Local News Now

SANFORD, Fla. -- SunRail trains are operating on a normal schedule with the Columbus Day holiday on Monday, with 34 regularly-scheduled train trips per day, a DOT spokesman said.

"As usual, the first train leaves Sanford at 5:06 a.m. and the last stop of the day is in DeBary at 10:18 p.m.," Florida Department of Transportstion regional spokesman Steve Olson said.

Please check www.sunrail.com for the schedule and regular pricing options.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Then-Winter Park Vice Mayor and City Commissioner Karen Diebel talked up Democratic Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas of New Smyrna Beach as though she was her only real opponent in the 2010 elections, but in doing so, she perhaps under-estimated the strength of her own GOP party rival, Sandy Adams.

Big mistake!

Teen girl hasn't been seen or heard from since Saturday

ENTERPRISE, Fla. -- The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s help in finding 17-year-old runaway Charise Torres.

Charise took off on Saturday night from the Florida United Methodist Children’s Home in Enterprise and hasn't been seen or heard from since by her caregivers, authorities said.

"While she isn’t believed to be in any danger, Charise is on medication for a diagnosed medical condition," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson told Headline Surfer® on Tuesday. "Because of her condition, authorities are anxious to find Charise to make sure she’s O.K. and receives necessary medical care."

Sheriff's spokesman: Ankle monitoring device found in Burger King bathroom

DELTONA, Fla. -- The search has ended for an inmate who failed to return to the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach after a court-authorized furlough to attend a funeral over the weekend.

Andrew Rodriguez, 27, was captured at 11:01 p.m. Monday after an anonymous call led Sheriff’s deputies to his whereabouts.

"Late Monday night, a tip received through Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida led deputies to the house on Evergreen Avenue," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson told Headline Surfer® this morning shortly after his capture.

"Just as deputies were heading into the house to search for Rodriguez, he bolted out of a side door and was quickly captured without offering resistance."

Incumbent has never lost an election & plans to keep that streak intact Nov. 4

DAYTONA BEACH -- At-large Councilwoman Joyce Cusack knew the so-called Waverly investigation was a farce -- a certifiable "witchhunt" -- from the onset pushed by the likes of her opponent, district 5 term-limited Councilwoman Patricia Northey.

Native son hoping to follow in late father's footsteps as municipal leader

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The time has come for an experienced community leader to take the reigns in New Smyrna Beach and right the ship that has run aground, especially in the last couple of years. That leader is none other than Jim Hathaway.

With that said, Headline Surfer® wholly endorses Hathaway for mayor of New Smyrna Beach in the Nov. 4 general elections over City Commissioner and former colleague Jack Grasty.

The taxpayers of the city by the sea have been hit with an increase in taxes for the new fiscal year that began Wednesday, following a tax increase last year as well. This is unacceptable in a city known for its charm that has a large bloc of seniors on fixed incomers and working class families struggling to put food on the table.

Headline Surfer® videos / The internet newspaper held public candidate debates in Oak Hill in June.

OAK HILL -- Kathy Bittle, a native of Oak Hill, who has been on the City Commission for eight years, is the endorsed candidate of Headline Surfer® in the Nov. 4 elections,  for two reasons: Her experience on the dais and her consistent community commitment away from City Hall, too.

Councilwoman gets into innuendo involving former Deltona city attorney & current School Board district 3 candidate George Trovato

DAYTONA BEACH -- In what has already become a public embarrassment for Volusia County described from the onset as a political "witch hunt" and a "money grab,"  the so-called “Waverly investigation” is catching even more unsuspecting victims. Take Volusia County District 3 School Board George Trovato, for example, courtesy of County Councilwoman Patricia Northey.

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- A Ponte Vedra man man was killed Friday evening after a wheel flew off a tractor-trailer and bounced across the median of Interstate 95 before crashing through his windshield and causing him to wreck, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Photo for Headline Surfer® /

ORMOND BEACH -- State Rep. Charles Dave Hood, Jr., former mayor of Ormond Beach, will be sworn in Friday as a circuit judge at the Ormond Beach Performing Arts Center, l399 N. U.S. 1.

His "investiture" will begin at 3:30 p.m. with his colleagues on the bench sitting as a group as he takes the oath of office for the judgeship in the 7th Judicial Circuit.