Local News Now

PORT ORANGE -- A Winter Springs motorcyclist became the fourth Bike Week traffic fatality Monday night in a collision with a car on Dunlawton Avenue at the intersection with North Swallowtail Drive, Port Orange police said.

The biker, Thomas J. Niedziejka, 63, died early this morning, less than eight hours after the crash. The victim was riding his 2012 Harley-Davidson without a helmet westbound on Dunlawton in the center lane when Ruthann K. Mscisz, 68, of Daytona Beach Shores, was turning her 1999 Infiniti 4-door onto Dunlawton after stopping at the intersection and onto Dunlawton, police said.

PIERSON -- A 61-year-old Concord, N.C. man killed Sunday on Bunnell Road just east of Seville when he crashed his Harley-Davidson into a fence, has been identified as Jack Norman, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Norman may have been speeding when he lost control of his 2005 Harley on a curve and left the roadway, the FHP said this morning. After striking the fence, Norman, who was not wearing a helmet, was thrown from the bike, which then caught fire. He was pronounced dead at the scene of the 4:35 p.m. accident. Alcohol may have been a factor, according to an initial highway patrol report This was the first motorcycle fatality in Volusia County since the start of Bike Week 2012, which got under way Friday.

REPORTED HERE FIRST

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Danny Veltri, 27, who rose to national fame as the top chef on the FOX television reality show "Hell's Kitchen" nearly three years ago, was arrested over the weekend at a S.R. 44 gas station on a charge of driving under the influence, according to a New Smyrna Beach police report.

The Ponce Inlet Sea Water Temperature is 70 degrees. The rough and high surf this past week has made it difficult for anglers to attempt to catch fish. However, those defying those difficulties have found rare success with larger than usual pompano, bluefish and whiting.

DAYTONA BEACH -- The Junior League of Daytona Beach, Inc. will host its inaugural 5k aptly called "The best Foot Forward" to be held 8 a.m. Saturday, March 24. The course will wind through the tree-lined streets of LPGA.

For more information, please visit the Junior League of Daytona Beach website at www.JLDB.org.  The proceeds from this fundraiser will benefit the annual Best Foot Forward project.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Ed Schmidt of Pittsburgh is the first to admit he should be wearing a helmet. But he's not. Then again, some revelers aren't wearing much in the way of clothing either.

DAYTONA BEACH SHORES -- There were 10 state Republican primaries and caucuses held on Super Tuesday. The media insists that the only one that really matters is Ohio.