Headline Surfer photo by Henry Frederick / Former Ponce Inlet Mayor Nancy Epps, shown here, is challenging first-term dist. 2 Volusia County Council member Joshua Wagner in the Nov. 6 general elections.  

PORT ORANGE -- Challenger Nancy Epps and incumbent dist. 2 Volusia County Council member Joshua Wagner have each committed to participating in a public debate sponsored by Headline Surfer leading up to the Nov. 6 general elections.

Epps, who finished second to Wagner in the Aug. 14 primary in a three-way contest to force the run-off said she's looking forward to debating the issues.

Google map / An Avon Park boy, 17, drowned Friday in the surf off New Smyrna Beach.

night NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The body of a 17-year-old Highlands County boy was recovered early this evening in the surf off New Smyrna Beach, the Orlando Sentinel and several other print newspapers reported in their online sites.

The body of the Avon Park teen was found just after 7 p.m. Capt. Tammy Marris of the Beach Patrol told the newspaper, adding he had been swimming with friends in area with no lifeguards when he went under about 4:30 p.m. The boy's name was not be released because authorities were in the process of contacting his family.

Headline Surfer, based in New Smyrna Beach as NSBNews.net, was not notified of the boy's disapperance or the recovery of his body by Volusia County officials. Messages left with Marris and Volusia County spokesman Dave Byron went unanswered.

DEBARY -- I have to admit this year was the first time I watched the big speeches at the DNC. Normally I just watch the highlights of the speeches on cable news channels or the Internet.

EDGEWATER -- I don’t understand why we allow Americans to be employed in embassies in volatile countries without better protection. ABC News with Diane Sawyer recently showed diagrams of the compound where we lost four American lives and how poorly they were protected.

Even the so called safe house which was far behind the outside walls was broken and burned. They didn’t have a place to go until help could arrive.

Headline Surfer videos produced by Serafina Frederick / Our panelists take a critical look at the successes and failures at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

Say hello to Alyssa Bellows of Ormond Beach. She's a model who loves to surf. She's also an Aquarius.

Headline Surfer images from Google News Directories for New Smyrna Beach /

The first anniversary of New Smyrna Beach Mayor Adam Barringer's marriage to Shannon Sumner on the beach with a spin on the topless photo flap involving royals William and Kate was the most visited story Wednesday on Headline Surfer. The story is in the third main news rotator. Here is a link for quicker access: http://headlinesurfer.com/content/410137-new-smyrna-beachs-royal-couple-celebrates-1-year-anniversary

The initial general election campaign story of dist. 8 State Senate candidate Frank Bruno, featuring his embedded TV commercial,

Liberal newspapers, media pundits and others of the loony left have had a field day because -- ta dah -- Mitt Romney told the truth. They have unearthed a secret video and splashed it all over the Internet.

They are furious and not holding back. This from NewsMax quoting New York Times columnist David Brooks who “called Romney's economic vision "a country-club fantasy." What? Get an education? Get a job? Own a home? Plan for the future? Be self-sufficient, reliable? Of course not. Those goals aren’t part of Obama’s plan for America.

Flashback: Mayor Adam Barringer weds Shannon Sumner on the beach

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- They aren't in the same league as William and Kate when it comes to royalty. Then again, they don't have to deal with global attention to Kate's topless beach photos.

Adam Barringer and his wife, Shannon Sumner-Barringer, are as royal as it gets around here. After all, Barringer is the face of New Smyrna Beach as mayor, newly re-elected without opposition.