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DUNE: Tale of Flagler’s future Protecting Flagler’s coast could cost $6 million per year, according to the latest report from the county. PAGE 3

PIZZA KING

Marina amendment rejected

Brad Beam brings award-winning pizza to Bronx House

The commission will not change the Land Development Code language at this time.

ABBIE PACE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

JONATHAN SIMMONS NEWS EDITOR

Flagler County will not amend its Land Development Code to add new language on marinas — at least, not now. The County Commission at a Feb. 7 meeting discussed a proposed Land Development Code revision that would allow marinas in commercial areas, including the A1A Scenic Overlay district, with certain restrictions. The commission opted against the proposal, as it did when the matter came before it for a vote this past October. Commissioners decided that marinas should be dealt with in the context of the county’s overall revision of its Land Development Code. “I would hope that the way to move forward would be to continue the process of the strategic plan, comprehensive plan, and then ... to rewrite the LDC in a comprehensive manner, and not peel out one particular section,” Commissioner Donald O’Brien said. The discussion was ostensibly about marinas in general, and not any particular marina. But the discussion had been placed on the commission’s Feb. 7 agenda at the request of Hammock Harbour developer Bob Million, whose proposal for a 57,000-square-foot, 240-boat dry storage facility on State road A1A had led county staff to create a proposed revision to the county’s land development code, specifying which types of marinas can be built where, and under what circumstances. Million had been displeased with the particulars of the county’s proposed revision, and spoke at the Feb. 7 meeting to push the county to adopt less restrictive language. Hammock Community Association members, meanwhile, have

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SEE MARINA PAGE 2

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Brad Beam came up with one of the world’s best traditional-style pizzas, according to the judges at the 2021 International Pizza Challenge, in Las Vegas. Bronx House Pizza opens in the Hammock at the end of April.

On the average plane ride, overhead bins become piled with suede bags filled with toiletries, clothing and other items. But on one flight on Aug. 21, 2021, a certain passenger brought some unique items in a carry-on cooler: pizza dough, ice packs, cheese, sauce containers, pepperoni and seasoning. That passenger was Palm Coast resident Brad Beam, and he was headed to the International Pizza Challenge, a pizza-making competition held in Las Vegas since 2007. His odd luggage paid off, as he walked away from Vegas with three titles for his Old World Pizza, in the traditional category. He placed first in Florida, second in the Southeast region, and sixth in the world, SEE PIZZA PAGE 8

One segment at a time Scientists at Whitney Laboratory, in northern Flagler, study regeneration in marine worms

BRENT FOSTER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

I heard a story once of a toddler who leaned over too far in her chair in the kitchen and toppled off. The chair landed on her little toe, slicing it cleanly from her foot. When her parents rushed her to the hospital, the doctor reassured them that, at this child’s age, her little toe could regrow back normally. You may have heard similar stories throughout your lifetime and wondered: Why can’t our bodies do that when we’re older? Now, with the help of a little-known marine worm found in the muddy estuaries right here in Flagler and St. Johns counties, scientists at University of Florida’s Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience are beginning to piece together the answer to that question and learn how regenerative abilities can change over time. “An animal’s capacity for regeneration can vary throughout its life,” explained Alicia Boyd, a graduate student at Whitney Laboratory studying regeneration. “One classic example comes from a frog, which has remarkable regenerative potential as

Courtesy photo

REGENERATING CAPITELLA WORMS Top: Adult worm that was able to regrow its tail following amputation. Bottom: Adult worm that was unable to regrow its head following amputation. The dotted lines mark where the worms were cut.

a tadpole, but, with age, that potential is lost.” What’s exciting is that the reverse process can also be true. “There are other regenerative models that seemingly

gain regenerative potential as they develop,” Boyd said, “one of them being the animal we study in our lab, Capitella teleta.” Capitella is an annelid, a segmented worm not unlike

the kind you might stick on the end of your fishhook. These worms live out their lives in muddy estuaries and transition from tiny torpedoSEE ONE PAGE 6

