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Weather: Sunny in the morning, then partly sunny with a chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs in the mid 90s. West winds around 5 mph, becoming northeast in the afternoon. Chance of rain 50 percent. Heat index values up to 107. Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy. A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly in the evening. Lows in the mid 70s. East winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40 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:
Flagler County enters its new FireFlight helicopter into service at the county airport at 8 a.m.
Flagler County’s Technical Review Committee Meeting at 9 a.m., first floor Conference Room, at the Government Services Building, 1769 East Moody Boulevard, Bunnell. The Technical Review Committee (TRC) is a quality control committee that provides technical review of project plans. Staff Liaison is Gina Lemon, 386-313-4067.
The Flagler County Contractor Review Board meets at 5 p.m. at the Government Services Building, 1769 East Moody Boulevard, Bunnell. Staff liaison is Bo Snowden, Chief Building Official, who may be reached at (386) 313-4027. For agendas and details go here.
Cancelled. The Palm Coast Planning and Land Development Board meets at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.
Separation Chat, Open Discussion: The Atlantic Chapter of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State hosts an open, freewheeling discussion on the topic here in our community, around Florida and throughout the United States, noon to 1 p.m. at Pine Lakes Golf Club Clubhouse Pub & Grillroom (no purchase is necessary), 400 Pine Lakes Pkwy, Palm Coast (0.7 miles from Belle Terre Parkway). Call (386) 445-0852 for best directions. All are welcome! Everyone’s voice is important. For further information email [email protected] or call Merrill at 804-914-4460.
Weekly Chess Club for Teens, Ages 9-18, at the Flagler County Public Library: Do you enjoy Chess, trying out new moves, or even like some friendly competition? Come visit the Flagler County Public Library at the Teen Spot every Wednesday from 4 to 5 p.m. for Chess Club. Everyone is welcome, for beginners who want to learn how to play all the way to advanced players. For more information contact the Youth Service department 386-446-6763 ext. 3714 or email us at [email protected]
| In Coming Days: Aug. 22: Flagler Tiger Bay Club’s sixth annual Wine Tasting Meet & Greet at the Palm Coast Community Center, 305 Palm Coast Parkway NE, begins with check-in at 5:30 p.m. and runs to 8:30 p.m. Help us celebrate our 6th Anniversary! Enjoy an evening of live entertainment, wine tasting, engaging conversations, and savory heavy hors d’oeuvres. Join more than 100 community leaders, club members, and guests as we toast our year of notable regional and national speakers, and unveil the next season’s lineup during the evening’s ‘Big Reveal’. Sample premium, world-class wines presented by La Piazza Cafe and international hors d’oeuvres by World Plate. Tickets: $40/Members Future Members may apply their ticket toward their membership if initiated during the 5th Annual Wine Tasting Meet & Greet. Register today at www.FlaglerTigerBayClub.com. |
Notably: Bribing the electorate at election time is as American as arrogance. Trump bought Nevada by promising to make tipping tax free, which will have a more negative effect than not: most people who get tips don;t declare them anyway, but removing the tax will give employers yet another incentive to lower low-wage workers’ wages or find new ways to screw them on the false assumptions that they’re making more money, and the no-tax gift does nothing to lift the wages of these low-wage workers. It’s a false promise. Too bad Kamala Harris embraced it. Trump next is proposing to eliminate the tax on Social Security benefits. That’s a more colossal bribe to 70 million voters at the expense of the very program he claims to be benefiting: a $2 trillion hole would open over 10 years, accelerating the demise of Social Security. I’m with the New Republic on this. Harris should counter this way: “Raise Social Security benefits, a lot. Stop talking about “saving” the program and start talking about increasing it. In a post-union world, where the defined benefit plans of yore have vanished from the private sector, most people have no other serious retirement plan. Even the middle earners with some 401(k) money may get by, but it’s not a nice retirement. We should not high-five ourselves just because there is enough in Social Security to keep the middle class out of abject poverty. So, yes, Harris should make a big fat promise that if she wins in November, and Democrats control Congress, the first order of business will be to raise the payout to everyone’s retirement, now and in the future. Over the years, Social Security has dropped down to paying just 36 percent of the working income for a medium earner (this is based on a medium earner born in or after 1960 who retires at 65, though the normal retirement age for the program has risen to 67). In the early 1980s, that percent for such a retiree was 50. Why not do 50 again, especially now that the defined benefit plans of that era are no longer around? That’s a nice round number—and make it a statutory right. How to fund it? Let the high earners who back Trump pay. First, take back the 2017 Trump tax cuts and use every penny to fix the future deficit in the system. Extending the tax cuts would increase the deficit by about 1.2 percent of gross domestic product, which coincidentally is the size of Social Security’s long-term shortfall. So that alone would shore up the program.”
—P.T.
Now this:
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.
August 2024
Wednesday, Aug 21
Contractor Review Board Meeting
Government Services Building
Wednesday, Aug 21
Flagler County’s Technical Review Committee Meeting
Government Services Building
Wednesday, Aug 21
Separation Chat: Open Discussion
Wednesday, Aug 21
The Circle of Light A Course in Miracles Study Group
Wednesday, Aug 21
Weekly Chess Club for Teens, Ages 9-18, at the Flagler County Public Library
Flagler County Public Library
Thursday, Aug 22
Flagler County Drug Court Convenes
Flagler County courthouse
Thursday, Aug 22
Palm Coast Beautification and Environmental Advisory Committee
Thursday, Aug 22
Flagler Beach City Commission Meeting
Thursday, Aug 22
6th Annual Flagler Tiger Bay Club Wine Tasting Meet & Greet
Palm Coast Community Center
No event found!
For the full calendar, go here.
[James Madison’s] opinion of the ability of people to choose wisely at election time may have been clouded by his firsthand experience with voters, who sometimes behaved more like drunken partygoers than citizens performing a solemn duty. Back in 1777, when Madison ran for election to the new Virginia House of Delegates, the lower house of the legislature, he refused to go along with the usual practice of providing alcohol to voters at the polling place and around the county to win their support. He thought that the corrupting influence of liquor and other treats was «in-consistent with the purity of moral and republican principles.” He was determined to introduce a “more chaste mode of conducting elections in Virginia? His opponent did not have similar scruples and provided the usual beverages to prospective voters. It was the only election Madison lost by a vote of the people during his long career.
Madison was embarrassed by his election defeat, although
–From Richard Labunski’s James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights (2006).
The Cartoon and Live Briefing Archive.
