Volusia News Now

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Four men, on of whom was armed with a handgun, forced their way into a home on Downing Street overnight and robbed two young men, before fleeing, police said.

Here is a synopsis of what happened as described by New Smyrna Beach Police Sgt. Christopher Roos in the 1:30 home invasion at 804 Downing St.: "The initial responding officers were able to ascertain from the victims, Stephen Michael Jackson, 20, and Aramis Arkeem Ponder, 22, that at least four unknown males, one of whom was armed with a handgun, forced entry into the home and demanded money and property belonging to the victims. The suspects later fled the scene with the victims’ property. The scene was secured and turned over to the New Smyrna Beach Investigative Division, who is investigating the incident. The identity of the suspects is still unknown."

Oak Hill averts legal action by disqualifying 2 commission candidates

Courtesy photo / Big John as shown here on his radio station, WELE, and a former member of the Volusia County Council, is a Holly Hill mayoral candidate, after all.

DAYTONA BEACH -- It took a judge's ruling to ensure Big John could run for mayor after the Holly Hill city clerk refused to qualify him.

Circuit Judge Richard Graham ruled in favor of John following a hearing Wednesday in his Daytona Beach courtroom, saying in part that although John hadn't followed proper procedures, his actions weren't flagrant enough to merit being disqualified from running for elective office.

Headline Surfer file photo / Jeff Bracy, shown here from a meeting last summer when he was on the Oak Hill Personnel Board discussing the future of then-Police Chief Diane Young, is now a city commissioner-elect.

OAK HILL -- The city clerk has disqualified two candidates for commission seats because she erred in qualifying them in the first place because their campaign finances were not secured when qualifying officially ended.

Mom steps up to the plate yet again for son in Daytona Beach candidates' forum

Headline Surfer photos by Henry Frederick / Kathy D'Ambra stands in for attorney and former county judge Steve deLaroche, who is running for clerk of the circuit court, at a candidates' forum held by the Daytona Beachside Neighborhood Watch. Seated near her at the podium is the organization's leader, Fred Hechman.

DAYTONA BEACH -- When lawyer and former county judge Steve deLaroche was 5, his parents divorced and he never really saw his father unless is father never really had anything to do with the family unless ordered by the courts. So it seemed natural to him that his mother, now 70, would once again step up to the plate and represent his interests: This time as candidate representative.

DAYTONA BEACH -- The surprise resignation of Volusia County Council member Carl Persis, whose final meeting was a Friday workshop, leads Headline Surfer's weekly online news and public affairs news show, "The Roundtable."

Local family copes with loss of young man on Father's Day weekend

Adam Royce Duke, shown at far left with his sister Danielle on his Facebook page, was struck and killed by a train in Edgewater. A remembrance photo of him with a nephew placed after his Tuesday death on his profile page, describes him as "Son, Brother, Friend."

EDGEWATER -- The man killed after slipping on the railroad tracks while throwing rocks at a train has been identified by cops as 24-year-old Adam Royce Duke.

And a local family remembering the loss of a father now come to grips with the loss of his son, a young man with a life filled with possibilities, on this Father's Day weekend. 

EDGEWATER -- I don't understand why any Democrat, Republican or independent would vote for Obama. With a record such as his, he should not even be running because he has ruined this country.

Headline Surfer photo by Henry Frederick /  Rich Gailey (at left), a candidate for the district 5 seat on the Volusia County representing greater Deltona, criss crosses with Volusia County Sheriff's candidate Wendell Bradford (shown in the inset as well) in front of the Gateway Center for the Arts in DeBary following a candidates' forum held there Tuesday evening.

Melvin Brown Jr., no stranger to prison, faces life behind bars when a judge sentences him to life in prison in the wake of Tuesday's guilty verdict in the shooting death of Jeremy Markley (shown here in the inset photo) whose body was found slumped in an SUV behind an Edgewater bar following a high speed chase through the streets of New Smyrna Beach.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- In just two hours of deliberations today, a jury found Melvin Brown Jr. guilty of first-degree murder in the shotgun slaying of fellow New Smyrna Beach resident Jeremy Markley on July 19, 2009, following a high speed chase with gunfire spraying the lead vehicle.

The jury's swift action paves the way for presiding Circuit Judge Randall Rowe to "adjudicate" Brown a convict and sentence him at a later date to life behind bars. Markley's life was cut shot by Brown's gunfire on of all nights, his 25th birthday.

Brown, having already been in prison for drug trafficking and now 34, is still a young man.