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FEBRUARY 2022

Marina amendment rejected CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

protested the proposed boat storage facility since Million first proposed it. Initially, he hadn’t been calling the facility, which will feature dry boat storage, a “marina,” and Hammock residents had argued that it was, in essence, a warehouse — a category of use that’s not allowed in the county’s Scenic A1A overlay district. The County Commission in 2019 approved it anyway, but a judge nullified the commission’s decision on procedural grounds after Hammock community members appealed. That reset the dispute, requiring the county govern-

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Observer “If we are to build a better world, we must remember that the guiding principle is this — a policy of freedom for the individual is the only truly progressive policy.” Friedrich Hayek “Road to Serfdom,” 1944

Publisher John Walsh, jwalsh@palmcoastobserver. com Executive Editor Brian McMillan, bmcmillan@ palmcoastobserver.com News Editor Jonathan Simmons, jonathan@ palmcoastobserver.com Staff Writer Brent Woronoff, brent@palmcoastobserver.com Page Designer Hailey McMillan Senior Account Manager Susan Moore, susan@palmcoastobserver. com

ment to reconsider Million’s proposal. He shifted his language, referring to the proposed facility as a marina and pushing the county to clarify in its Land Development Code where marinas are allowed. The county’s Planning and Development Board voted 4-1 to direct county planning staff to prepare a revision to county codes to allow marinas in the Scenic A1A overlay district as a “special exception,” meaning that marinas would be allowed if each planned marina undergoes an additional layer of review — including a public Planning Board hearing — not required for most other land uses. Since Million didn’t support the proposed Land Development Code amendment, when it was presented to the commission in October it was opposed both by HCA members and by Million himself. As in October, the County Commission turned down the proposed amendment.

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State grapples with teacher shortage RYAN DAILEY NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

Florida schools have just shy of 4,500 teacher vacancies, as lawmakers look at ways to boost pay and help retain educators. The State Board of Education received an annual report Wednesday, Feb. 9, that detailed data on subject areas that have critical teacher shortages as determined by a survey of school districts. Out of 4,489 current teacher vacancies, 1,321 are in teaching jobs that deal with students who have special needs. There are 751 vacancies in elementary education, 304 in math and 280 in English. In the past school year, more than 19% of exceptional-student education courses and about 9% of English courses were taught by teachers who were not certified in the appropriate fields. Cathy Boehme, a lobbyist who represents the Florida Education Association teachers union, described a slow rebound from the teacher shortage that was exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. “I worry about thousands and thousands of students who are currently without a full-time teacher,” Boehme said. Boehme suggested the state increase “incentives to go to college or to go back to college with the intention of becoming a teacher.”

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Beach keeping Protecting Flagler’s coast could cost $6 million per year

JONATHAN SIMMONS NEWS EDITOR

ntil Hurricane Matthew carved chunks of pavement out of State Road A1A in 2016, Flagler County had largely been spared from major storm surge damage to its shoreline. But even so, experts told county commissioners at a Feb. 7 workshop, the county’s dune system and beaches have been gradually eroded, and existing and planned beach nourishment programs that would cover a few miles each will not be enough to protect it. “Other than these projects, the county does not have a long-term plan, County Engineer Faith Alkhatib said at the workshop. Flagler County hired Jacksonvillebased engineering firm Olsen Associates Coastal Engineering last year to come up with options for a comprehensive beach management plan — which Flagler, unlike many other coastal counties, doesn’t yet have. Until recent years, Commissioner Greg Hansen said, the county hadn’t felt the need for one. “We have been spared the ravages of hurricanes here in Flagler County, but unfortunately, with Irma and Matthew, now we got whacked pretty good,” he said, “and we’ve lost our dunes.” The workshop featured presentations by Olsen Associates engineer Chris Creed and Army Corps of Engineers Project Manager Jason Harrah, with Creed leading commissioners though a technical discussion of the state of the county’s beach and dune system and a series of renourishment options before Harrah discussed the Corps of Engineers’ planned project in Flagler Beach, and the potential to add a second such project in the future. Overall, Creed said, the county can expect to spend close to $97 million to protect the entirety of the shoreline. That could be annualized to approximately $6.3 million per year — a figure, he added, that’s in line with what other coastal communities are spending. “The beach is a living thing: It’s very dynamic, and it does require maintenance as you move forward,” Creed said. “Just like in the federal project, you have an initial restoration, you have periodic maintenance that’s not unlike any other civil works project that you might have — a road, a highway, a bridge.” Planned projects include a $25 million Army Corps of Engineers plan to renourish 2.6 miles of the coast in Flagler Beach; a Florida Department of Transportationfunded plan for $10.5 million worth of dune restoration nearby in Flagler Beach; a $3.8 million Department of Environmental Protection project to restore dunes in Gamble Rogers State

