to Be Armed on Campus?
The Flagler County school district will survey its 1,600 employees to gauge whether there’s interest among them to be armed in the district’s nine campuses. The survey will not ask whether employees support or oppose such a program–only whether the individual taking the survey is himself or herself interested in being armed on campus, and providing security in case of an emergency.
National Security Agency Redesignates DSC’s Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense
The National Security Agency (NSA) has redesignated Daytona State College as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense through 2028.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, January 17, 2023
The Flagler County School Board talks Narcan, social studies and arming civilians, the Flagler County Commission talks ambulance costs, the Palm Coast City Council takes on the proposed and controversial Harborside development, Muhammad Ali on drawing a crowd, Patrick Modiano on the moral function of books.
The Divisive Distortions of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Words
The consequences of the misuse of Martin Luther King Jr.’s words are playing out everywhere from the halls of Congress to corporate diversity training sessions to local school board meetings.
2022 Ends Home Sales Down Across The Daytona Beach Area
In another year of economic uncertainty marred by an ongoing pandemic, inflation, and 2 major hurricanes, prices continued to climb as home sales fell across the Daytona Beach area in 2022.
Florida Press Club Names FlaglerLive State’s Best Independent News Site, Among 3 Awards
FlaglerLive won the Florida Press Club’s top award as Florida’s best online independent news site in all divisions. FlaglerLive also won first place in education reporting, and FlaglerLive Editor Pierre Tristam won second place in commentary.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, January 16, 2023
County Judge Joan Anthony is the keynote speaker at a celebration of the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., declawing cats, Ta-Nehisi Coates, James Baldwin.
How Basquiat Denounced Violence Against Blacks
At the time of the Black Lives Matter movement, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work is more relevant than ever. It highlights racial inequalities and the lack of representation of racialized people in the media, but also the violence suffered by African Americans.
Construction Begins on $2.5 Million Lehigh Trailhead in Palm Coast
Construction on the Lehigh Trailhead Project off of Belle Terre Parkway will start on January 23. The $2.5 million project enhances the popular path by providing disability-access paved parking with more than 60 parking spaces, a restroom, and a water fountain. The project also includes community gardens, a dog park, lighting, and pavilions.
DeSantis’ Attack on New College Is Latest Poisoning of Public Education
The governor has just appointed six new ultra-conservative trustees to the board of New College of Florida in Sarasota. They want to trash its tradition of intellectual freedom and transform it into an institution DeSantis’ base would love, a Bob Jones-style religious school funded with taxpayer money.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, January 15, 2023
The Sounds of Soul at Flagler Auditorium, ‘Honky Tonk Angels’ at City Repertory Theatre, Flagler County’s Cold-Weather Shelter opens tonight, the fragility of democracies.
Canada’s Answer to Affordable Home Crisis: Ban Foreign Homebuyers
As of Jan. 1, 2023, foreign buyers are banned from buying homes in Canada for two years under the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act. The ban is part of the federal government’s effort to ease Canadians’ struggle to afford homes.
Trump Is No Longer the Villain at the Border. Now It’s Biden.
Title 42 mixed with new White House immigration policy creates potentially illegal asylum restrictions. It’s time to treat this president, Joe Biden, as the same level of threat that Trump was to the rights of migrants.
Child Vaccination Rates, Already Down Because of Pandemic, Fall Again
Instead of recovering after schools reopened in 2021, historically low rates of child vaccination worsened, according to new data from the CDC. Experts fear that the skepticism of science and distrust of government that flared up during the pandemic are contributing to the decrease.
Artist Berdella ‘Birdie’ Gibbs’s One-Person Show and Talk at Pineapple Gallery
Artist Berdella Gibbs’s photography exhibit runs from Feb. 3 to 5 at Pineapple Gallery, 208 S. Central Avenue, across the street from the Flagler Beach Museum. The gallery will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Gibbs will present an artist’s talk on the 4th at 5:30 p.m., as part of a free reception, open to all.
Dozier School for Boys Memorial Is Dedicated
Former students and state and local officials took part in a ceremony Friday to dedicate a memorial and honor victims who were abused and, in some cases, died at the former Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in Jackson County.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, January 14, 2023
‘Honky Tonk Angels’ at City Repertory Theatre, The Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine in Daytona Beach, Flagler County’s Cold-Weather Shelter Opens, Silver Lake Park Clean-Up, in your elements.
