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New Smyrna Beach cops: Morning crash closes stretch of east-bound SR 44 for 6 hours, local motorist critical

Map locator of early morning crash in NSB / Headline Surfer®Bad crash on SR 44 this morning in NSB / Headline Surfer®Photo for Headline Surfer® / SR 44 was finally reopened mid-day today after a crash involving a pick-up and a flatbed near Sugar Mill Drive, just east of the I-95 interchange as shown in the locator map, resulting in a critically injured motorist in the smaller vehicle.
 

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A 37-year-old motorist suffered serious injuries early in the 2600 block of State Road 44 this morning after crashing his Suzuki pick-up truck into the rear of a CMC Steel Fabricators flatbed tractor trailer, which resulted in a stretch of the roadway eastbound being shut down for more than six hours.

County Chair Jason Davis: 3rd stent in wake of heart attack

Ormond bike ride; swim in Daytona Beach surf reminders of life's enjoyments not to be taken for granted

Volusia County Chair Jason Davis had a heart attack / Headline Surfer®Headline Surfer® photos / County Chair Jason Davis shown in the images at left, is back home after suffering a heart attack late Thursday night.
 

DAYTONA BEACH -- County Chair Jason Davis has a newfound appreciation for life -- whether it's strapping on his helmet and riding his Harley up the coastline to enjoy the scenery of the scenic loop in Ormond Beach or diving into the curling waves of the World's Most Famous Beach here in Daytona on a humid Sunday afternoon.

Jury seated for Daytona-area mortgage fraud trial at U.S. District Court in Orlando

Newspaper Section

Openings delayed until Tuesday due to family death on government team

Jim Sotolongo and Ramara Garrett / Headline Surfer®Photo for Headline Surfer® / Ramara Garrett and Jim Sotolongo, along with Stephanie Musselwhite (not pictured here), will stand trial in U.S. District Court Tuesday in Orlando on mortgage fraud charges. The three have pleaded innocent to charges.
 

ORLANDO -- A jury has been seated for the federal trial that begins Tuesday with opening statements by the government and defense attorneys in the Daytona Beach area mortgage fraud case against Jim Sotolongo, Ramara Garrett and Stephanie Musselwhite.

The trial was supposed to begin after the lunch break today, but the judge announced opening statements would begin Tuesday morning after the court was informed a member of lead prosecutor on Tanya Wilson's team had a sudden death in the family.

Opening statements today in Daytona-area mortgage fraud case: No 'knock-knock' jokes

ORLANDO -- As a reporter who has spent the better part of his career covering cops and courts, I look forward to the opening statements because they help set the tone for the trial. Such is the case today in U.S. District Court in Orlando where three people are accused of defrauding banks and lending institutions in multi-million dollar mortgages for homes that ended up in foreclosure.

Transparency lacking in corrupt Volusia County gov't with complicit print media fed taxpayer advertising bucks

DAYTONA BEACH -- Ever notice how everything in traditional print media is portrayed as bigger and better than before? How government leaders tout transparency yet don't return calls when it comes to answering questions about campaign contribution sources?

Over the next several days and weeks, it should become abundantly apparent how corrupt governance is at the county level and even among some municipal governments.

'Perry Mason Moment' in federal court in Orlando favors defendants in Daytona-area mortgage-fraud trial

Fort Lauderdale Attorney defending woman in Jacksonville stand your ground case that made national headlines has fired a torpedo into the fed govt's case here early on

Attorney Bruce Zimet of Fort Lauderdale appears on CNN / represented stand your ground / Headline Surfer®Stephanie Musselwhite / Headline Surfer®Ramara Garrett & Jim Sotolongo of Waverly Media / Headline Surfer®Photos for Headline Surfer® / High-profile defense attorney Bruce Zimet, shown here with CNN's Anderson Cooper is representing Marissa Alexander in an upcoming re-trial ordered after her conviction in 2012, for firing a gun in her estranged husband'sdirection, citing Florida's stand your ground law as a defense. Zimet also is representing Stephanie Musselwhite in the Daytona-area mortgage fraud trial under way in Orlando,  where she and co-defendants Jim Sotolongo and Ramara Garrett, are accused of defrauding several banks.
 

ORLANDO -- Even though she held her own and then some in opening statements to the jury in U.S. District Court in Orlando against three of Florida's top defense attorneys in a complex mortgage fraud trial two days earlier, Thursday was not a good day for prosecutor Tanya Williams.

Did the feds charge the wrong man in the Daytona-area mortgage fraud scheme?

ORLANDO -- Everything looks great on paper in drawing up conspiracy theories in a high-profile trial, especially when it involves the feds who like to use descriptive terms like "mastermind," "raid" and "ring leader."
You've seen know, those middle-aged Clint Eastwood-looking guys like the blue button jackets with the yellow acronym "FBI" letters on the backs, as they walk by TV cameras and newspaper photographers, pretending like they don't see them as they carry boxes of documents and computers from some office complex or warehouse they've raided.

Word on the street in Daytona Beach: 'What does Easter mean to you?'

Question: What does Easter Mean to you?

Jim Oddie of Wilbur-by-the-Sea / Headline Surfer®Respondent:
Jim Oddie
Residence:
Wilbur-by-the-Sea
Response:
"To all of you biblical folks, Passover is the only prescribed Holy Day to be observed. The rest (Easter, Christmas, et. al.) are nothing more than man-made holidays."
 
Kathy Kershaw of Daytona Beach, Fla. on meaning of Easter / Headline Surfer®Respondent:
Kathy Kershaw
Residence:
Daytona Beach
Response:
"A time to reflect on what my faith means to me and a time to spend with family/friends in quiet forgiveness mode."