Bunnell officials abandoned their possibly illegal attempt to keep Project Butterfly a secret and revealed plans for a 610-acre garbage dump off State Road 100, not far from Daytona North, or the Mondex. Cocomero LLC seeks a special land-use exception to build the facility on agricultural property and claims questionable economic projections while potential traffic hazards on State Road 100 are not addressed.
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Daily Cartoon and Briefing
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, September 1, 2026
Flagler, Palm Coast & Other Local
Navy Veteran Seth Holton, 54, Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Sex with Minor Child of Friends
Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols sentenced Seth Tyler Holton, 54, to 10 years in prison followed by five years on probation for the statutory rape of a 16-year-old girl, the daughter of friends he was used to visiting in Palm Coast’s B Section.
Flagler Beach Personnel Board Backs City Manager In Controversial Firing Of Fire Chief Stephen Cox
The Flagler Beach Personnel Review Board voted 3-1 to uphold the firing of Fire Chief Stephen Cox following a three-day hearing, and the board chair calling the firing the result of a “coup” by other firefighters. City Manager Dale Martin fired Cox after five firefighters resigned and seven submitted a no-confidence letter. The advisory panel agreed the firing was legally justified despite noting poor management from city leadership during the crisis.
Sullivan Uthmeier v. New York Times
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is a busy, busy bee, darting from human trafficking prosecutions to going after shoplifting gangs to trying to outlaw drag queen Christmas shows to accusing Microsoft of anti-Christian bias to cheerleading book bans. His current obsession is The New York Times. The AG blames the Times for manifold transgressions and is demanding six years-worth of board documents, information on editorial decisions, and internal communication records.
More Flagler, Palm Coast & Other Local
These Local Florida Jails Were Supposed to Detain Immigrants for Only 72 Hours. One Woman Was Held 26 Days.
Rebookings of immigrants into local jails are an effort to circumvent federal rules and regulations, legal experts say. A nationwide analysis shows that in the past year, two Florida jails had unusually high numbers of rebookings. Records from the Pinellas jail’s booking logs were provided by a source who on the condition of anonymity, for fear of workplace reprisal.
New Flagler Beach Pier Will Be Free To Public Access, But No Bait Shop and No Pets Allowed
Flagler Beach city commissioners decided the rebuilt concrete pier will be free for public access when it reopens, dropping what had previously been a $1.50 access fee, and $6 for anglers. The city will eliminate the bait shop, replacing it with a lifeguard station.
On Heels of Lawsuit Challenging Registrations, Flagler Sheriff Arrests 40 Sex Offenders In Compliance Sweep
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office arrested 40 registered sex offenders in a three-day sweep this week called Operation Offenders Endgame. Detectives discovered 168 felony violations among the targeted group for failing to properly update basic registration details including social media handles and motor vehicle and address registrations.
Bunnell’s New $10 Million City Hall Plagued by Leaks and Mold Since Day 1. Manager Hid Problems From Commission.
Bunnell Vice Mayor John Rogers was incensed to learn that the newly built $10 million City Hall and Police Department has been leaking since it opened a year ago. Black mold is growing as well. City Manager Alvin Jackson hid the construction defects from the Bunnell City Commission even as the city is considering a lawsuit against the contractors to ensure necessary repairs.
Palm Coast and County Officials Raise Alarms Over Bunnell’s Secrecy on Zoning Change
Bunnell government is withholding all details regarding a special zoning exception for a confidential economic development effort dubbed Project Butterfly. The city’s planning board plans to vote on the special exception on Sept. 1 without disclosing the applicant, the location, the purpose or the land use. Palm Coast and Flagler County elected officials are formally objecting to what Mayor Norris calls “gangsta” methods, and demanding a legal review.
