Volusia News Now

Fort Lauderdale Attorney defending woman in Jacksonville stand your ground case that made national headlines has fired a torpedo into the fed govt's case here early on

Photos for Headline Surfer® / High-profile defense attorney Bruce Zimet, shown here with CNN's Anderson Cooper is representing Marissa Alexander in an upcoming re-trial ordered after her conviction in 2012, for firing a gun in her estranged husband'sdirection, citing Florida's stand your ground law as a defense. Zimet also is representing Stephanie Musselwhite in the Daytona-area mortgage fraud trial under way in Orlando,  where she and co-defendants Jim Sotolongo and Ramara Garrett, are accused of defrauding several banks.

ORLANDO -- Even though she held her own and then some in opening statements to the jury in U.S. District Court in Orlando against three of Florida's top defense attorneys in a complex mortgage fraud trial two days earlier, Thursday was not a good day for prosecutor Tanya Williams.

Openings delayed until Tuesday due to family death on government team

Photo for Headline Surfer® / Ramara Garrett and Jim Sotolongo, along with Stephanie Musselwhite (not pictured here), will stand trial in U.S. District Court Tuesday in Orlando on mortgage fraud charges. The three have pleaded innocent to charges.

ORLANDO -- A jury has been seated for the federal trial that begins Tuesday with opening statements by the government and defense attorneys in the Daytona Beach area mortgage fraud case against Jim Sotolongo, Ramara Garrett and Stephanie Musselwhite.

The trial was supposed to begin after the lunch break today, but the judge announced opening statements would begin Tuesday morning after the court was informed a member of lead prosecutor on Tanya Wilson's team had a sudden death in the family.

Ormond bike ride; swim in Daytona Beach surf reminders of life's enjoyments not to be taken for granted

Headline Surfer® photos / County Chair Jason Davis shown in the images at left, is back home after suffering a heart attack late Thursday night.

DAYTONA BEACH -- County Chair Jason Davis has a newfound appreciation for life -- whether it's strapping on his helmet and riding his Harley up the coastline to enjoy the scenery of the scenic loop in Ormond Beach or diving into the curling waves of the World's Most Famous Beach here in Daytona on a humid Sunday afternoon.

Photo for Headline Surfer® / SR 44 was finally reopened mid-day today after a crash involving a pick-up and a flatbed near Sugar Mill Drive, just east of the I-95 interchange as shown in the locator map, resulting in a critically injured motorist in the smaller vehicle.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A 37-year-old motorist suffered serious injuries early in the 2600 block of State Road 44 this morning after crashing his Suzuki pick-up truck into the rear of a CMC Steel Fabricators flatbed tractor trailer, which resulted in a stretch of the roadway eastbound being shut down for more than six hours.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- So much has been written about the Undertaker’s streak ending at Wrestlemania XXX, and to of all wrestlers, Brock Lesnar, as if that was some kind of letdown. 

Kevin Harvick shot past Dale Earnhardt, Jr. under rhe lights in overtime Saturday night to take the checkered flag for his first win in the Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

Headline Surfer® photo by Henry Frederick / Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry is shown here on the dais at Daytona Beach City Hall Commission Chambers after he was sworn as the face of city government after his win in the 2012 elections.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Derrick Henry, a Daytona Beach native, was sworn in as mayor of the City of Daytona Beach on Nov. 14, 2012, after garnering 55.5 percent of the vote in the general election over then-fellow City Commissioner Edith Shelley.

Midway through his first four-year terrm, Henry is the city’s 21st mayor since 1926, when the towns of Seabreeze, Daytona and Daytona Beach merged into one city. Henry is Daytona Beach’s second African-American mayor after the late Yvonne Scarlett-Golden. She was first elected as mayor in 2003 and again in 2005.

Headline Surfer® video / Check out the watermelon-eating contest at last year'a Oak Hill RiverFest,  the premier Spring event in the family-friendly city.

OAK HILL -- Wherever Linda Hyatt goes these days, whether it's the post office, the Burns Sci-Tech Charter School or her old stomping grounds at City Hall, this community is abuzz over the upcoming RiverFest at Mary DeWees Park.