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DELAND -- Volusia County's 16 public libraries are asking patrons to help them reduce costs by returning overdue materials and paying their fines.

The libraries will allow patrons to close the book on fines before a new and stricter policy takes effect Feb. 1. From Jan. 25 - 31, patrons may return overdue items and pay half the price of accrued fines. They also can pay off fines on their account for half-price.

Today I have the distinct honor and unprecedented privilege of appointinga third member to the Florida Supreme Court. As we begin this new year, the historic significance of having the opportunity to name four of the Supreme Court’s seven members does not escape me. I fully recognize that these appointments are some of the most important decisions I will make as Governor.

DAYTONA BEACH -- A 31-year-old man was found shot to death in the backyard of his Tucker Street residence Feb. 11, about 14 hours after he left his girlfriend in the car of his driveway to go to relieve himself in the back yard, according to a police report. He didn't return and the woman didn't call police.

Family members found Laron Davis' body the next day and called 9-1-1. Police interviewed the girlfriend who told them she saw several masked men run by.

DAYTONA BEACH -- It's a scary story first reported by the Daytona Beach News-Journal last year and picked up by national media. Could there be a serial killer lurking about?

Stacey Charlene Gage, a 30-year-old Holly Hill mother of two went out for a bag of ice the night of Dec. 11, 2007, and never returned home.

DELAND -- A 19-year-old man shot and killed his 17-year-old former girlfriend, then turned the gun on himself the night of Feb. 15, on the front porch of her DeLand home, in what DeLand police termed a murder-suicide.

But this was no modern-day Romeo and Juliet. Police were called out to the former girlfriend Natasha Hall's home at least nine times since July 2007, all in reference to Daniel "Clay" Kufner.

Courtesy photo. Cutline: Alton Everett Smith, 46, of Palm Coast, was apprehended in New Smyrna Beach this morning as a fugitive from justice on 37 counts of possession of child pornography.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Everything from ballroom dance to doing the YMCA is on tap at the Brannon Center 6:30 p.m. Thursdays, starting this Thursday.

This will be a time to party, make new friends, and bring your own group and dance.

There's a big Valentine’s Party Thursday, Feb. 12.

Tickets are $5 at the door, for more information, please call Nicole Charbonneau at (386) 424-2280. The Brannon Center is at 105 S. Riverside Drive in New Smyrna Beach.

Courtesy photos. Cutline: Kristilyn Smith, 25, and her father, Alton Everett Smith, 46, were both charged today with incest. Both are from Palm Coast. The father was apprehended Monday in New Smyrna Beach as a fugitive from justice on 37 counts of child pornography. His wife, Tina Marie Smith, 36, was arrested Dec. 10, on similar child porn charges.

PALM COAST -- Alton Everett Smith, the 46-year-old fugitive from justice apprehended Monday by New Smyrna Beach police and the United States Marshall Service after trying to escape by climbing down six stories from the Oceania Beach Club on the beachside, has now been charged by Flagler County authorities with felony incest with his own daughter, 25-year-old Kristilyn Smith. She, too, was charged today with incest.

DAYTONA BEACH -- A fire Monday on the third floor of the six-story Overlook South Condominiums, 100 Seabreeze Blvd., was contained to that unit and the one above with damages estimated at $100,000, Daytona Beach Fire Department officials said.

Flames and smoke were shooting through a third-floor window when firefighters arrived at 12:30 p.m., said Daytona Beach Fire Lt. Fred Godawa. That unit sustained fire and smoke damage. The window to the unit above that one was also blown out with the upper unit sustaining mostly smoke damage.

Courtesy photo. Cutline: This photo of Suzanne Kosmas was taken when she was a member of the Florida Legislature. She easily outpolled incumbent Republican Congressman Tom Feeney for the District 24 seat in Washington D.C.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Suzanne Kosmas of New Smyrna Beach was sworn into office Tuesday as part of the 111th Congress.