Headline Surfer photo illustration / Above is a collage of the images from stories 16-20 in the Headline Surfer countdown of the Top 100 local stories of 2016 in Central Florida.
By HENRY FREDERICK
Headline Surfer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Headline Surfer is counting down the Top 100 stories of 2016 in the greater Daytona Beach, Sanford and Orlando metro area otherwise known as the I-4 corridor of Central Florida through Volusia, Seminole and Orange counties.
Among the top 5 contenders for the No. 1 story of the year in no particular order so as not to spoil the surprise: The Pulse gay nightclub terrorist massacre; the ugliness of the presidential election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton; the continuing saga over homelessness in Daytona Beach; records tied or broken in NASCAR races at Daytona International Speedway and Daytona Beach yet again leading Volusia County in homicides.
So far Headline Surfer has presented recaps for stories ranked 21-100 in seven segments. Previous segments have come in story recaps of 10, but now that the countdown has arrived at the top 20, this ninth segment captures stories ranked 16-20. Then it will be stories 11-15, 10-6, 5-2 and then No. 1 by itself.
So without further delay, here are story recaps 16-20:
16. Gov. Rick Scott appoints Daytona's Morteza 'Mori' Hosseini to University of Florida Board of Trustees
Photo for Headline Surfer® / Mori Hosseini, who immediately began his five-year term on the University of Florida Board of Trustees following his March 30 appointment by Gov. Rick Scott, is shown in front of his ICI Homes, 2379 Beville Road, Daytona Beach, Florida. Hosseini and his wife, Forough Hosseini, are wedded to higher education. He is chairman of the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Board of Trustees and she is chairwoman of the Daytona State College Board of Trustees. Also appointed to the UF Board by the governor were Marsha Powers, CEO for Tenet Healthcare's Florida Region; and Leonard Johnson, a UF alumnus and Tampa Bay-area attorney, all shown here. DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Gov. Rick Scott announced his appointment in March of Morteza “Mori” Hosseini to the University of Florida Board of Trustees.
Hosseini, 60, succeeded Christopher Corr on the University of Florida Board for a term that ends Jan. 6, 2021. The Ormond Beach resident is the chairman and chief executive officer of ICI Homes and is the immediate past chair of the Board of Governors of the State University System.
Hosseini joined Marsha Powers, chief executive officer for Tenet Healthcare’s Florida Region, and Leonard Johnson, a UF alumnus and Tampa Bay-area attorney, as the newest board members. Powers and Johnson were recently appointed to the UF board by the Florida Board of Governors.
“Skilled practitioners in their fields, these individuals bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to our board,” University of Florida President Kent Fuchs said of Mori Hosseini, Marsha Powers and Leonard Johnson. “All three are dedicated to helping guide the university in its quest to be recognized as one of the very best in the nation. We are pleased to welcome them.”
“Skilled practitioners in their fields, these individuals bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to our board,” Uuniversity of Florida President Kent Fuchs said of Mori Hosseini, Marsha Powers and Leonard Johnson. “All three are dedicated to helping guide the university in its quest to be recognized as one of the very best in the nation. We are pleased to welcome them.”
Born in Iran and educated in London, Mori Hosseini received a degree in aeronautical engineering from London's Chelsea College of Aeronautical Engineering. He then attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, where he received a bachelor's in science in aeronautical studies and a master's of business administration.
Hosseini founded ICI Homes, one of Florida's largest residential homebuilder/developers, in 1980. Consistently ranked by Builder Magazine among the nation's Top 100 homebuilders, ICI Homes has built thousands of homes in most major Florida markets including the counties of Volusia (corporate office headquarters), Flagler, St. Johns, Duval, Nassau, Seminole, Orange, Osceola, and Brevard.
In addition to land development and homebuilding operations, Hosseini is involved in many other enterprises throughout Florida including a lumber company and a title insurance company.
At the center of it all locally when it comes to business, politics and higher education, Hosseini currently serves as chairman of Embry-Riddle's board of trustees. Hosseini also serves on the board of International Speedway Corp., which owns Daytona International Speedway and a dozen other tracks sanctioned by NASCAR. His wife, Forough Hosseini, is vice president of ICI Homes and chairwoman of the Daytona State College Board of Trustees.
