Local News Now

Leaves behind anchor grind to spend more time with family while battling depression

ORLANDO -- When she first hit the TV airwaves more than a decade ago, she was Lauren Perkins. Then she got married. But it didn't take WKMG Local 6 followers long to match the name Lauren Rowe with the familiar face and reassuring voice.

Planning board member who pleaded no contest to trying to buy cocaine could run for commission 

Headline Surfer® photos / Mired in personal tax debts, New Smyrna Bech Mayor Adam  arringer, shown at far left, is not seeking a third term in the 2014 elections. Zone 1 Commissioner Judy Reiker is running for a second term. Newcomer Jacob Sachs, shown in the inset, is running for the seat Grasty is vacating.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- For the first time in its history, New Smyrna Beach could see three candidates lay claim to seats on the City Commission without opposition with the clock ticking ever so closer to the end of qualifying. This follows the trend of the 2012 election when two seats went uncontested.

OAK HILL -- The Lions Club has and continues to provide eyeglasses and hearing aids to many Oak Hill residents who otherwise would have a hard time coming up with the money to pay for these vital devices, according to the City Clerk's Office at Oak Hill City Hall.

DELAND -- A 57-year-old apparently drunken man was run over and killed Friday night by a large SUV apparently after he stopped walking while in the middle of North Woodland Boulevard to drink a beer, cops said.

Here's a synopsis of what happened at 8:37 p.m. in the 1000 block of North Woodland as described by DeLand police officer TJ Petralla in a press release sent to HeadlineSurfer®: "Per witnesses on scene: "A 57-year-old male, believed to be intoxicated, walked westbound from the Sunoco gas station in a dark area of the roadway and crossed over the concrete median. He then walked west into the inside southbound lane where a witness states he stopped in the middle of that lane and began drinking a beer."

13-year-old Mary Horton won the Orlando Sentinel's district contest to make nationals

Here is a link to the Orlando Sentinel's story on Mary Horton and the National Spelling Bee headlined, 'Central Florida speller out after making top 12 at National Bee: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/education/os-spelling-bee-orlando-champ-20140529,0,2544428.story.

MELBOURNE -- As reported by the Orlando Sentinel, 13-year-old Mary Horton of West Melbourne spelled her way into the finals of the National Spelling Bee on Thursday in National Harbor, Md., but she finished in a tie for fifth and finished among the top 12 contestants overall after flubbing the word "aetites."

So how long will the print daily take to report that 2012 County Council candidate Justin Kennedy is challenging incumbent Deb Denys?

The Daytona Beach News-Journal is finally reporting that New Smyrna Beach Mayor Adam Barringer is not seeking re-election as shown here at left, but has yet to report that Justin Kennedy of Edgewater, shown at far right filed paperwork way back on May 19 to challenge District 3 County Councilwoman Deb Denys in the upcoming elections.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Here's a headline shocker from the Daytona Beach News-Journal on its stellar campaign coverage: "New Smyrna Mayor Adam Barringer won’t seek re-election."

Headline Surfer® graphic / Rocco Park, 2490 Sunset Drive, shown here at left, is where the body of a woman was found early Tuesday.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The body of a woman was found this morning at a city park in Turnbull Bay, New Smyrna Beach cops said.

The discovery was made just after 6 a.m. at the park, located at 2490 Sunset Drive, Master Sgt. Eugene Griffith said in a press release, adding her death may have resulted from a drug overdose. Her name or age was not released.

An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday to try nd determine the manner and cause of death.