Observer
DOGGIES PLAY DRESS UP 6
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
SEPTEMBER 2020
VOLUME 7, NO. 2
Veteran leader will be missed
TRIGGER POINT
Sal Rutigliano
Pandemic and nationwide race riots lead to ‘unprecedented’ gun sales.
JULIE MURPHY FLAGLER COUNTY PIO
Local Postal Customer
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Former Veterans Service Officer, Salvatore “Sal” A. Rutigliano, who served local veterans for 16 years, reportedly died at home on Aug. 17. He was 75. “Sal was a great and respected veteran,” said current Veterans Service Officer David Lydon. “He made a lasting impact on the county’s veteran community in so many ways, and was still serving veterans as the American Legion Post 115 Service Officer. I had huge shoes to fill when I was hired after Sal’s retirement. He is already missed.” Rutigliano, a retired sergeant major with the Connecticut Army National Guard, moved to Palm Coast and was hired by Flagler County in June 2000 to head Veterans Services. He retired in November 2016. “He was instrumental in getting the Veterans Memorial installed in front of the Government Services Building,” said American Legion Cmdr. David Hammond, noting that Rutigliano was a 26-year member of the organization. “He along with Billy Jones created a program called ‘Veterans in the Classroom’ where they would go into classrooms and talk about what it means to be a veteran. He did that until he retired.” Commissioner Charlie Ericksen spoke fondly of his friend. “Ask him a question and if he didn’t know the answer, he’d get you the answer,” he said.
BRIAN MCMILLAN EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Two sisters, each over 60 years old, walked into Elite Warrior Firearms in Ormond Beach recently, and each bought an AR-15 with several magazines of ammunition. “They’re scared,” said Todd Glaczenski, owner of the gun shop. “They were buying them for protection.” Glaczenski, who opened his shop at 1360 N. U.S. 1, Suite 104, in February, just before the pandemic took hold in the United States, said interest in guns is so high, in fact, that he is having a difficult time keeping inventory in stock. More than half are firsttime gun buyers. SEE PANDEMIC PAGE 4 Photo by Brian McMillan
Elite Warrior Firearms owner Todd Glaczenski said it’s been difficult to keep guns in stock at the shop. “There’s been times where I’m almost a gunless gun store,” he said.
DeSantis to allow visitors in nursing homes Rewards outweigh the risks, Gov. Ron DeSantis says. In their last stage of life, many people ‘would just like to say goodbye or hug somebody.’
CHRISTINE SEXTON THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday, Sept. 1, he will allow visitors into nursing homes and assisted living facilities, nearly six months after the state blocked visitation during the first wave of coronavirus infections. DeSantis said during an appearance in Jacksonville that he would sign an executive order lifting the ban on visitors, while also allowing “essential” caregivers to touch long-term care residents. Two elder-care advocacy groups criticized the move to reopen facilities, asking why it is coming now and questioning a decision not to mandate that visitors be tested before entering facilities. The executive order will take effect immediately, said Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Mary Mayhew, who headed a DeSantis-appointed task force that came up with recommendations for reopening facilities.
But Mayhew said long-term care providers will need to have written policies in place before the doors swing open to allow “essential,” “compassionate” and “general” visitation to resume. Mayhew, whose agency licenses most of the state’s long-term care facilities, said providers will be “moving with a sense of urgency” to get the policies in place. In announcing the executive order, DeSantis acknowledged that the move will increase the number of COVID-19 cases in long-term care facilities but said the need for visitation — which has been banned for the most part since March 15 — could no longer be ignored. “Many of the folks understand that they have loved ones who are in the last stage of their life. They are not demanding a medical miracle, they are not having unrealistic expectations. They would just like to say goodbye or hug somebody,” DeSantis said through a choked voice, before adding, “I think it’s difficult to
think that some of our actions may have prevented …” DeSantis’ Task Force on the Safe and Limited Re-Opening of Long-Term Care Facilities finished working on its recommendations last week. The governor announced the reopening in Jacksonville, where task-force member Mary Daniel lives. Daniel, founder of the group Caregivers for Compromise, gained national attention after she took a job as a dishwasher at a memory-care facility where her husband resides. Daniel argued that the visitation ban was more harmful than effective, saying that residents were depressed and some were dying from the isolation because they didn’t flourish. Daniel’s advocacy helped influence the recommendations, including expanding the type of services that people categorized as essential caregivers could provide. The expansion involved adding emotional support to a list of services that essential caregivers provide.