Park; and a FEMA project in northern Flagler County, with $2 million from FEMA and $339,000 from the state with an equal match from the county government. Those projects are funded, though not yet underway. The county government has also already restored about 11 miles of dunes damaged by Hurricane Dorian. But, like the rest of the county’s 18 miles of coastline, those dunes have since been damaged by erosion and nor’easters. Olsen Associates took aerial photographs of the entirety of the county’s coastline to measure the beach, dune and dune crest. The average dune crest elevation in the county is about 18.5 feet, Creed said, with lower elevations in the north. Some of that’s from storms, he said, but some of it’s just due to natural elevation. The DEP, since 1972, has maintained a series of measurement tools placed every 1,000 feet around the state’s coastline to track dune changes, Creed said. “Between the northern part of Hammock Beach, we’ve seen a pretty good drop in the dune crest elevation ... likely due to the storms,” he said. In most of he rest of the county, the elevation has varied over the course of a few feet. But there have been more noticeable drops in dune volume, he said. “The more volume you have, the more protected you are,” he said. “... Over the last 50 years ... there has been has been quite a bit of loss to the central part of the county.”

In some areas, 14 cubic yard of sand per foot have been lost, and the county has lost 3.5 million cubic yards of sand since 1972 — over 1 million of that in that last decade. “It is the beach that protects your dunes,” Creed said. “If you don’t have a healthy beach, you can put all the sand you want to on the dunes, but if it doesn’t have the fronting protected beach, it is very vulnerable.” In some places, Creed said, the dune crest also shifted landward — as much as 100 feet in some places, he said. Creed presented a series of six renourishment options involving different amounts of sand added to the beach and dune at different places, and from different potential sources. The nature of the county’s shoreline complicates the renourishment process: Part of the northern end of the county’s coast has submerged coquina rock that provides habitat for fish and other organisms. A renourishment program could damage that habitat or inundate it with sand. The county could still decide to accept that damage, but would have to mitigate the impact, which would be costly — about $1.5 to $4 million per acre, Creed said. Alternatively, it could add less land in those areas, but would then have to renourish them more often. Meanwhile, the planned Army Corps of Engineers renourishmnent program is expected to soon move forward — and there could be a second one, Harrah said.

“The majority of the beaches around the coast of Florida are manmade, and folks don’t realize that,” Harrah said. “For the Corps, our mission is to protect property, protect life, protect infrastructure.” An Army Corps study about a potential second renourishment site, he said, would take about three years and cost about $3 million. A handful of residents spoke during the workshop’s public comment period, most urging the county to adopt a more comprehensive beach management plan or to undertake spot repairs in particular areas. Colleen White, representing the Hammock Dunes Owners Association, said that Hammock Dunes had hired Olsen Associates to assess a portion of damaged in a nor’easter this past November. The community is preparing to undertake emergency repairs based on the firms’ assessment, she said. “This repair will be just a bandaid that we hope will get us through the next storm without a breach,” she said. “Much more repair is needed. ... Every storm that hits continues to tear away at our depleted dunes.” Olsen will be drafting and submitting a report, Alkhatib said. “We have to decide how we want to proceed,” Alkhatib said. “I do recommend, as soon as we can, to identify a task force to start working on these issues.”

