Local News Now

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A man charged with being disorderly after being picked up on Flagler Avenue overnight was transported to Halifax Medical Center for a psychiatric evaluation after trying to hang himself in a holding cell, police said.

NSBNEWS.net videos by Sera Frederick. Throughout the course of the late afternoon and the overnight hours Thursday, some 10,000 bikers partied at Pub 44 for the State Road 44 bar's signature Bike Week event, the vaunted "Bike Bash," which included not only the destruction of a vintage Japanese motorcycle, in this case a rusty 1976 Honda 360, but live performances by two classic rock bands, West Palm Beach-based L3-16 and New Smyrna Beach's own "Scared Straight."

WARNING: There is some raw language in the second video.

NSBNEWS.net photos by Henry Frederick and Sera Frederick.

At far left, Pub 44 bartender Kelly West, 40, is proud of her assets. In the middle, a Honda is sacrificed with flames. At right, Pub 44 General Manager Kevin Hannah chats with waitress Cassie Welander, 19.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Sex, fire and rock and roll. What more could you ask for after a turnout of 10,000 partying bikers? Not a thing as far as Pub 44 General Manager Kevin Hannah was concerned and all smiles as the night wore on.

WARNING: Some might find content in this video less than savory.

NSBNEWS.net photo and video by Sera Frederick. Heather Spears, of Samsula, walks away victorious from the Cabbage Patch wrestling coleslaw pit to keep her four-year winning streak alive. The raunch-fest drew 15,000 bikers, according to Ron Luzner, owner of Sopotnick's Cabbage Patch.

SAMSULA -- This was raunchier than World Wrestling Entertainment's "Monday Night Raw," with Samsula's own Heather Spears laying the smackdown on her opponents in the coleslaw Cabbage Patch pit to the delight of 15,000 bikers.

Welcome to Bike Week's underbelly where mother lodes are worshiped as divas of the reeking oil-drenched cabbage that slides off along with what little hey have on to begin with, though some in the crowd actually preferred they'd keep it on.

Courtesy photo / Volusia County. A Votran bus heads west on Canal Street in New Smyrna Beach in this photo. The county is looking at possible route cuts for New Smyrna Beach and Pierson to overcome o $2.6 million shortfall in revenue.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The great thing about living in sleepy New Smyrna Beach is the escape from the sprawl of the more urban Daytona Beach. The payoff may be tougher to swallow, though for residents here like a young man named "Rich" who is is on disability and relies on the public transportation of Votran buses to get around the county.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A 28-year-old Michigan biker was arrested Wednesday night on a charge of reckless driving after he and three others on sport bikes were "clocked at a high rate of speed" on State Road 415 near S.R. 44, according to an online District 5 Sheriff's report summary.

Courtesy photo. Calling hours are planned today and a funeral service tomorrow in Conneaut, Ohio, for Linda M. Lockwood, 46, who was killed Sunday in a Bike Week-related motorcycle accident in New Smyrna Beach.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Calling hours are planned today in the small Ohio community of Conneaut for Linda M. Lockwood, Bike Week's first fatality last Sunday when she was thrown from the back of a friend's Harley-Davidson when two motorcycles going in the same direction touched in the 1500 block of South Atlantic Avenue near 5th Avenue on the beachside.

Courtesy photo/Jail mug. Richard Cintron, 32, of New York, is charged with stealing a motorcycle and operating a chop shop in a house rental in New Smyrna Beach.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A local law enforcement task force combating motorcycle thefts during Bike Week arrested a New York man Tuesday., A Volusia County Sheriff's spokesman said.

Richard Cintron, 32, is accused of stealing a motorcycle and dismantling it to use its parts on his own motorcycle. He was charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle and operating a chop shop. The stripped down bike and a second stolen bike were found in a New Smyrna Beach house that he rented for Bike Week.

WASHINGTON -- Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas, D-New Smyrna Beach (FL-24), testified Wednesday before the House Budget Committee about the President's Obama's proposed NASA budget and called for an additional $1.2 billion over the president's request for FY 2011 to continue flying the Space Shuttle.

Courtesy photo. Grayce K.  Barck, 82, past president of the North Beach Neighborhood Association, former teacher and active for many years in NSB politics, including a run for the City Commission, has died.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Grayce K. Barck, a pillar in the community for her neighhood leadership in North Beach and a longtime political insider who once ran for a city commission seat, has died. She was 82.

Barck succumbed Monday at the Southeast Volusia Care Center of Hospice of Volusia/Flagler.

News of her death gave supporters and opponents reason to pause and pay their respects.

NSBNEWS.net photos by Henry Frederick. At left, April Perreault, a Bike Week bartender at Pub 44 in New Smyrna Beach, gets hit on by 90 percent of her customers, even though there are fewer of them than in year's past, as the overall presence of bikers for the annual rally centered around greater Daytona Beach is down in part to the economy and the weather. In the second photo, a vintage Harley chopper stands out from the other bikes at Pub 44.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- April Perreault makes a decent wage as a supervisor of an auditing company overseeing convenience stores. She makes plenty as a bartender during Bike Week, especially tips, even though attendance so far is down from previous years, with the motorcycle rally entering its 6th day with four to go.

And while the crowds are down, biker fatalities are rising with a second death early Tuesday in DeLeon Springs, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.