Archive

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- If you pay attention to what is going on in your mind, you will find that there is a near-constant stream of chatter.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Event sponsorships and participant registration are still available for Neighbor To Family, Inc.’s second annual “Sibling Stampede 5K Fun Walk/Run” at Sun Splash Park on Saturday, with proceeds helping improve the lives of sibling foster children in the organization’s care. 

Spokeswoman: Cars not banned in driving zones despite some TV media reports, though during high tides some ramps will be closed for a couple hours midday

Headline Surfer® / This snapshot from the Volusia County website beach cam for Daytona shows cars on this Sunday morning.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Despite what was reported Saturday night on several Orlando TV stations, Volusia County's beaches are open today and Monday, a beach safety spokeswoman told Headline Surfer® this morning.

"There have been reports that we will be closed to driving for the holiday weekend, Beach Safety Ocean Rescue Capt. Tamra Marris told Headline Surfer®, but quickly added, "That is not true. Volusia County Beach Safety will be open most of the day Sunday and Monday to beach driving. However, we will have to close to driving during high tide conditions midday for only a couple hours which is typical." 

Best way to avoid getting in trouble in surf: Swim in front of a lifeguard 

Headline Surfer® video / It's a changing of the (life) guard at mid-afternoon Friday in this scene setter on the beach off the International Speedway Bouleard approach in Daytona Beach.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Always be aware of your surroundings while on the beach, especially in the surf, with rip currents on this holiday weekend. It's a good idea to swim in front of a lifeguard in case you get into trouble in the choppy waves.

Parents, & adults: Keep small children in front of you where you can see them at all times

And parents, granfdparents and other adults responsinle for small children. Always keep them in front of you where you can see them. Little ones, especially toddlers, love to chase the birds and often they aren't paying attention to what is around them, including motor vehicles in the drive zones.

These are perhaps the two greatest tips to offer for a safe beach experience on this Labor Day weekend that typically represents the end of summer.

Headline Surfer® video / Danger Zone: Little ones play in water's edge. Notice how close the little boy in the video a toddler, no older than 2 or 3, comes to the passing vehicles while pushing his giant Tonka truck across the wet sand. Though he never leaves the water's edge  in the minute and 53 seconds of this video clip.

EDGEWATER -- I can’t believe the people of Volusia County have voted Deb Denys in again as county council member for district 3 representing New Smyrna Beach, Edgewater, Oak Hill and part of Port Orange, Osteen and Lake Helen. After all she and her cohorts have done and are still doing behind everyone’s back, funded by the big wigs who run the county or think they do with their money, and still she gets re-elected?

HOLLY HILL -- John Penny won the race for mayor outright in the primary.

John Penny Aug. 27
From your new Mayor, John Penny: I would like to thank the hundreds of people and community leaders who supported my campaign and share my vision for a bright future for Holly Hill. I owe a special Thank You to my family for supporting my campaign. It is especially gratifying to have prevailed. A three-way race poses particular mathematical challenges, so I appreciate the confidence of the voters and the fact that they voted in numbers great enough to settle the contest outright. I share their passion for Holly Hill and look forward to working together with them to improve our infrastructure, pursue positive growth and compete in the economic development arena.

Headline Surfer® photo / Volusia County GOP Party Chairman Tony Ledbetter (in orange shirt) is shown Friday at the recount for the at-large County Council race, hours before he was tossed for complaining about what he perceived as the slow pace of things while paying $300 an hour for an attorney. The race was non-partisan.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Tony Ledbetter, the chairman of the Republican Party of Volusia County, was escorted out of the canvassing board's voter recount in the at-large County Council race late Friday at the historic Volusia County Courthouse in DeLand by a Sheriff's deputy, Headline Surfer® has learned.

Headline Surfer® graphic / Labor Day turned tragic with the drowing of a 20-month-old boy in  swimming pool on Ferendina Drive in Deltona as shown in this locator map.

DELTONA -- The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office received a frantic 911 call at 7:45 p.m. about a lifeless baby boy, only 20 months old, being pulled out of a relatives' swimming pool at a in thre 1300 block of  Ferendina Drive on this Labor Day evening.

"Adults at the scene were attempting CPR while awaiting the arrival of deputies and paramedics, but they reported that the child wasn’t responding," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson told Headline Surfer®. "Emergency units began arriving at the house about two minutes after the call was received."