Hosseini succeeded Christopher Corr of Jacksonville, who has served since 2012. Corr is senior vice president of real estate for Rayonier, a public company, and president of TerraPointe, its real estate subsidiary.
Powers, a veteran health care executive, has more than three decades of experience, including operational responsibility for large and diverse hospital networks. At Tenet Healthcare, Powers is responsible for directing the strategy and operations for 10 acute-care hospitals in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Tenet's Florida hospitals have 3,483 beds, almost 10,000 employees, an annual payroll in the state of more than $670 million and revenues exceeding $1 billion.
17. New reality in DeBary: Mayor Clint Johnson removed from office in August by municipal colleagues during lengthy hearing
Headline Surfer videos / This is extensive coverge of the public hearing in DeBary that led to the ouster of Mayor Clint Johnson. The hesring was 5 1/2 hours long. as shown in the videos.DEBARY, Fla. -- Clint Johnson was unceremoniously dumped by his four municipal colleagues at the end of a 3 1/2 hour-plus public hearing on Aug. 25, that drew a hundred residents as well as the Orlando TV news crews, the Orlando Sentinel, the Daytona Beach News-Journal, and Headline Surfer following it over the internet feed from City Hall.
With the four votes against him, Johnson didn't bother voting, in what Johnson and his supporters summarized as an inquisition and his being thrown to the curb as opposed to the gallows. The city's position was that Johnson was meddling in the activities of city workers, even threatening to fire some of them, which is clearly the responsibility of the city manager, according to the city's charter. And that was the opening his critics needed to force him out.
Johnson, 31, denied meddling, but his other actions and odd behavior didn't help his cause either. He built a make-shift raft, announcing to TV stations and anyone else who gave him the time of day that he was going to use it to sail to Cuba.And he often took to Facebook to post lengthy inane political rants.
Even during the meeting, Johnson often interrupted those who spoke against him, at one point, even having law enforcement remove one man from the meeting who was jawing with him,But DeBary resident Carla Gillen didn't flinch in speaking out against the first-term mayor who took office in 2015, saying in part, that his "tantrums" were holding back aDebary and putting it in a bad light at every turn.
"You have made a mockery of our city," Gillen said. "Nothing can be accomplished with you as mayor."
Scott Sturgill was among those in the minority openly speaking in favor of Johnson.
Sturgill of the Greater Sanford Regional Chamber of Commerce — whose organization counts some DeBary residents as members, some of whose members live in DeBary, praised Johnson for his antics, saying he singlehandedly put DeBary on the map. He urged the government leaders to let the voters decide in the next election, making clear that those in DeBary government weren't wihout their own fault and certainly petty ast times.
"This has go to stop," Sturgill insisted, though his plea fell on deaf ears.
While the back and forth bockeing bogged down the meeting, Johnson, who was running the meting was also tweeted less than favorable emails he had received emails he apparently had received from them as well as Facebook postings he had amassed, many riddled with curse words and other vulgarity.
At the tail end of the meeting, Johnson put out a dare to his colleagues: "If you think I'm going to bow down and not have an opinion you ought to just vote me out now because that's not the way I roll," And that is exactly what they did soon thereafter.
Vice Mayor Lita Handy-Peters took over as interim mayor. Two months prior to Johnson's ouster, the city council, including Johnson voted unanimously to hire 70-year-old former Daytona Beach Deputy City Manager Ron McLemore as the interim manager, after then-City Manager Don Parrott resigned amid controversies and squabbles with other administrators and with Johnson. And despite Johnson being aware that McLemore, who resigned his post in Daytona the year before amid an investigation into a pending sexual harassment suit against him by longtime city employee Sonja Wiles, who was later filed in what she claims was retaliatory.
And though Johnson publicly stated he had strong reservations about hiring McLemore, he voted for him any way without explaining why, along with approval of a whopping $130,000 annual salary.in this city of less than 20,000 residents.
