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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Gov. Rick Scott today removed the word "acting" from the job description for Dr. Celeste Philip, the state surgeon general and secretary of the Florida Department of Health.

Philip has served as Florida's acting surgeon general since March. She's also a one-time assistant director of the Volusia County Health Department.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The race for the face of Volusia County government has gotten ramped up with the driving force behind keeping cars on the beach seeking the chairmanship of the County Council in the 2016 elections.

Greg Gimbert, leader of the political action committee, Let Volusia Vote, joins an already-crowded field for the lead post on the seven-member elected body that sits on the dais of the Frank T. Bruno Jr. County Council chambers in DeLand.

DELAND, Fla. -- The DeLand Planning Board meets 5 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall, 120 S. Florida Ave. For more information, please call 386-626-7000.

DELAND, Fla. -- The next installment of the Volusia County Sheriff's Office's 90-minute "Coffee With A Cop" program is scheduled for 8 a.m. Friday at the McDonald's restaurant in the Brandywine Plaza just north of the DeLand city limits.

The 2-year-old program is part of a national initiative to further dialogue between law enforcement and citizens without heavy lectures or hidden agendas.

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Often times, running for elected office becomes convoluted in numbers.

Consider the candidacy of State Attorney R.J. Larizza was returned to office for a third consecutive four-year term at high noon Friday in the Seventh Judicial Circuit when qualifying ended and he had no challengers. 

Third, four, seventh -- that's a mishmash of numbers that help define the office sought, such as the length of time and jurisdiction. But here's a number that perhaps is most impactful for this particular office: $116,379. 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Looks like the Hard Rock Hotel – you know, the project that was billed as a panacea for every problem facing Volusia County from beachside blight to head lice – has been “put on hold” for the foreseeable future.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Karen A. Holbrook, Ph.D., became the interim president of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University on Monday replacing John Johnson, who retired.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Forough B. Hosseini, along with Mark Geallas and Jim Dinneen, are the three big stakeholders who have worked tirelessly to make "Hope Place" a true reality for homeless families with kids and for teens without parents or a place to live, but enrolled in school.

And they have done so without the ugliness of political bickering or one upmanship.