Top 100 Volusia County Stories

NSBNEWS.net photo by Sera King. Criminal defense attorney Rob Sanders had a dream year in 2008, keeping an Edgewater killer Russell Bradshaw from death row sentence and convincing another jury not to send Dollar General double-murderer Roy Lee McDuffie back to death. He was also named president of the Volusia Bar Association.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Robert Sanders had a dream year as a criminal defense attorney -- staving off an almost-certain death sentence for an Edgewater killer and later convincing a jury to put the Dollar General double-murderer in prison for life instead of his former place on death row.

EDGEWATER -- A proposed residential/commercial development that would double Edgewater's population, drew criticism from the Florida Department of Community Affairs in October, principally over the sheer size of the project as well as concerns about transportation and water supplies.

Courtesy photo. Cynthia Horvath, who resigned from her teaching post at Warner Christian Academy Oct. 12, was arrested on charges of having sex with a 17-year-old male student at motels in Port Orange and Daytona Beach, according to police.

PORT ORANGE -- A former Warner Christian Academy teacher was arrested Oct. 22, by two police departments on charges of unlawful sexual activity with a minor for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old student over several months in local motels before she abruptly resigned earlier that month.

DAYTONA BEACH -- NASCAR reportedly reached a verbal agreement with the family of a pilot employed by the racing giant killed in a 2007 crash that also claimed the husband of Lesa France Kennedy, International Speedway Corp. president.

Though a court file specifying the settlement was ultimately sealed, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reported on the front page of its Sept. 18 edition that "A handwritten document in the file reflected $2.4 million 'wrongful death claim approved.'"

The settlement was for pilot Michael Klemm's widow, Wendy, and the couple's three sons.

DAYTONA BEACH -- With $30 million invested, it was a sure bet the Kennel Club would welcome its new digs, courtesy of International Speedway Corp., which built it on adjacent property so it could take over the 60-plus year facilities' grounds next to Daytona International Speedway, which provides more parking and ground space immediately outside the grandstands for booths and other displays.

DAYTONA BEACH -- A 12-year-old boy's death was played out in the media in mid-December over a number of days because of conflicting medical diagnoses before the Volusia County Medical Examiner's Office finally ruled Cody Shrout died from drug-resistant staph infection methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, more commonly called MRSA,

an antibiotic-resistant disease that is contagious.

PONCE INLET -- A father and son fishing in the Atlantic Ocean were swept out to sea and survived overnight cold and potential shark attacks by floating, even as they were separated for most of the time before they were rescued from the rolling waves eight miles from shore in early September.

Walter Marino, 47, of Winter Park, and his 12-year-old son, Chris, got separated after the tide dragged them out while fishing in near waist-deep waters. Both were rescued -- first, the father, 12 hours later, then the son two hours after that.

Courtesy photos. Democrat Suzanne Kosmas of New Smyrna Beach easily outpolled Congressman Tom Feeney for his seat in Washington on Election Day.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Democrat Suzanne Kosmas of New Smyrna Beach crushed Republican Congressman Tom Feeney on Election Day, garnering nearly 64 percent of the votes in against the three-term incumbent from Oviedo.

NSBNEWS.net photo by Henry Frederick. Oak Hill Mayor Mike Thompson and former Mayor Jeff Bracy got into an aurgument on primary night at City Hall that had them bumping bellies.

OAK HILL -- The mayor and a former mayor got into a verbal argument outside City Hall that led to them "bumping bellies" during primary-election night, according to eyewitnesses.

Courtesy photo. A Florida Highway Patrol trooper was being investigated in October on allegations of driving around West Volusia to see if he could find Sheriff Ben Johnson driving under the influence, a claim the sheriff denied.

DELAND -- A Florida Highway Patrol trooper is under investigation for allegedly targeting Sheriff Ben Johnson by looking for him on the roadways of West Volusia to see if he was driving under the influence.