“The beach is a living thing: It’s very dynamic, and it does require maintenance as you move forward.” CHRIS CREED, Olsen Associates Coastal Engineering

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Noting rising values, commissioners express interest in lowering tax rate

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If the rate is held flat, the county is expected to receive an additional $12.2 million in taxes next year. JONATHAN SIMMONS NEWS EDITOR

If the county government holds the General Fund operating tax rate flat at 8.0297 mills next year, it can expect an additional $12.2 million increase in revenue due to a 15% increase in taxable property values, according to county Financial Services Director John Brower. Upcoming county expenses, he said, include updating the county’s fleet, adding more firefighters and library workers, and the county’s four-year plan to increase the lower limit for staff pay toward $15 per hour. “We have a lot of deferred capital maintenance,” he said. “We have an aging fleet that we’re trying to catch up, and make the fleet more reliable.” The county administration is also looking at implementing a merit-based raise program — especially since,

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County Commissioner Andy Dance said the county should be building the budget from the bottom up, not the top down.

according to county policy, it can only grant up to 4% costof-living increases per year. In terms of the county’s reserves, Brower said, “We’re right where we want to be at this point,” with an unrestricted budgetary reserve equal to 2/12ths of General Fund operating revenue. County staff would ultimately like to get to 3/12ths. Commissioner Andy Dance said Brower’s presentation shouldn’t have assumed that millage would remain flat. “The commission’s the only one that gets to set the millage,” Dance said. “... We should be building the budget from the bottom up, not the top down.” Commissioner Donald O’Brien said he agreed, and that he’d like the county to consider at least a 10th of a mill decrease in the rate, and, potentially, changing the 4% cap for county staff cost-ofliving increases. “That’s something we might have to rethink, given the environment we’re in,” O’Brien said.

If the county matched actual cost of living increases, Brower said, the COLA increase for staff would be 5.1%. O’Brien said he’d also like to look at shifting toward a $15 per hour minimum for staff pay “as fast as possible,” not only to comply with the law a few years down the line, but to keep the county competitive in the market now. Commissioners Greg Hansen and Joe Mullins also said they wanted to look at decreasing the tax rate. “Give us a chance to look hard at rollback,” Hansen said, referring to the “rollback rate,” which would bring in the same dollar amount of tax revenue as the county received this year, but at a lower tax rate, because of increases in property values. “This is a chance to give Flagler County a break, if we can get to rollback.” “I agree with Commissioner Hansen — let’s look at a reduction if we can,” Mullins said. “[Residents] have been very patient, and we’ve got businesses coming in; we’ve got development coming in.”

public meetings to introduce residents to the process. “We will be assessing flooding, water quality, and future resiliency issues,” said County Engineer Faith Alkhatib. Each meeting will be inperson at the following times and locations: Tuesday, Feb. 22, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Commission Chambers, Government Services Building, 1769 E. Moody Blvd., Bunnell. This meeting

will be live-streamed on the Flagler County YouTube page. Tuesday, March 1, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Hidden Trails Community Center, 6108 Mahogany Blvd. Bunnell A public comment survey form will be provided at the introductory public meetings for resident input, and will also be made available online: https://www.flaglercounty. gov/departments/engineering/stormwater-master-plan.

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Matanzas wide receiver Noah Cundiff signs with the University of New Hampshire.

The Next LEVEL

Photo by Brent Woronoff

Jason Browning

Preston Roberts

Six county football players set for the next level

BRENT WORONOFF STAFF WRITER

he clincher for Matanzas wide receiver Noah Cundiff in signing with the University of New Hampshire was the Wildcats’ new head coach. Rick Santos reminds Cundiff of Pirates head coach Matt Forrest. “He seems real true with his morals,” Cundiff said of Santos. “Coach Forrest always ends practice with a motivational speech. It made us feel we were working toward a purpose. I get those same vibes from Coach Santos.” Cundiff was one of six Flagler County high school seniors to sign football letters of intent on Signing Day, Feb. 2. Joining Cundiff at Matanzas’ signing celebration in the gym lobby was linebacker Ezekiel Flores, who signed with Division III Concordia University Chicago. At Flagler Palm Coast, quarterback Preston Roberts signed with Division II Tusculum University in Tennessee. Linebacker Jason Browning signed with Madonna University, an NAIA school in Livonia, Michigan. And linebacker/H-back Rigens Andre signed with Gila River Junior College in San Carlos, Arizona. Receiver/cornerback Trenton Williams signed with Highland Community College in Kansas. But since his decision was last minute and his family couldn’t attend the Bulldogs’ ceremony, he will be included in a future signing ceremony, FPC football coach Robert Paxia said. “We have 10 more kids who will sign in probably the next couple of months,” said Paxia.