Sitting All Day Is Terrible for Your Health. Here’s a Remedy.
A five-minute light walk every half-hour was the only strategy that reduced blood sugar levels substantially compared with sitting all day. In particular, five-minute walks every half-hour reduced the blood sugar spike after eating by almost 60%.
Divided Flagler Beach Commission Will Require Inspections of Street Golf Carts Every 2 Years
A divided Flagler Beach City Commission agreed Thursday evening to change the frequency of required inspections of golf carts used as street vehicles from every year to every two years. Some commissioners and the mayor wanted only one inspection, and none after that. The city has a few hundred residents using golf carts as street vehicles.
Storied Ukrainian Orchestra Picks Flagler Auditorium as Rehearsal Venue Ahead of 37-City Tour, to FYO Thrills
The Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine and its conductor, Theodore Kuchar, a frequent visitor to Palm Coast, chose the Flagler Auditorium to rehearse Thursday ahead of a 37-concert, 20-state tour that begins this evening, and opened their doors to Flagler Youth Orchestra students for the unique experience of watching a professional orchestra at work.
Army Corps Must Redesign Entire Flagler Beach Dunes Project, ‘Substantially’ Delaying It Again
Because of years of delays and further erosion, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must redesign the entire project to rebuild 2.6 miles of dunes on the critically eroded shoreline south of the Flagler Beach pier, now that the current design is out of date. That will further delay for at least a year or more a project 20 years in the works. Meanwhile, the coast continues to erode, threatening or damaging A1A.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, January 13, 2023
The year in review on WNZF, “Honky Tonk Angels” at City Repertory Theatre, Stormy Daniels and the second anniversary of Trump’s impeachment, Anthony Burgess on Americans.
The Inflation Report’s Mixed Bag
The overall cost of goods and services decelerated to an annual pace of 6.5% in December, the slowest in over a year and down from 7.1% in November. But there’s bad news too, especially if you are an egg-munching renter fond of frequent regular haircuts. In quite a few categories, the cost of living rose at an even faster pace.
Jacob Perry, Who Shot Up His Grandfather’s House, Invokes Scriptures and Being ‘Chosen’
Jacob Perry, 24, faces five felony charges following his admitted shooting at his grandfather’s car and house on Tuesday in Palm Coast. He cited a chapter from Isaiah in the Old Testament, telling deputies they could understand a lot about him from it. That may raising questions about his competency.
Palm Coast Traffic Still a Long Way from Calming Its Discontents as Council Bumps Against Limitations
The Palm Coast City Council has been well aware of its traffic problem for years, and discussed it again at a workshop this week, but it faces the same limitations previous council have: traffic calming devices are unloved, data on speeding exists but isn’t made public, and the city’s layout presents its own challenges.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, January 12, 2023
The Flagler Beach City Commission talks communications, the Gerard Abate hearing is cancelled, Evenings at Whitney Lecture Series, a Bauhaus World Heritage site, Letterman v. Carson.
Florida Is Accused of Violating Federal Court Order and Restricting Race Education Anyway
Plaintiffs challenging a state law restricting how race-related concepts can be taught in higher education accused Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration Wednesday of violating a federal judge’s order that blocked parts of the law from being enforced.
Climate Change Helped Make 2022 the 3rd Most Expensive Year on Record
U.S. weather disasters are getting costlier as more people move into vulnerable areas and climate change raises the risks of extreme heat and rainfall. Even with an average hurricane season, 2022 had the third-highest number of billion-dollar disasters in the U.S. since 1980.
Moms for Liberty Want ‘Don’t Say LGBTQ’ Law Expanded to Cover K-8
The Florida chapter of Moms for Liberty, the conservative nonprofit that advocates for parental rights in schools, would like state lawmakers to expand the state law that restricts classroom instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation for children from kindergarten through the third grade.
Palm Coast Residents Recycle 167 Christmas Trees at City’s Annual Event
During this year’s Christmas Tree Recycling event, residents recycled 167 live Christmas Trees and shredded over 11,700 pounds of paper – which is more than double last year’s totals.