18. New Smyrna Beach cop whose boy was killed in car crash understands dad's anguish in son's Disney gator death
Headline Surfer® photo illustration / NSBPD's Mark Severance with his wife, Denise (at right), along with their son, Cody, killed in a 1988 car accident. Severance reflects on Father's Day as it relates to the turmoilon this spevcial day of a total stranger, Matt Graces of Nebraska, whose son, Lane, was killed by a gator at a Disney Resort five nights earlier.LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- When it comes to policing, few are as mentally and physically tough as Mark Severance, a patrol sergeant in the New Smyrna Beach police force and a former Marine.
Severance can relate to the horror and grief felt by the Nebraska dad of the little boy killed by an alligator at a posh Disney resort near the water's edge, five days before Father's Day.
In Severance's case, the oldest of his two sons was born on Father's Day. And that same son's life was cut short, too, And though, Severance's personal hell occurred 28 years ago, it stays with him to this day.
And so Severance had no hesitation in sharing his thoughts on tragic circumstances and how one comes to grips with them in the moment and longterm during the holiday.
"When I learned of the incident where the alligator took the boy, my heart sank because I, too, know the pain of such a loss," Severance said. "In 1988, I lost my 22 \-month-old son in a tragic car accident. It's unimaginable the feeling or loss and helplessness this family from Nebraska is experiencing. My heart goes out to them. There are no words to console -- just the love and support of community, family and friends. May God give them His peace and understanding."
"When I learned of the incident where the alligator took the boy, my heart sank because I, too, know the pain of such a loss," Severance said. "In 1988, I lost my 22 \-month-old son in a tragic car accident. It's unimaginable the feeling or loss and helplessness this family from Nebraska is experiencing. My heart goes out to them. There are no words to console -- just the love and support of community, family and friends. May God give them His peace and understanding."
19. Sanford Mayor Jeff Triplett carjacked: 2 of 3 alleged culprits arrested after 20-block pursuit
Photos for Headline Surfer® / Jermine Jacques Horne, 18, and Damarcus Jesse Paige, 17 (l to r), remain jailed on armed carjacking and aggravated assault charges in the 2:14 a.m. Saturday, June 26, stealing of Sanford Mayor Jeff Triplet's Mercedes Benz crossover, which they crashed after trying to flee the copsSANFORD, Fla. -- While two teens are in jail, Sanford cops were looking for a third allegedly involved in June's armed carjacking of Mayor Jeff Triplett when one of them asked him, "Got a light?" before sticking a gun in his face and threatening to kill him unless he handed his keys and wallet.
Triplett readily complied and was not hurt, but was shaken by the experience in the same city where Trayvon Martin was gunned down four years ago when he was in his first term as mayor, leading to the infamous trial and acquittal of murder charges against George Zimmerman at the nearby Seminole County Courthouse.
Triplett was leaving a friend's house, 110 Chapman Ave., when he was approached at 2:14 a.m. by three young-looking individuals, two of whom brandished handguns.
"(They) removed Mr. Triplett’s car keys from his person," Sanford police spokesman Ronny Neal said. "In addition, the unknown subjects stole Mr. Triplett’s wallet containing $300."
A Sanford cop spotted the alleged carjackers after the Sanford Mayor relayed a description and after a police pursuit that lasted 20 blocks, the alleged thieves crashed the mayor's Mercedes, but were apprehended shortly after running from the vehicle.Also contained in the wallet were Triplett's Florida driver’s license, two credit cards, a bank card, and a City of Sanford Mayor’s badge. The armed assailants then drove off in Triplett's Mercedes Benz crossover.
Triplett then called 9-1-1, and within minutes of the crime, a Sanford cop spotted the car speeding away from the scene, and a 20-block pursuit ensued until one of the teens driving the mayor's vehicle crashed it before he and a second teen jumped out and ran.
But with the help of a Seminole County Sheriff's Office helicopter and a Lake Mary Police K-9 dog, the older teen was apprehended a short time later and then a second teen as well. It is not clear if the third teen was in the car when it crashed and got away.
Based on the information provided by the mayor in describing his assailants and what occurred in the subsequent crash, Sanford cops were able to establish probable cause in arresting Jermine Jacques Horne, 18, and Damarcus Jesse Paige, 17.
The third subject has not been apprehended for his involvement in the armed robbery.
Both Horne and Paige were transported to the Seminole County Correctional Facility.