said, “Noah is a dynamic playmaker who can impact a game at the receiver position and on special teams as a kick returner.” Cundiff said after watching film of the team’s 2021 season during his official visit, he thought he would be a perfect fit. “All they need is a wide receiver to make them a championship team,” he said. “They don’t have a deep threat. I’m hoping I can be that threat.” Santos also believes the 6-foot-1, 180-pound Cundiff can be a difference maker. In the press release, Santos said, “His big frame allows him to make contested catches in traffic. He also has the ability to make people miss in space. Noah is a complete wide receiver who will look to have an immediate impact.” Cundiff caught 61 passes for 574 yards as a junior. During an injuryriddled senior season, he still caught 25 passes for 375 yards and scored six touchdowns. Forrest said Cundiff’s talent was evident from the first day he stepped on campus, but he needed to learn how to push himself to reach his potential. “During spring practice (last year),

FEBRUARY 2022

“All they need is a wide receiver to make them a championship team. They don’t have a deep threat. I’m hoping I can be that threat.” NOAH CUNDIFF, on signing with New Hampshire

Ezekiel Flores

I literally had to kick him off the field,” Forrest said. “It was because of the little detail and extra things it takes to play at a high level. That was something Noah had to figure out. There is no doubt that when Noah gets to New Hampshire, he is only going to continue his climb. The sky’s the limit. He’s going to be as good as he wants to be.” LOVE FOR LOCAL PLAYERS

Flores said Concordia showed him “the most love,” texting him every day. “Once I stayed on campus, it felt like home,” he said. The 5-10, 200-pound outside linebacker said Concordia’s defense is similar to the Pirates’ with a 3-2-5 scheme.

Rigens Andre

“They like to blitz off the end a lot,” he said. Roberts split time at quarterback this season, passing for 929 yards and 11 touchdowns with six interceptions. “They were looking for more of a pro-style quarterback, and Preston fits that bill,” Paxia said. Tusculum head coach Jerry Odom tweeted about Roberts after his signing: “A QB from the 386 that can spin it. Football junkie who loves the game. Natural pocket presence with a strong arm. Welcome to TU Preston!” Odom, who has deep roots in Florida, recruits heavily in the state. The coach played and coached at the University of Florida and before that played for his father at Merritt Island

A PERFECT FIT

Cundiff had several offers from FCS teams. He chose one of the top FCS programs in the nation. New Hampshire has made the playoffs 16 times in FCS, formerly known as Division I-AA. The Wildcats, a member of the Colonial Athletic Association, made the playoffs 14 years in a row from 2004 to 2017. They haven’t been to the playoffs since then, however. Santos was promoted to head coach after this past season, replacing his former coach, Sean McDonnell, who retired after 23 seasons. Santos, New Hampshire’s all-time leading passer, won the Walter Payton Award in 2006 as the top offensive player in FCS. In a press release on the Wildcats’ signing class, he

Noah Cundiff, center, poses with his family after signing: sister Hope, mom Michelle, dad Jeremy and sister Mia.

High School. Browning led the Bulldogs with 81 tackles in eight games this season. He had 13 tackles for loss, five sacks and caused three fumbles. “Madonna gave him a really good financial aid package,” Paxia said. “To me Division II and NAIA are pretty much the same level. They both offer scholarships.” Paxia noted that Andre and Williams, who are headed to junior colleges, will have the opportunity to sign again in two years. “I’m just excited that our kids have the opportunity to go to college and help themselves. Each kid picked a good home for them,” Paxia said. Email brent@palmcoastobserver. com.