In ‘Extremely Rare’ Event, Killer Whale Beaches and Dies in Surf Near Hammock Dunes Club
A killer whale was found beached at dawn this morning in the surf opposite Hammock Dunes Club. The female orca was dead. It was being transferred to SeaWorld in Orlando for a necropsy.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, January 11, 2023
Chess at the library, a night in the 40s, plate tectonics, volunteers needed for a clean-up in Flagler Beach Saturday.
Autofiction and Its Discontents
Autofiction is contentious. Some authors renounce the label, including Annie Ernaux, who views her first-person “I” as a collective self. Some disagree that it is a genre at all. Instead, they view autofiction as a “mode” of writing – or as a “strategy” or “lens”. Some go so far as to argue that all works of literature necessarily stem from personal experience.
Surveillance Recordings of Faculty Called ‘Poison’ In Challenge to Florida’s Restrictive Education Law
Under the controversial law, recordings can be made for students’ “own personal educational use, in connection with a complaint to the public institution of higher education where the recording was made, or as evidence in, or in preparation for, a criminal or civil proceeding.”
On Rosewood Massacre Anniversary, Sad to See DeSantis Embrace Florida’s Old South Legacy
It’s sad to see Ron DeSantis embrace our Old South legacy rather than trying to lead us to a more inclusive New South future. Instead of demanding equal treatment under the law, open-eyed education and zero-tolerance for anti-Semitism and racism, he runs the other way.
Palm Coast Surveys Cost of Dredging Saltwater Canals, But Who Will Pay Is Big Question
The saltwater canals in Palm Coast’s C-Section and a sliver of the F-Section have been an attractive amenity since the city’s origins in the 1960s and 70s, when ITT Levitt dug them out. But they’ve never been dredged since. Who should pay for the job–residents of the C Section, or all of Palm Coast’s residents?
One Term In, Flagler Beach Commissioner Ken Bryan Decides to Pull Out of Re-Election Run After All
Ken Bryan, a one term Flagler Beach city commissioner and currently the chairman of the panel, has decided not to seek re-election after all. His decision still leaves five candidates, including incumbent Deborah Phillips, running for the two seats in the March 7 election.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, January 10, 2023
The Palm Coast City Council, the Flagler County Planning Board and the Community Traffic Safety Team all meet, end of the Arab Spring, Richard Ford.
Islamic Paintings of Prophet Muhammad Are Teachable History, Not Fireable Offenses
While many Muslims believe it is inappropriate to depict Muhammad, the recent labeling of such paintings as “hate speech” and “blasphemy” not only inaccurate but inflammatory. Such condemnations can pose a threat to individuals and works of art.
UF Faculty Leader: DeSantis Directive Sends ‘Chilling Message’
A University of Florida faculty leader pushed back last week against a request from Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration that colleges and universities give state leaders information about resources used for activities related to diversity, equity and inclusion and critical race theory.
FEMA’s Flagler Disaster Recovery Center Closes on Jan. 31
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will close the Disaster Recovery Center it has been operating at the Flagler County Fairgrounds at the end of business on January 31 (Tuesday).
Flagler County Approves Latest ‘Band-Aid’ in $14 Million-Worth of Emergency Dune Repairs
The county will rebuild only six miles of Flagler County’s dune-less 18-mile shoreline. The millions of dollars will rebuild the same kind of narrow, emergency dunes that the county rebuilt in the aftermath of Hurricanes Matthew and Irma, in 2018–sands that, by last year, had entirely washed away. The county engineer says it’s still all just a “band aid” approach.
Arkansas Takes Stock of Jacob Oliva, Its New Education Chief: Goal-Driven, Ambitious, Puzzling
The Arkansas Advocate reports on the varied reactions and impressions of former Flagler Superintendent and Florida Education Chancellor Jacob Oliva, who is Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s nominee to head the state’s Department of Education.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, January 9, 2023
Library board meets, Bunnell City Commission meets, waiting for Matlock’s noise to subside, a few words from the now late Russell Banks.
Here’s How Your Cup of Coffee Contributes to Climate Change
The pollution resulting from the preparation of coffee at home is just the tip of the iceberg. Before you can enjoy a cup of coffee, it goes through several steps, starting from the agricultural production of the coffee beans, their transport, the roasting and grinding of the beans, right up to the heating of the water for the coffee and the washing of the cups it is poured in.