Flagler County Hesitant As Palm Coast Suddenly Wants To Hand Over Animal Control Services
Palm Coast and Flagler County are discussing a complete reversal of their animal control consolidation plans as the city seeks to get out of the service and let the county assume full responsibility for it following significant staff resignations and shifting cost estimates. County commissioners remain skeptical about the financial viability of the proposal. A door was opened for the Sheriff’s Office to considers taking over enforcement, too.
Palm Coast And County Edge Closer to New Joint Animal Shelter as Humane Society Advocates Protest
The Palm Coast City Council and Flagler County Commission are planning a joint animal shelter on U.S. 1 to be run by the nonprofit Smart. Officials discussed the proposal at a divided public meeting as funding, design and other details remain unresolved. Elected officials spoke of frustration with the Flagler Humane Society and welcomed a competing service provider.
Convicted Murderer Jermaine Williams Avoids Accountability In Oblivious Letter Ahead Of Death Sentence
Jermaine Williams Sr. submitted an oblivious, handwritten letter to the court that avoided all accountability during his Spencer hearing instead of testifying today in what was to be his last chance at appealing for mercy before his sentencing in six weeks. He faces the death penalty for murdering his wife outside their Bunnell home. The document was an elegy to self-justification.
Flagler County School Board Expands Participation Rights For Student Representatives After February Dispute
The Flagler County School Board revised its policy to ensure that student representatives have greater participation during public meetings. Two board members previously attempted to restrict student voices to limited comments. The new guidelines reassert students’ authority to engage fully in discussions alongside elected members.
Palm Coast Will Borrow Millions and Draw Down Reserves Sharply to Pay for Lawsuit Settlement Land
The Palm Coast City Council will borrow millions and use millions from its reserves to purchase land and settle a lawsuit with Allete, the Town Center developer, though there is some division among council members on the risks ahead. The council today also decisively ruled out hiring any new deputies this year.
Two Men Are Dead in Murder-Suicide on Bronson Lane in Palm Coast
Two men are dead following a murder-suicide by gun on Bronson Lane in Palm Coast’s B-Section. The shooting took place after one of the men entered–or intruded–on the occupants. He was not a stranger to the occupants, or to the man he shot.
The Conversation
Trump’s Ontario ‘Renaming’ Continues Centuries of Colonial Erasure
Trump renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America mirrors centuries of colonial erasure and imperialistic dominance over native populations. Indigenous place names originally served descriptive geographical purposes. European settlers systematically replaced them to claim ownership over territory. Modern efforts to restore Indigenous names attempt to heal historical wrongs instead of repeating aggressive colonial domination.
Florida and Beyond
DeSantis Warns of ‘Surveillance State’ as Several Florida Sheriffs Drop License Plate Readers
Flock Safety in particular has come under torrents of criticism over its technology, which includes broad location data collection and sharing. There have been several publicized incidents demonstrating how local law enforcement officers have abused the technology, as such as the police officer accused in Polk County earlier this month of using Flock technology to track his estranged wife’s vehicle 717 times over a 21 months.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, August 31, 2026
Heat index values up to about 102, the Onion’s “Birth of a Nation,” a documentary we can all unify around, what populism got right a century ago, John Darkow on Canada’s message.
El Niño Is More Extreme Now Than in Past 1,000 Years
Temperatures have warmed dramatically across the equatorial Pacific Ocean in 2026, signaling the onset of a strong and potentially historic El Niño. These events can affect weather around the world, and the intensity of recent El Niño events is raising alarm that, as global temperatures rise, they are becoming stronger and more destructive.
More Florida and Beyond
Grand Jury: DeSantis ‘Misappropriated’ $10 Million to Wife’s Hope Florida Charity and Political Allies
A state grand jury report found Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration “misappropriated” funds by diverting Medicaid money to a nonprofit, eventually ending up in political committees supporting the governor’s agenda. But the report didn’t find enough to pursue criminal charges against anyone.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, August 30, 2026
A rainy, thunderStormy Daniels kind of day, DeSantis launders, Palm Coast Farmers’ Market at European Village, George Templeton Strong’s Civil War diaries (“the intolerable brag and bluster and indecent arrogance of the South”), a Mozart flute concerto.