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FEBRUARY 2022

One segment at a time CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

shaped swimming larvae to a burrowing worm in a process called metamorphosis. To date, researchers assumed that only adults were capable of regeneration, albeit in a limited way: as adults, Capitella can regenerate posterior fragments (i.e. its tail) but not anterior fragments (i.e. its head). “The DNA content is the same throughout the worm,” explained Lauren Kunselman, another graduate student studying regeneration at Whitney. “This means that differences in regenerative ability in Capitella is not based on the presence or absence of genes, but something else, such as changes in gene expression.” This difference in regenerative ability in Capitella allows scientists to research the most fundamental questions of regenerative biology that may be applied to human health: When does regenerative potential begin and how might it change during a life cycle? Why might an animal regenerate one way but not another? EXCITING RESULTS

Boyd became interested in the topic of regenerative potential after having a simple conversation in the lab with her supervisor, Dr. Elaine Seaver. As Boyd was sorting worm larvae, she asked Dr. Seaver whether the larvae were capable of regenerating like the adults. Dr. Seaver’s response was essentially a shrug—besides a few inconclusive preliminary experiments, no one had seriously tried answering that question before now. The experiments that address these questions yield exciting results. Boyd cut the worms using specific landmarks—pigments that

mark the worm’s eyes and wavy thread-like appendages called cilia that wrap around specific regions of the animal’s trunk. “These features let us make amputations at consistent locations in the body,” Boyd explained. This consistency is crucial to weed out variation between animals that may make the results difficult to interpret. After making the cuts, Boyd assessed the regenerative ability of her larvae. “There are three main steps to regeneration,” Boyd said. “Wound healing, cell proliferation, and the replacement of lost tissues.” Wound healing is essentially the closing of a wound to prevent infections and leaking body fluids; this process results in the formation of a continuous layer of cells. Cell proliferation produces new cells where the wound occurs — in regenerating animals, tissue may be “remade” from cells in the region of the wound site, or they may be created from a separate pool of stem cells. The replacement of lost tissues is assessed by the regrowth of structures that were removed during amputations. “It looks like Capitella larvae can start regeneration by wound healing and generating new cells,” Boyd said, “but they can’t reliably replace lost tissue.” In essence, the worm larvae can start regeneration, but they can’t finish it. However, there’s a plot twist to this story that brings an excited smile to Boyd’s face whenever she talks about it. ‘REGENERATING THEIR EYES’

“One of the features we looked at was the regeneration of the brain and eyes in our larvae,” Boyd said. “They weren’t able to regrow their brains,

The research represents important early steps for understanding the basic biological principles of regeneration and restoring regenerative potential when and where it has been lost. The hope is to someday apply these principles to other species — maybe even humans — to help regenerate tissues that don’t regenerate on their own.

Image provided by Heather Krumholtz

Members of Dr. Elaine Seaver’s research group at UF’s Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience. From left to right: Alicia Boyd, Katie Feerst, Lauren Kunselman, and Dr. Seaver.

but it does look like some animals were capable of regenerating their eyes.” Boyd is quick to point out that the numbers were very small—of 640 cases, only 36 instances of eye regeneration occurred. “This is a very surprising finding since it is the first evidence of anterior regeneration in Capitella at any stage of its lifespan,” said Dr. Elaine Seaver, the principal investigator supervising this research and one of the world’s leading experts on Capitella. “No one else has looked at this so thoroughly, and it is a testament to Alicia’s perseverance to discover such a rare occurrence. Perhaps if we can tweak the conditions, we can increase the proportion of times that eyes reform or even facilitate the regeneration of other structures such as the brain.” “The main takeaway here is that context is critical,” Boyd explained. “Regeneration is dynamic and can be gained or lost within an organism’s lifecycle. Understanding when and where regeneration is possible is crucial for expanding regenerative abilities where it might be absent.” Boyd intends to follow up with this research by looking to see if stem cells might explain the difference between regenerative potential in Capitella larvae and adults. “The next question one might

“This is a very surprising finding. Perhaps if we can tweak the conditions, we can increase the proportion of times that eyes reform or even facilitate the regeneration of other structures such as the brain." ELAINE SEAVER

begin to wonder is what is responsible for differing regenerative ability,” Kunselmen said. “That’s essentially what my research is doing, figuring out the ‘why’ behind regenerative potential by looking at tissue that is good at regeneration compared to tissue that is unable to regenerate.” GENES OF REGENERATION?

So far it looks like a group of genes known as Wnt (rhymes with hint) play an important role. During development, Wnt genes help ensure the head and tail go where they’re supposed to go and form when they’re supposed to form, sort of like shift supervisors assigning specific rooms, times and tasks to their employees.

