What a way to end the week with Friday the 13th, of all dates, to deal with. It's been a weird kind of week.
The City Commission meeting was long with debate over the hotel for Flagler Avenue, but there was no acrimony and a lot of positive vibes from the newly reconstituted commission with new Mayor Adam Barringer and new Commissioner Judy Reiker joining holdovers Jack Grasty, Lynne Plaskett and Jim Hathaway.
ORLANDO -- A used-car dealer was found guilty of purposely making deposits of less than $10,000 at a time to avoid reporting transactions from sales to the government, a federal jury determined Friday. With guilty verdicts in hand, he now faces up to 515 years in prison.
U.S. prosecuting attorney A. Brian Albritton said Lucio Ramirez, 45, of Colma Auto Sales, 202 N. Spring Garden Ave., made bank deposits of between $9,000 and $9,900 on car sales to avoid submitting "currecy transaction reports."
The currency reports are mandated by the government to deal with money laundering issues.
ORANGE CITY — City officials have vote to spend $21,000 to hire a consultant to help find a new city manager.
The City Council, in a 4-3 vote, opted to hire Colin Baenzinger. City Manager John McCue left in September 2008, with a severance package totalling $375,000, including benefits. Chester Murray, the city's director of development services, has filed in, but plans on retiring once a replacement has been hired in March or April.
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NSBNEWS.net photos by Henry Frederick.
Jenny Stine of New Smyrna Beach, paper mache artist, or as she calls it, "papier mache," talks with a customer during the Flamingo Follies art street festival Saturday on Flagler. There are diverse pieces of artistry and homemade crafts as shown in the photos.
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When Suzanne Kosmas voted against the health care bill in Congress many wondered if she had seen the light, but it was too good to be true. She voted against the spending, alright, but so did a couple dozen other Democrats under a scheme perpetrated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
ORMOND-by-the-SEA -- Volusia County Sheriff's investigators were at the scene of a residence in Ormond-by-the-Sea, where the bodies of two adult men were located inside the home on Sunday afternoon.
Deputies were dispatched to 58 Alamanda Drive after a woman and her boyfriend drove to the house because the woman had been unable to contact her adult son.
CAPE CANAVERAL -- Earlier this morning, the Mission Management Team met and gave the "go" for loading space shuttle Atlantis' external tank with 500,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, which began at 5:03 a.m. EST.
The three-hour fueling process will provide the fuel and oxidizer Atlantis' three main engines require for the 8 1/2 minute trip to orbit.
Weather forecast is now at a 70-percent chance of favorable weather for an on-time liftoff at 2:28 p.m. this afternoon.
DELTONA -- Native American culture will take center stage at the Deltona Amphitheater from 10 a.m. - noon Saturday, Nov. 21, as Jim Sawgrass guides participants on a journey through the past with tribal dances and storytelling.
Sawgrass, a native Floridian, has been interpreting the history and culture of southeastern Native Americans for many years.
The amphitheater is adjacent to the Deltona Regional Library, 2150 Eustace Ave. Program admission is $2 for adults and $1 for children.
NSBNEWS.net video by Sera Frederick. The Flamingo Follies art festival on Flagler Avenue drew 12,000 people over the weekend -- 7,000 on Saturday and another 5,000 on Sunday, according to organizers.
