Top 100 SE Volusia County Stories of 2009

Originally posted Sat, 2009-07-04 01:13

NSBNEWS.net photo by Sera Frederick (far left); Volusia Branch Jail booking mug (near left). George Fred Heise, 77, of New Smyrna Beach, poses for the camera during the Kiwanis Club's fundraiser "Strike it Rich" earlier this year. Heise, a member of Kiwanis and former commissioner and chairman of the New Smyrna Beach Utilities Commission in the early 1990s, was charged in early July  with prowling/loitering and resisting arrest without violence, accused of peeping at a neighbor while hiding in her bushes.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- George Fred Heise has spent his adult life in charitable works and community service, including the chairmanship of the New Smyrna Beach Utilities Commission, and in recent years, helping to raise money for charitable causes with the Kiwannis Club of Southeast Volusia. So his arrest Wednesday night on charges of peeping into a neighbor's home from behind her bushes comes as a shocker, even to Heise, who said that was not his intention.

Originally posted Fri, 2009-06-19 23:14

Photo by Piotr Zabinski. Ryszard Zabinski, son of the heroic Warsaw zookeepers in his Warsaw apartment, is the subject of a new movie documentary, "Safe Haven, the Warsaw Zoo," by local producers Richard and Gary Lester and Charlie Carlson.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- "Safe Haven, the Warsaw Zoo" the latest Holocaust documentary from Blue Heron International Pictures, has become a blockbuster hit around the world since its release last March.

Posted Sat, 2009-07-04 23:16

NSBNEWS.net video by Sera Frederick. Thousands enjoyed Edgewater's fireworks show for the Fourth of July. See our previous story for highlights and enjoy our video coverage.

NSBNEWS.net photos by Henry Frederick and Sera Frederick. Lucky, a lab and beagle mix, turns his head away from the loud fireworks display that his owners Fred Furhmann and Vicki Edwards enjoy, along with several thousand others on along Riverside Drive (here in front of City Hall) and the adjoining side streets to U.S. 1 for what turned out to be a spectacular Fourth of July fireworks show.

EDGEWATER -- These are the dog days of summer where it's easier to just sit and pant than to get overly excited, especially for Lucky, a 12-year-old lab and beagle mix. He was well behaved among the thousands gathered under the cover of darkness until "Kaboom!" And Lucky moved to the back of his owner's chair.

Originally posted Sat, 2009-05-16 12:08

Courtesy photos. Christopher Trull, the middle of the three Oak Hill brothers, who was the first to be released from prison in the fatal attacks on a group of Spring Breakers more than a decade decade ago, was sent back to prison Wednesday for six years for violating his probation by absconding. His brothers, Jonathan and Joshua, have remained in prison.  Jonathan Trull is serving two life sentences and Joshua Trull a 40-year sentence.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Christopher Trull is back in prison, where he belongs, according to the prosecutor who presided over the sensational murder trial for which he was found to be the least culpable among his three brothers in the slayings of two Maryland Spring Breakers and the near killing of a third a decade ago at a beachside resort.

Originally posted Wed, 2009-12-23 04:11

Courtesy photo/WKMG Local 6. Marine biologists examine the carcass of an adult-spotted dolphin that washed ashore Dec. 22, just south of the South Jetty in New Smyrna Beach.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Early Tuesday surfers discovered the washed up carcass of an adult-spotted dolphin just south of the South Jetty, the fourth such dead dolphin in the past 10 days in the vicinity.

Marine biologists are puzzled as to why the dolphins met their fate, though they may have one significant clue.

Originally posted Mon, 2009-12-14 20:53

NSBNEWS.net photos by Sera Frederick.

Oak Hill Acting Interim Police Chief Diane Young stands proudly in front of her squad car at the police station prior to Saturday's Christmas parade. Then she radios the officers on duty to see that her officers are in place to deal with traffic issues associated with the parade. For two days straight prior to Saturday's parade, Young was inundated by media outlets about her admission on her job application six years ago as a rookie cop that she had used cocaine 100 times two decades ago.

OAK HILL -- For two days straight, TV news camera crews and a couple of metro newspaper reporters followed Acting Interim Police Chief Diane Young after an Orlando media outlet received a tip last Thursday that she had admitted on her job application six years ago as a rookie cop that she used cocaine 100 times more than 20 years ago.

Originally posted Thu, 2009-10-08 03:36

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The swine flu scare hit home with the Oct. 3 death of a 15-year-old boy who attended New Smyrna Beach High School, Volusia school district and county health officials confirmed.

Originally posted Thu, 2009-06-25 01:54

NSBNEWS.net video by Sera Frederick. Community leaders in the Westside neighborhood asked the city in June to focus more on the recreational needs of the children there and to address cracked sidewalks and overgrown tree branches.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- It's the "appearance" of two New Smyrnas that has some Westside leaders speaking up about the city's seemingly endless focus on the economics of Canal Street and Flagler Avenue, the tourist- and business-oriented parts of the city while the area west of the U.S. 1 railroad tracks, which is predominantly black, gets lesser attention.

Originally posted Thu, 2009-08-20 23:10

NSBNEWS.net photos by Henry Frederick.Several thousand people swarm Flagler Avenue on Aug. 20 for the second annual Shrimp and Seafood Festival that featured not only food samples and drinks, with prices maxed out at $5, but also displays of non-food items, lots  of music and activities  for children. Above, left two photos, people mill around. In the third photo, children play Twister. 

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Thursday's second annual Shrimp and Seafood Festival on Flagler Avenue drew several thousand people and that made Southeast Volusia Chamber of Commerce President Robert Lott a happy man.

Originally posted Wed, 2009-06-24 23:32

NSBNEWS.net video by Sera Frederick.The New Smyrna Beach City Commission said "thanks" In June to retiring Fire Chief Tim Hawver, who received a standing ovation.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Tim Hawver, New Smyrna Beach's fire chief for 12 years and a firefighter for parts of four decades, was recognized Tuesday night by the City Commission, less than a week after announcing his retirement.