“The Wnt gene family has also been shown to play an important role in regeneration,” Kunselman said. “Usually, when it is downregulated, it promotes anterior growth, and when it is upregulated, it promotes regeneration of posterior structures. However, in Capitella it’s likely not that simple.” By comparing expression of Wnt genes in fragments of cut worms, Kunselman said it looks like the regions where Wnt genes were turned on seem to differ between anterior and posterior fragments. “This is significant,” Kunselman said, “because it could mean that Wnt genes have different roles in Capitella regeneration than they do in other organisms, which may mean that there are other ways regeneration is regulated.” This implies that there are multiple mechanisms of regeneration — good news for us vertebrates who have limited regenerative capacities as adults. Kunselman intends to continue studying the role of Wnt genes in regeneration by disrupting their signaling to see how Capitella’s ability to regenerate changes. Researchers can use certain drugs to both disrupt and amplify Wnt signaling, sort of like disrupting or amplifying a WiFi signal with a router in your home. If Wnt is crucial for regeneration, then jamming Wnt signals will prevent regeneration from occurring. Conversely, increased Wnt signals should induce regeneration. “It is exciting to begin unraveling the molecular basis of regenerative abilities,” said Dr. Seaver. “It points to the importance of studying a wide range of animals with differing regenerative properties, including segmented worms.” The research done by Boyd and Kunselman represents important early steps for understanding the basic biological principles of regeneration and restoring regenerative potential when and where it has been lost. The hope is to someday apply these principles to other species — maybe even humans — to help us regenerate tissues that don’t regenerate on their own. Someday in the future, if you have an unfortunate accident and cut your foot, you may be grateful for this little-known segmented marine worm that may help you grow back your little toe.

PalmCoastObserver.com

HAMMOCK OBSERVER

FEBRUARY 2022

Area home prices rise 25% from a year ago

JONATHAN SIMMONS NEWS EDITOR

In her 29 years in the real estate industry, Kristin Petersen has never seen prices climb like they are now. She’s heard a lot of people call the current Florida real estate market “crazy.” But she thinks that’s the wrong word. “The market, I think, is just responding to supply and demand,” Petersen, a sales manager/broker associate at Adams, Cameron & Co. Realtors, said on Flagler Broadcasting’s “Free For All Friday” program on Jan. 28. “So it’s actually not crazy. It’s normal for what’s going on.” A set of factors, she said, have converged to raise prices in Florida, making the state’s percentage of households paying over 30% of their income toward housing among the highest in the country. “Florida’s got a real problem there, and it’s not going to be fixed in a year. It might not even be fixed in two years,” Petersen said. “Because it’s multiple industries that are creating this. It’s employment, it’s the cost to build, it’s availability. And of course then you have, on top of that, 1,000 people a day moving to Florida, because we’re open for business and we’re cheaper.” Single-earner households are having a particularly hard time affording housing, she said. Statewide, median singlefamily home sale prices in

December 2021 were up 21% over December 2020 prices: $373,990, up from $309,000, according to statistics compiled by Florida Realtors. A total of 30.5% of single-family home sales in December 2021 were paid in cash, an increase of 27.5% over a year ago. In the Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach metropolitan statistical area, including Flagler and Volusia counties, the median singlefamily home sale price was $321,000 in December 2021, up 25.4% from a year before. For townhomes and condos, the December 2021 median was $312,000, an increase of 24.8% from the year before. People who’ve been living and working in places like California, Petersen said, are realizing that they can do the same work remotely from Florida. “They’re calling it the ‘great migration’ right now, where people are like, ‘Well, wait a minute: I can live in sunny Florida ... no state tax,’” she said. These transplants perceive Florida housing as less costly than the places they’re coming from — Colorado, California, New Mexico, the North-

BY THE NUMBERS

$373,990

median Florida singlefamily home sale price in December 2021, up 21% over December 2020

$285,000

median Florida townhouse/condo sale price in December 2021, up 23.9% over December 2020

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“It’s multiple industries that are creating this. It’s employment, it’s the cost to build, it’s availability. And of course then you have, on top of that, 1,000 people a day moving to Florida.” KRISTIN PETERSEN, Adams, Cameron & Co. Realtors

east. “So they’re coming down here and saying, ‘This is unbelievable. This is great.’ And so that perspective is what is driving our market, too,” Petersen said. In Flagler County, she said, more than half of households pay more that 30% of their gross income toward housing; in the Miami area, it’s closer to 65%. “We need industry. We need jobs. We need we need a lot more infrastructure to support the affordability issue,” Petersen said.