How California’s Leadership On Vehicle Emissions Standards Created Cleaner Air For Everyone
California’s aggressive pursuit of vehicle emissions standards since the 1970s revolutionized air quality across the United States. By forcing the adoption of catalytic converters, the state effectively removed lead and billions of tons of pollution from the atmosphere. These historic efforts saved countless lives and established a precedent for environmental leadership that continues to drive automotive technological innovation today despite persistent federal legal challenges nationwide.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, August 29, 2026
The Saturday Flagler Beach Farmers Market, Coffee With Commissioner Scott Spradley, Gamble Jam, Taha Hussein, the daily grind of journalism.
Lake Ontario? Lake America? Seriously?
President Donald Trump recently issued an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America during a trade war with Canada. The United States maintains a strict formal process for changing geographic designations. The federal geographic board manages these mapping modifications domestically. International borders complicate matters because no global authority dictates official map names across countries.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, August 28, 2026
Trump’s Lake Ontario idiocy, the Friday Blue Forum, the Scenic A1A Pride Committee, Acoustic Jam Circle At The Community Center In The Hammock, Free For All Fridays discusses taxes.
The Mounting Problems with US Military Readiness
The question is not whether we should ask hard things of people who volunteered for hard things. It is whether what the Department of Defense asked them to do was necessary and worth the military readiness – the ability to complete missions and respond to threats – it has consumed.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, August 27, 2026
The Flagler Beach City Commission evaluates Manager Dale Martin, drug court, the meaning of Dolly Parton in an era of bile, Parton’s Playboy Interview in 1978, Model Yacht Club Races at the Pond.
The Great Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton built a legendary career by embracing the contradiction between her artificial appearance and authentic artistry and died at 80, leaving a lasting legacy across multiple generations. She cleverly used her glamorous styling and quick wit to subvert expectations and let her natural talent easily overshadow early superficial judgments.
Like 4 Other Florida Universities, UNF Gets to Pick from a List of One for President
One finalist, University of North Georgia President Michael Shannon, has emerged for the University of North Florida presidency, following a trend of state institutions relying on an “exceptional circumstances” carveout to state policy that otherwise requires three or more finalists. The university received 152 applications.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, August 26, 2026
The Palm Coast City Council and the County Commission hold a joint meeting to discuss animal control, Conversations in Democracy takes on the western expansion’s road to nowhere, your own Hollywood.
The Collapse of American Human Rights Practices
The U.S. lags behind most other high-income democracies in human rights practices. The U.S.’s poor performance spans civil and political rights, such as the right to be free from torture and the right to political participation, as well as economic and social rights, including the rights to health and food.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, August 25, 2026
The Palm Coast City Council has its final budget workshop, the post-Furry Flagler County School Board holds a pair of meetings, the Flagler Beach Library Writers’ Group meets, V.S. Pritchett on England.
Commentary
Henry David Thoreau, Scientist
A nearly invisible Thoreau – the compulsively quantitative and analytically rigorous physical scientist – emerged from research as a geologist interested in the history of 19th-century science. This less well-known Thoreau is featured in Robert M. Thorson’s “The Walden Experiments: The Science of Henry David Thoreau.”
Anyone Can Fake a Scientific Image with AI, Tricking Journals and Undermining Trust in Science
The proliferation of AI-generated science images in public spaces is not simply a misinformation problem. A researcher who studies visual science communication and public trust argues it also contributes to a crisis of trust in science in the age of AI, and the tools scientists have long relied on to establish visual credibility are losing their grip.
Flagler County Is Not As Red As You Think
Last Tuesday’s primary in Flagler County clearly demonstrated that voters are exhausted by toxic political demagoguery, reactionary extremism and political theater. THat’s especially so on the School Board, where Will Furry was dispatched, Jill Woolbright was stopped from returning, and Christy Chong is hanging by a mumble.