Local News Now

June 20, 2009: Robert T. Bogosta Jr. and Amy D. Perin, Edgewater.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Even as the country endures a nasty recession, James Pendleton had no problem opening up his wallet and paying about 30 bucks for food and drinks for himself and his two young girls at Thursday's Seaside Fiesta on Flagler Avenue.

Courtesy photo/The Observer. Father Francis Browne, pastor at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in New Smyrna Beach, died Thursday. He was 66.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH – Father Francis Browne's love of the priesthood was unquestioned as was his favorite hobby: Fishing.

As first reported by The Observer newspaper, Browne, pastor of Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in New Smyrna Beach since 2003, suffered a massive heart attack Thursday that resulted in his death while fishing with a friend, Paul Arnold of Edgewater, in Mosquito Lagoon near the Canaveral National Seashore when he was stricken in the boat. Browne was 66.

Washington, DC -- Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas, D-New Smyrna Beach, defended NASA's human spaceflight program and the thousands of Central Florida jobs it supports by voting today against drastic cuts to exploration funding.

Kosmas, the first-tem congresswoman representing the 24th district, voted no on the FY 2010 Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations bill, which provides only $3.3 billion for exploration, $670 million less than the President Obama's budget request.

June 18, 2009: Michael R. Wade and Neaka M. Warren, Edgewater; Christopher J. Sabella and Samantha A. Burch, Oak Hill.

Margaret A. Patterson, 89, New Smyrna Beach, a former housekeeper, died Tuesday, June 16, 2009.

Basil Arch, 89, of Edgewater, a self-employed automotive shop owner, died Saturday, June 13, 2009.

Courtesy photo. Robert Herron, a 53-year-old homelesss man from DeLand was in surgery today for a knife wound to his chest. He was found in a wooded area outside the Edgewater city limits with a knife sticking out of his chest.

EDGEWATER -- A 53-year-old homeless DeLand man was found stabbed in the chest, with the knife still stuck in him last night, the Volusia Sheriff's Office reported, adding he remains hospitalized in stable condition today.

Edgewater Police initially responded to the call and found Robert Herron on the ground along the 3200 block of South Ridgewood Avenue, heavily bleeding and the knife in his chest, Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla -- Retaliation by burning a man's home for a stolen bicycle has landed a 21-year-old Edgewater man in prison for 25 years.

NSB News.net photos by Henry Frederick. Observer newspaper Editor Robert Burns wrote in his weekly column this week about an incident that occurred on the roof of his office that landed a New Smyrna Beach man in the hospital in critical condition. See the story already posted on our Web site regarding the circumstances that led to 32-year-old Adrian Fair, falling off the roof Tuesday night and having to be airlifted with critical head injuries while playing on the roof with a skateboard. At left, Burns points to the roof and the fall. Below, Burns shows how the victim and his friends got on the roof.