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Flagler-Volusia area real estate agent Kristin Petersen cited high building costs and an influx of buyers from out of state.

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HAMMOCK OBSERVER

PalmCoastObserver.com

FEBRUARY 2022

PIZZA KING

choice of two toppings. Beam’s goal was to create a pizza that would stand out to the judges without compromising the ingredients he used. Ripe, flavorful tomatoes acted as the foundation of the pie. “I wanted to let the ingredients speak for themselves and come out and shine in the competition,” he said. Beam uses aged ingredients in his pizzas, “which makes a huge difference in not only flavor, but also digestion,” he said. “If it’s aged longer, it’s going to go down a lot easier, so you’re not going to feel nearly as stuffed.”

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

among 95 contestants. “That was a really cool feeling,” he said. “Very, very flattering for me and very humbling.” LOVE OF PIZZA

For the competition, Beam chose to make a simple pizza, one he might have liked as a “picky” kid. “It kind of brings you back to your roots,” he said, before chicken bacon ranch, cheeseburger and other contemporary pizza flavors started popping up. As an adult, Beam developed his love of pizza when he started working for Joe’s NY Pizza and Pasta in Palm Coast 17 years ago. He still enjoys hearing positive feedback from customers. “That’s what keeps me driven to make the best product I can possibly make,” he said. “One of the biggest things that I love is when a customer bites into their pizza and comes up to me and says, ‘You’ve got the best pizza I’ve ever had.’” He has since become a partner in the company’s two newest restaurants, both called Bronx House Pizza — one in The Hammock, which opens

TRIAL RUNS

The rules stated that all contestants had to bake their pizzas in front of the judges, using ingredients they brought from home. Beam was no exception to this rule, despite the disCourtesy photo

Brad Beam and Michael Bennici, of Joe’s NY Pizza and Pasta.

He chose one of the most prestigious competitions in the world. The 2021 International Pizza Challenge consisted of four categories: traditional, nontraditional, pan and Neapolitan. The traditional category required contestants to utilize red sauce, cheese and their

BRAD BEAM

ONLINE Q +A DAVID

AYRES, president of Flagler Broadcasting

Every week for the past several years, I have joined David Ayres on WNZF’s “Free For All Friday.” Recently, after Ayres was promoted to president of Flagler Broadcasting, I decided to turn the tables and interview him. Read the article on our website. — BRIAN MCMILLAN

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at the end of April, and one on State Road 100 in Airport Commons, which opened in February. About five years ago, Beam and his wife ate at a famous place in New York, Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, and he decided he wanted to recreate that pie and enter it in a competition.

“One of the biggest things that I love is when a customer bites into their pizza and comes up to me and says, ‘You’ve got the best pizza I’ve ever had.’”

tance he had to travel. To ensure everything would run smoothly at the competition, he conducted multiple trial runs at home in the months leading up to the August competition. He would take his dough out of the freezer, place it in his carry-on bag and leave it on his dining room table for five hours, the duration of the flight. “I ran so many different scenarios in the months leading up to it and finally got to a point where I felt comfortable with the method I was going to use,” Beam said. He then had to make sure he could get through security at the airport. “TSA is very strict,” he said. “I had multiple phone calls with the TSA to see exactly what I was allowed to bring on the flight with me.” Beam took into account the car ride to the airport, as well, which meant he had to buy the perfect sized cooler, with ice packs to maintain the dough’s freshness. At the competition, he found that the oven was the same brand he used at Joe’s, so he felt comfortable. And in the end, he proved he has a pizza that should stand out, even among pizza lovers. And he brought home the recipe, so it can be ordered at Bronx House. Just ask for the awardwinning Old World Pizza.

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