2011 Top Stories

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Realtor Tom Alcorn bought the New Smyrna Beach Observer off the scrap heap of federal bankruptcy for $2,500 and re-opened it as a monthly, publishing 18 issues, but as the year 2014 drew to a close,  the paper was dead again.

Alcorn hired Tiffany Evers, who studied journalism in college as his editor, but the Observer never really got on track in terms of substantive reporting and lacked a credible distribution network. As a result, it officially ceased operations on Dec. 31, 2014.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Buster Graham and Chase Elliott got into it early in the Lucas Oil 200 Arca race at Daytona Internatiobnal Speedway, and in the procress, collected 15 cars.

And while team members from both racing crews were involvrd in a post-race skirmish, Grant Enfinger celebrated his first win at Daytona and his his third career victory in the stock car series.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Bikers have come to Daytona Beach for decades hoping to see someone riding in on that one-of-a-kind motorcycle truly stands out in the crowd. The head turner.

And there's no better representation than that of the red, white & blue: The Captain America chopper from the 1969 counter-culture hippie biker movie, "Easy Rider," starring Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Kyle Busch edged Timothy Peters at the line by a race-record .016 seconds to win the 2014 NextEra Energy Resources 250 truck race at Daytona International Speedway during February's Speedweeks, leading up to the Daytona 500.

BUNNELL, Fla. -- Michael Gerard Stavris II, a sergeant with the Bunnell police force who stands 6 foot 3 and weighs in excess of 400 pounds, was arrested on child solicitation charges March 25, 2014, allegedly passing himself of as a provacative under-age teen gal on Facebook to try and hook up with teen boys.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement charged the 30-year-old Palm Coast resident with two counts of computer pornography and child exploitation and one count of criminal use of personal identification information.

Acting on a tip, in December of 2013,  FDLE agents began investigating allegations in December 2013, and soon thereafter gathered evidence they claim showed Stavris created a fraudulent Facebook account posing as a teenage girl.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Some 400 swimmers were stung by jellyfish over the weekend of Aug 23-24 at the World's Most Famous Beach in Daytona and extending south to Ponce Inlet and New Smyrna Beach.

Fortunately, lifeguards had plenty of vinegar on hand to treat the stings. The stings occurred both Saturday and Sunday according to the Volusia County Lifeguard Corps, which flew purple and yellow "pest" flags to warn swimmers about the presence of jellyfish in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Jellyfish deliver an uncomfortable sting through tiny venomous barbs on their tentacles. The sting often causes burning, itching and swelling around the site of the injury, according to the Mayo Clinic medical website.

DAYTONA BEACH -- The continuing violence that has gripped this city for the better part of a decade now continued on a hot Friday night in July with a woman plunging a large steak knife into the upper chest of a friend in her bedroom.

Cops who responded to a 9-1-1 call at a residence at 847 North St in the heart of this tourism city that is home to Daytona International Speedway and the "World's Most Famous Beach®" found the deceased 60-year-old woman with the mortal wound clearly visible. She apparently pulled the knife out of her own chest and then died, homicide detectives said of the July 11 killing.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla -- It's a new era in space flight with the Dec. 5 launch of the Orion spacecraft from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral.

NASA’s Orion spacecraft launched successfully atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket at 7:05 a.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station here in Central Florida.

Photos for Headline Surfer® /

PORT ORANGE, Fla. -- Larry McKinney, ex-president and CEO of the Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce, withdrew from the November 2014 runoff for a seat on the Port Orange City Council, even though he finished second among four candidates in the August primary.

McKinney's surprise exit just three weeks before the runoff allowed primary winner Scott Stiltner to the district 4 seat on the Port Orange City Council.