Horne was charged with carjacking with a firearm, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and contributing to the delinquency or dependency of a minor.
Paige was charged with the armed carjacking and the agg. assault with a deadly weapon.
Because he is nearly of age, Paige could be tried as an adult. Both could be looking at 30 years in prison if convicted of the violent felonies at trial.
After they were arrested, Triplett identified the two as the alleged gunmen at the Sanford Police station.
Both denied ever having weapons, but a stolen handgun was found inside the wrecked Mercedes, an arrest report said.
A written statement from the mayor to the press and the public was released by Sanford PD, which read: “Being a victim of a crime is unnerving, yet it was reassuring to witness both speed and diligence from the Sanford Police Department. It is disheartening when this type of crime takes place in the City of Sanford. I encourage the community, its businesses, and the Police Department to continue to work together and stop this type of violence.”
A written statement from the mayor to the press and the public was released by Sanford PD, which read: “Being a victim of a crime is unnerving, yet it was reassuring to witness both speed and diligence from the Sanford Police Department. It is disheartening when this type of crime takes place in the City of Sanford. I encourage the community, its businesses, and the Police Department to continue to work together and stop this type of violence.”
The Sanford Police Department is seeking help from the community with any information that could lead to the apprehension of the third subject.
Call Crimeline
Anyone having additional information is asked to contact Crimeline at 800 423-TIPS (8477) or visit www.crimeline.org. Calls made to Crimeline remain anonymous, and tips to Crimeline that lead to solving a felony case are eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000 dollars.
FAST FACTS: Bio of Sanford Mayor Jeff Triplett
• Jeff Triplett moved to Seminole County in 1992, after graduating from Missouri Southern State University. He has been a community banker for 17 years, and he is currently the senior VP at United Legacy Bank. He is responsible for a multi-million dollar loan and deposit portfolio that consists of small business and commercial real estate holdings throughout Central Florida, with a primary focus on North Seminole County.
20. Hope Place facility for homeless families & teens gets injection of city cash for Spring opening to delight of Forough Hosseini
Video for Headline Surfer / 'Pastor Mike' Pastore, a street preacher who looks after Daytona Beach's chronic homeless population, tells municipal leaders at City Hall Wednesday night, he's pleased to see progress with Hope Place, the haven for homeless families and unaccompanied teens, that is expected to open its doors at the former Hurst Elementary School this summer. But Pastore says he feels great frustration with the lack of progress in way of a shelter for the homeless people he deals with - mostly individuals who are chronically homeless, drug- or alchol addicted, suffering from mental illness and prone to violence and failing heath from living on the streets. Pastore is followed in the video by a prominent citizen, entrepreneur Forough Hosseini whose advocasy led to a public-private partnership in making Hope Place a reality. DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- With little fanfare, the Daytona City Commission in early December voted unanimously to provide Halifax Urban Ministries a grant in the amount of $150,000 to "develop and commence operation" of Hope Place, a homeless center serving unaccompanied youth and families with children.
The grant would be paid in two equal annual installments during the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 fiscal years, which run from Oct. 1 to the following Sept. 31. At the end of the 2017-2018 fiscal year, and annually thereafter, the City Commission would have authority to extend the agreement and provide additional grant monies. The funding comes from the city's general fund.
"Hope Place is progressing well, but slower than I would like because of the great things it will do," Mark Geallis, the executive director of Haxifax Urban Ministries told Headline Surfer this morning. "Architect plans are nearly 90 percent complete so we will soon put in for the building permit with Volusia County."
Geallis said the most recent time frame has remodeling of the former Hurst Elementary School, where Hope Place will operate from, beginning in January. This in turn would lead to an opening for homeless families and unaccompanied teens next summer.
"Hope Place is progressing well, but slower than I would like because of the great things it will do," Mark Geallis, the executive director of Haxifax Urban Ministries told Headline Surfer this morning. "Architect plans are nearly 90 percent complete so we will soon put in for the building permit with Volusia County."
Geallis said the most recent time frame has remodeling of the former Hurst Elementary School, where Hope Place will operate from, beginning in January. This in turn would lead to an opening for homeless families and unaccompanied teens next summer.
RECAP: