Volusia News Now

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Subtropical Storm Beryl is dumping lots of rain along from Florida coastline on this Sunday afternoon.

Volusia County Emergency Management officials are in constant contact with the National Weather Service out of Melbourne for the latest on Beryl. As of 11:30 a.m. Sunday, the forecast track showed Beryl making landfall in northeast Florida late Sunday. with 45 mph winds and moderate rain fall. The possibility exists for Volusia County to experience 25 to 35 mph winds with gusts up to 45 mph., county spokeswoman Joanne Magley said.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Votran will operate a limited service schedule Memorial Day. Riders are encouraged to plan the holiday travel in advance, county spokeswoman Michelle Coats said.

"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
 -- George Orwell

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- My blood boiled when a friend recently forwarded me a story sent to him by a progressive-liberal friend. It was about a campaign theme that some Republican operatives were trying to get the Romney staff to sanction.

DAYTONA BEACH SHORES -- With the August conventions fast approaching, President Obama must soon decide whether to keep Joe Biden as his vice president or shift to Hillary Clinton. I think that the odds favor a change.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-FL, issued the following statement regarding the historic SpaceX mission:

“Congratulations to SpaceX for its successful launch and today’s berthing with the International Space Station. This is a historic milestone for space exploration and an important achievement for the commercial space industry."

“Congratulations to SpaceX for its successful launch and today’s berthing with the International Space Station. This is a historic milestone for space exploration and an important achievement for the commercial space industry."

Rubio continued, "We no longer live in a world where space is only explored by government agencies, and we should all take pride that an American company is the first to accomplish this mission. I know that Floridians look forward to working with NASA and our commercial partners as they continue to prove their capabilities.”

Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) made history when its Dragon spacecraft became the first commercial vehicle in history to successfully attach to the International Space Station. Previously only four governments – the United States, Russia, Japan and the European Space Agency – had achieved this challenging technical feat.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The circumstances of the body of an 18-year-old South American flight student turning up in the parking lot of Bert Fish Medical Center is unexplained, New Smyrna Beach police said. The body was found 5:30 p.m. in the hospital parking lot, 401 Palmetto St., by a passerby, police said.

Cops had gone to Epic Aviation Flight Academy, 600 Skyline Drive, at the New Smyrna Beach Municipal Airport just before noon Thursday in response to a missing person's report two days earlier.

The young man's cause of death and circumstances of his body ending up in the hospital parking lot are part of an ongoing investigation, police said.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Volusia County Council seat 3 candidate Deb Denys has embraced new tools in helping her get the word out: Internet news and social media.

"The electronic media is where readers are getting their news," Denys said. "I'm getting my message where people are sharing ideas and that's on sites like Facebook and Headline Surfer."

DELAND -- The Volusia County Council will meet with the DeLand City Commission to discuss phase two of the SunRail project, which extends commuter rail service to the DeLand Amtrak station. The meeting will be at 9 a.m. Friday, June 15, in the second-floor training room of the Historic Courthouse, 125 W. New York Ave., DeLand.

The elected officials will review the latest concept for development around the station that was proposed in the “Transit-Oriented Development Workshop Sketchbook,” completed in summer 2011. The public is invited to attend the workshop, and public participation will be permitted. For more information, please call the County Manager’s Office at 386-736-5920.