Top 100 Stories

DELAND -- The Volusia County Sheriff's Office is investigating an armed robbery of a convenience store near DeLand Saturday night.

A store employee at the Hess Mart, 100 S. Spring Garden Ave., was counting money before securing it in a safe when a man with a handgun entered and demanded the cash, said Sheriff's spokesman Brandon Haught.

There were no shots fired or any injuries. Several deputies, a K-9 unit and a Sheriff's Office helicopter responded to the scene, but the suspect was not found.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Do you like skeletons? Want to be an archaeologist? Or do you just like to dig in the dirt? Then you need to do a dig with Dr. Bones!

The New Smyrna Beach Regional Library, 1001 S. Dixie Freeway, is offering a unique educational opportunity from 10 a.m. - noon Saturday, May 2. Participants will uncover bones and assemble them to create a large animal skeleton.

The hands-on experience teaches children how bones fit together, stimulates reasoning and logic skills, and promotes interest in science, says Pat Kuehn, spokeswoman for Volusia County.

Lanshark surfing festival totally rad

Grade: A-plus

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Karen Clancy and dozens of other volunteers should be commended for their hard work in making the inaugural Landshark surfing festival such a success over the past five days.

Traffic heading east to the beach was well past the South Causeway Bridge on Saturday, a testament to the draw of the surfing contest that doled out $20,000 in cash prizes.

DELTONA -- The Volusia County Sheriff's Office is seeking dismissal of three of the criminal charges against Pine Ridge High School teacher Stephen Michael Belcher, who was arrested Thursday after deputies found two rifles and ammunition in his truck in the school parking lot.

The arrest was made after school had let out for the day. Belcher, who resides in Port Orange, pled no contest to aggravated assault in January 2008 and was placed on probation for two years, during which time he's prohibited from possessing firearms.

Albert Miller, 62, of Edgewater, a retired sprinkler fitter for Landmark Sprinklers, Lexington, Ky., died Thursday, April 2, 2009.

Leonard J. "Pep" keyes, 64, of Edgewater and former owner of Spencer Asphalt Paving, died Monday, March 30, 2009.

Catherine Anne Laycock, 76, of New Smyrna Beach, formerly of Port Orange and time keeper for the U.S. Rail Road industry, died Saturday, March 21, 2009.

Mary Kelly Dubuque, 94, of New Smyrna Beach, a retired accountant, died Thursday, April 2, 2009.

Stanley Potokar, 91, of New Smyrna Beach, a former real estate broker and owner of CBS Realty, Miami, died Thursday, April 2, 2009.

Elsa N. Simpson, 91, of New Smyrna Beach, a homemaker, died Monday, March 30, 2009.

April 2, 2009: Paul D. Sammons, Edgewater, and Louann M. Ellis, Oak Hill.

April 1, 2009: Mitchell A. Sanford, Oak Hill, and Brittney K. Minor, New Smyrna Beach.

DELTONA -- A group of teenagers accosted a Deltona man at his home Monday, stealing jewelry and guns from the 61-year-old victim, the Volusia Sheriff's Ofice said.

However, the suspects didn’t get far in their getaway. Less than 15 minutes after the robbery was reported, responding deputies had detained a total of seven suspects. Deputies are still sorting out the events, identifying the suspects by name and determining what criminal charges will be filed.

The incident occurred at a home on Whitewood Drive. A neighbor reported the robbery to the Sheriff’s Office at 3:29 p.m.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A woman was robbed at gunpoint Tuesday morning after ordering her into her car in the parking lot at Walmart on State Road 44 and having an accomplice follow them to the 1900 block ofJungle Road where she was robbed of personal belongings, including her cell phone, New Smyrna Beach police said.

The robber and his accomplice then took off in the second car about 10:30 a.m., described as red and four-door, with a tag bearing 58239AM and an unknown state. That car headed west on S.R. 44 and the victim was not hurt, said police Sgt. Eugene Griffith.

Courtesy photo. Volusia Sheriff's deputies have a warrant for the arrest of this man, Robert Bittle, accused of robbing and beating a 16-year-old boy near New Smyrna Beach.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Volusia County Sheriff's investigators are seeking the public's help in locating a 20-year-old man charged with luring a teenager into the woods near New Smyrna Beach on Saturday and then beating and robbing the victim.