Archive
Considering a run for mayor of Lake Mary -- nah!
LAKE MARY -- From what I've seen of politics in Central Florida, especially in Volusia County since the mid-1990s, I am happy to be living in Lake Mary, though I miss New Smyrna Beach and the rental home that we loved in Sugar Mill with the daily laps in the community pool and our frequent trips to the beach.
Daytona Beach owes 'thank you' to watchdog whose courage fighting corruption will be a lasting legacy
Newspaper Section
Ronald J. Bynum: May 7, 1959 - Dec. 2, 2013
Headline Surfer photo / Ron Bynum, an activist and watchdog of local and county government, died Monday, Dec. 2, 2013, at the age of 54. Among his pursuits was legally challenging funding for the News-Journal Center, a project that became a debacle that resulted in the newspaper being sold in federal-court supervised sale and more than half its 800 employees losing their jobs. By Greg Gimbert
Exclusively for Headline Surfer®
DAYTONA BEACH -- While the country was mourning another movie star, Volusia County lost a true local hero, Ron Bynum of Daytona Beach.
How safe are we? Daytona a cesspool of crime under Chief Chitwood
Headline Surfer® snapshot graphic / Crime mapping shows Daytona Beach overrun by crime, especially the heart of the tourism -- the beachside as shown in this image from crimes plotted Jan. 1 through 5 p.m. today, Sunday, Dec. 8.
DAYTONA BEACH -- It seems weekly, the three-year owners of the Daytona Beach News-Journal put out glad-handing stories about tourism and the new hotel rooms that will bring nirvana.
This is the same tired theme we heard a decade ago when the Volusia County Council took the cars off the core-tourism section of the beach so that the developers and marketers of the Ocean Walk and former Adams Mark -- now Daytona Beach Resorts -- could sell prospective time share visitors on having their own private beach.
VCSO: Oak Hill woman arrested on meth charges
Newspaper Section
Photo for Headline Surfer® / Kandas Baker remains incarcerated at the Volusia Country Branch Jail in Daytona Beach on meth lab-related drug charges.OAK HILL -- A 43-year-old Oak Hill woman is facing drug charges after a tip to narcotics agents led to the discovery of a meth lab in her home, an official with the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said.
Agents with the East Volusia Narcotics Task Force responded Monday to Kandas Baker’s home on Bills Hill Road to investigate a complaint about drug activity.
Kaney Waverly probe serves political interests of County Council members Denys, Northey, Patterson & Daniels
Newspaper Section
Duplication of investigations by State Attorney, FBI
Headline Surfer® / The appointment of Jon Kaney as investigator of Waverly bus bench probe for the County Council is something term-limited Council member Pat Northey is looking forward to in hopes of weakening at-large incumbent Joyce Cusack, whose seat she covets in the 20134 elections.DAYTONA BEACH -- The ugliness of Volusia County politics continues to fester in the Frank T. Bruno chambers in DeLand with today's expected coronation of attorney Jonathan Kaney Jr. as the hired gun to investigate the Waverly bus bench advertising scandal, something already well under way with ongoing investigations by the State Attorney's Office and the FBI.
Volusia County spokesman Dave Byron playing spin game
DAYTONA BEACH -- Dave Byron, the mouthpiece of Volusia County, is typical of the arrogance of government that has lost touch on holding the line on spending, and who like so many others, forgets that he works for us -- not the other way around. With a base salary of $123,165, Byron enjoys a comfortable position of 20-plus years as County Manager Jim Dinneen's hatchet man.
SE Volusia ad authority's $70,000 exec. director, operations manager & board chair chow down on public dime
Newspaper Section
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla -- After Southeast Volusia Advertising Authority Chairman Palmer Wilson was removed an unprecedented second time with County Councilwoman Deb Denys imploring her colleagues to "finish this" and getting her way in a 4-3 split vote seen by some as politically-motivated, Wilson's successor, Tom Clapsaddle, ate on the public's dime.
2013: 'Year of the Rat' in Volusia County
DAYTONA BEACH -- Why wait until our year-end Top 100 stories to find out what No. 1 is? Let's get right to it: 2013 will go down in Volusia County as the "Year of the Rat." This was the definitive year for corruption of the public officials in Volusia county and municipal governments.